But for the multitude of peers in the milk tea industry, "Having money is so impressive, huh!"
Traditional milk tea brands took the franchise route, where new stores opened only when someone franchised.
Cheng Zhu’s direct operation model was different, as long as you had money in hand, you could expand wildly, keeping new stores opening.
Open, open, open, I’m freaking opening them like crazy!
As for those also following the direct operation model but were Internet-famous new forces could only shed tears of envy.
So rich, this guy is just too rich!
"Six hundred million! A whole six hundred million!"
"Most milk tea brands can’t sell six hundred million in a year, let alone burning through six hundred million in cash!"
"Is this the power of capital?"
In everyone’s eyes, Cheng Zhu was already a formidable enemy.
No one could ever keep up with his thinking, nor his pace.
With Youu Tea’s current monthly revenue of over two hundred million, it was already capable of rapid expansion.
But with the extra six hundred million, the growth period was vastly shortened.
And anyone with a bit of sense knew, "Youu Tea is earning with every store they open, the more they open, the more they earn!"
A milk tea project that was once seen as unworthy was now shining brilliantly.
It could be said that Cheng Zhu had single-handedly taken the entire industry to a whole new level!
This left a large number of peers immersed in deep thought.
"Now, we have no money, no traffic, and not the terrifying product power of Youu Tea, what should we do now?"
Then, a ridiculous scene ensued.
After much thought, everyone unanimously believed: The only way out was to keep doing collaborative branding!
After racking their brains, they decided to pick up others’ clever tricks!
This caused a surge of collaborative branding in the milk tea industry just as the weather was starting to heat up.
Numerous brands started to learn from Youu Tea, collaborating with film and TV dramas or movies.
For example, if there’s a big-budget new movie releasing soon, then everyone would do a collaboration.
Or if some popular male or female star was going to be in a drama, then a collaboration it was.
"How come we never thought of collaborating with the film and TV industry before?"
"That’s clearly the best candidate for collaboration!"
"If we can manage a collaboration like with ’Langya List,’ we’ll make a fortune!"
Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded.
When reaching out to television producers, brands would sincerely ask, "Um... does your male or female lead die?"
—Seeking collaborations, deaths given priority!
Youu Tea pioneered the new-style collab, hard to calm down after.
As everyone lamented over the death of Mei Changsu, the Bayberry Series sold like crazy.
So please, tell me quickly, will the finale be heart-wrenching? The more agonizing, the better!
It was as if in the end, milk tea wasn’t being sold, but funeral services...
Among the peers, the one who copied with the most finesse was our Sister Yue.
Chen Yue, as an early copycat of Youu Tea, was among the most experienced.
Indeed, Chen Yue was one of the more astute thinkers in the crowd.
She wouldn’t just copy exactly; she would always add a bit of innovation on the original basis.
Simply put, she wasn’t the kind of genius with innovative ideas, but she could draw inferences from one case and have a good train of thought upon being inspired.
The previous mash-up of "soft European bread + milk tea" and collaboration with paper dolls reflected this.
Earlier, she had openly mocked Cheng Zhu for his capricious gamble in TV shows, calling it reckless.
To date, she still felt that partnering with upcoming dramas was risky—what if the show flopped?
And so, Sister Yue charted a new course.
"Why can’t I look for those classic old brands to collaborate with?"
"After all, classics are classics because even after many years, people rewatch them."
"Some classics are even the memories of our youth."
"Who knows, a collaboration might trigger a wave of nostalgia!"
The more she thought about it, Chen Yue found the idea highly feasible.
So, she decided to take immediate action.
"Cheng Zhu, you could never imagine that I would come up with such a new strategy, could you?"
"My collaboration might just be as effective as yours with ’Langya List’!"
That night, her mind opened up completely, and she was so excited that she had trouble sleeping.
Eventually, after an intense battle with the "Headphones Model" 2.0 version, cursing under her breath, she spent most of her energy and then fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, she immediately sent someone to contact the first classic she thought of — "Empresses in the Palace!"
"Empresses in the Palace," a costume drama produced by Beijing TV Center in 2011, premiered on regional satellite channels in 2012.
The show’s status among female viewers need not be mentioned.
When it aired, Chen Yue was still abroad.
Nevertheless, the Chinese community overseas was also frantically following it!
In fact, the drama wasn’t just popular domestically, it was a hit all over Asia.
There was a plethora of ’Empresses in the Palace’ scholars in Japan and Korea.
In Chen Yue’s mind, "’Empresses in the Palace’ is absolutely top-tier in domestic dramas, both in reputation and popularity!"
"The most important point, now in 2015, many people still watch it, rewatching it two, three, four times!"
"If I collaborate with ’Empresses in the Palace,’ it’s bound to explode!"
"Look at these silly peers, all haphazardly betting on upcoming dramas without an ounce of flexibility in their thinking." Chen Yue was smugly satisfied.