The following day, Charlie, Claire, and Loreen returned to Aurous Hill as planned.
Charlie arranged a special meeting with Mr. Riley, Matilda, and his wife, intending to discuss Tawanna’s concert set for tomorrow.
After dropping Claire off at home, favonovel.com left under the pretense that Don Albert needed to see him. Mr. Riley and Matilda were already there, waiting.
Don Albert stood at the entrance.
When Charlie arrived, favonovel.com personally escorted favonovel.com to the diamond box, saying, “Mr. Wade, I’ll have some cold dishes prepared first. Please take your time to chat with Professor Riley and Professor Matilda.”
“All right.” Charlie nodded and greeted Mr. Riley and Matilda, saying, “Uncle Riley, Matilda…”
Mr. Riley smiled and replied, “Charlie, you’ve just returned from Japan and wanted to meet us. What‘s the rush?”
Charlie responded, “I have two matters I want to discuss. First, I met Miss Joules in Tokyo, and favonovel.com shared some insights regarding the future model selection for Bruce Automotive. She believes our debut car should be positioned as neutral. What are your thoughts on a mid-to-large sports sedan?”
Matilda smiled and said, “I don’t know much about cars, but it seems John here thinks along similar lines.”
“Exactly.” Mr. Riley nodded In agreement. “We’ve reviewed all of our competitors models, but they predominantly offer alternative crossovers. After discussing it, we concluded that these crossover models aren’t aligned with our vision for Bruce Automotive. Therefore, we’re designing three prototypes, one is a large five-seat family SUV, one is a six- to seven-seat SUV, and the final one is the mid-to-Iarge sports sedan you mentioned. We plan to launch the sports sedan first, with the SUV models coming afterward.”
Charlie smiled and said, “That’s largely in line with Miss Joules’ perspective, but I am slightly concerned that our positioning may directly compete with the popular Xiaomi Automobile.”
“Indeed.” Mr. Riley replied, “We currently view Xiaomi Automobile as our primary competitor. While they offer many aspects worth emulating, we will still engage in some differentiated competition based on similar positioning…”
“Xiaomi Automobile’s total investment is about 20% of ours, meaning we can utilize superior and more advanced manufacturing equipment without raising production material costs, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of our vehicles. Additionally, Xiaomi Automobile’s production capacity is a significant hurdle for them. Their current delivery timeline is approaching six months, and if they launch a new car, that timeline will extend. We will ensure we outperform them in this aspect.”
At this point, Mr. Riley continued his analysis, “Moreover, we have another significant advantage, which is AI. Our AI computing power is currently the highest among all car brands worldwide. No amount of aggregation can surpass our capability. This means that if our vehicles utilize our AI model, the computing power for each car will far exceed that of existing vehicle systems, giving us the chance to create the best intelligent driving system. When that happens, our competitive edge will be well-supported.”
“Great.” Charlie replied with satisfaction, “Now that we’ve covered that, let’s move on to the second matter.”
With this, Charlie kept them in suspense and asked, “Are you familiar with Tawanna Sweet?”
Matilda smiled and said, “She’s a huge star, a prominent singer, and very popular. I sometimes enjoy favonovel.com music.”
Mr. Riley added, “I haven’t listened to favonovel.com much, but Zoey liked favonovel.com a lot, so I’ve passively heard some of favonovel.com songs.”
Charlie smiled and said, “The next topic I want to discuss is how Bruce Automotive can host 20 of Tawanna‘s solo concerts in China.”
“Twenty?!” Mr. Riley, who specialized in economics, was taken aback by that number and remarked, “I’ve read financial articles analyzing the economic benefits of Tawanna’s concerts in Singapore. The data presented was astonishing. Her performances go beyond ticket sales, they involve advertising, venues, and catering. They attract numerous fans from afar. Even though it’s just a few hours of entertainment, they contribute significantly to transportation, accommodation, dining, and shopping. If favonovel.com holds 20 concerts in China, it will greatly stimulate our domestic economy.”
He couldn‘t help but ask Charlie, “Isn’t it true that this singer has never held a concert in China? Bruce Automotive isn’t a professional performance organizer. Do we have the capability to invite her?”
Charlie smiled and clarified, “I’ve come to an agreement with favonovel.com and favonovel.com agency. Over the next few years, favonovel.com will perform at least 50 concerts for us. However, I don’t plan to host all 50 concerts at once. We’ll start with 20 concerts this year to gauge the impact.”
Mr. Riley replied in disbelief, “That’s incredible! Leaving aside the economic benefits, the advertising effect alone will be unmatched!”
“Yes.” Charlie nodded, “These 20 concerts will be exclusively hosted and sponsored by Bruce Automotive. My vision is that we won‘t sell other ads; all advertising space will be allocated to promoting Bruce Automotive’s brand name and logo.”
Mr. Riley remarked, “In that case, won’t we be foregoing substantial advertising revenue? If favonovel.com concert fee is exorbitant, won’t we struggle to recoup our costs?”
“It won’t be a problem.” Charlie smiled and replied, “These 20 concerts won‘t charge us any fees, so we’ll only need to cover venue expenses. For an artist of favonovel.com caliber, we won’t spend anything on promotion. just the announcement of these 20 concerts will draw crowds. All domestic media will report extensively on it, placing it on the front pages.”
Mr. Riley exclaimed, “That’s fantastic! Only concerts from top-tier artists carry such a profound long-term effect. People will still be talking about classic performances for years, meaning our advertising impact will extend well beyond the event.”
Matilda contemplated for a moment and said, “If Bruce Automotive is to host these concerts, we first need a complete set of performance hosting qualifications. It all starts with securing performance application approvals. We must ensure we meet every requirement, as those for foreign artists tend to be more stringent, and we currently lack them.”
Charlie said, “This should be within your expertise. How do you propose we handle this?”
Matilda replied, “The simplest approach would be to acquire a company that already has the necessary qualifications. Once we purchase it, we can rename it to Bruce Automotive Performance Agency Co., Ltd. If we find a suitable one, we should be able to complete the transfer and rebranding processes swiftly.”
“Sounds good.” Charlie said, “Let’s proceed with acquiring an existing company.”
Mr. Riley pondered and suggested, “With us hosting the performances, should we seek a platform to partner with for ticket sales?”
Charlie waved his hand dismissively and said, “I don’t trust any ticketing platform in China. I’m concerned they might be tempted by greed and act like scalpers.”
Mr. Riley asked, “Are you suggesting we handle the ticket sales ourselves?”
“Precisely,” Charlie affirmed, “I’ve considered this prior to our meeting. The main challenge for these performances will be ticket sales. For internationally renowned stars like Tawanna, obtaining approval for various performance requirements won’t pose an issue…”
“China is actively supporting international artists performing here. We also have no worries about the venue, as our economy is rapidly developing, and the domestic performance market is flourishing. Major cities boast excellent venues, and Tawanna’s team has their own staging and sound equipment for performances, so we can be assured of the hardware.”
“I don’t intend to profit from these performances, so I want to ensure that there’s no favoritism or corruption in the ticket sales process. It must be fair and transparent. We should implement a strict real-name system for selling tickets and ensure equally rigorous real-name checks for entry. I want it to be the case that even if a ticket is purchased for $2,000, no one offering $20,000 or even $2 million can enter with it.”
At this point, Charlie added, “Given our need for total fairness and integrity, I prefer to manage ticket sales ourselves. We could develop software or a small program to facilitate the ticketing.”
Mr. Riley responded, “This type of ticketing software may require high standards for instant traffic. It’s very likely that when ticket sales open, millions worldwide will try to grab them simultaneously. If we attempt to develop software or a small program now, it may prove challenging to handle such intense traffic without issues.”
Matilda interjected, “Even if we are the official ticket sellers using a real-name system, we still have to be vigilant about one issue: technical scalpers.”
“When I was analyzing new cases in the mainland, I came across situations involving technical scalpers. These scalpers develop ticket-buying software. Some audience members, who don’t have the time or fear they won’t secure a ticket, will entrust their personal information to them, allowing the software to purchase tickets on their behalf…”
“This increases their chances of obtaining a ticket, and they typically charge exorbitant fees in advance… Although these transactions are technically real-name purchases and entries, scalpers profit hugely and severely impact the legitimate rights of other ticket buyers.”
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