Li Peifeng only found out at the dinner table an hour later what Xu Manning meant by pressure.
Unlike Huang Tianxuan, Xu Manning’s parents are quite open-minded. Although she has a teenage brother, the parents still chose to let Xu Manning try to manage the business, giving her positions to gradually familiarize herself since college.
This might be related to the fact that it is Mrs. Xu who calls the shots at home, because the entire Sen Meng Corporation was basically founded by Mrs. Xu, who came from a clothing designer background.
So in the future, while Xu Manning may not completely take the helm, she will definitely have a place in the company.
However, Sen Meng Clothing is not solely decided by Xu Manning’s parents, as several relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Xu also hold a small number of shares. They might see Xu Manning as young and being a girl, and are dissatisfied, constantly criticizing her takeover of the work.
"Usually, whenever I suggest something, they just pretend to agree and then ignore me!"
Xu Manning felt quite upset: "This time, after mom and I conducted research together, we finally decided to test the waters in the men’s clothing market, and they actually jumped out to oppose it."
"Sen Meng has always done low-priced women’s clothing, the profit growth is stagnant, the brand structure is singular, wanting to continue developing in the future, entering the men’s clothing market is inevitable sooner or later. They are afraid of this and that, they just want to hold on to their little territory. Honestly, they are idiots, not understanding that operating a business is like sailing upstream—if you don’t move forward, you fall back..."
Li Peifeng puzzled: "What’s the use of their opposition, isn’t the development of the company still decided by you and your mom?"
"It’s decided, yes, but if they don’t support it, executing the strategy will definitely not be smooth."
"I see, they truly are troublesome." Li Peifeng agreed deeply, reaching out with his chopsticks to give Wu Wenyue a piece of meat: "Eat more, I see you’ve become thinner from exhaustion recently."
Under the table, Li’s right foot lifted Wu Wenyue’s trouser leg, persistently rubbing with his heel.
From the beginning of the meal to now, it hadn’t stopped...
"It’s alright."
Wu Wenyue’s expression remained normal while attempting to retaliate under the table, using his big toe to pinch his calf, warning him not to go too far.
"Did you listen to what I said?" Xu Manning placed her chopsticks on the bowl with a snap, expressing dissatisfaction with their reactions.
"We listened."
Li Peifeng didn’t slow down his chopstick speed: "You might need to do something?"
"Do what?"
"I don’t know! I’m just a student who knows nothing about business..."
Wanted to kick someone!
Xu Manning rolled her eyes, but under the table, she stealthily stretched out her foot. Extending it was not a problem, but as soon as she did, she noticed the little trick Wu Wenyue and Li Peifeng were up to, realizing it was inappropriate, she leaned back and lowered her head for a glance, nearly throwing her chopsticks in anger.
"I’m discussing serious business with you two, and you’re secretly playing this game?!"
"Don’t kick!"
Li Peifeng hurriedly said: "I just thought of a great idea!"
"Speak!"
Li Peifeng suggested: "Since they oppose making men’s clothing, then Sen Meng should continue making women’s clothing, but make the men’s styles and sizes, and find female models to wear them. The advertising should promote it as women’s clothing, after all, no one said women can’t wear a certain style. If the men’s clothing looks good, and it’s available in stores and online, women will definitely buy it for the men in their lives."
Xu Manning furrowed her brow: "You’re deceiving yourself, how could they not understand? But it does give them a way out, though doing this creates ambiguity in product positioning, which isn’t good for marketing..."
Wu Wenyue inhaled deeply: "Signaling left but turning right? Where did you learn that?!"
Li Peifeng’s face changed; he was frightened enough to withdraw his foot: "Don’t say nonsense, I’ll sue you for slander!"
"It actually is a method."
Originally speaking off the top of his head, but Xu Manning seriously considered it for a moment and nodded: "Everything follows the men’s clothing approach, then find a few androgynous female models to wear them. That kind of cool and chic style of women’s clothing still has a certain market."
Seeing Xu Manning take it seriously, Li Peifeng continued to offer advice: "In marketing, you need to sell concepts, sell culture, and focus on online channels. You can set a sub-brand for these clothes, indicating the departure from the previous Sen Meng soft and delicate fairytale forest style."
"Name it something like ’True Self’ ’Epiphany’ ’Transcendence,’ the more incomprehensible the better. For clothing design, you must hire foreign designers, if not, at least a combination of East and West, and the design fees alone must be millions of USD. Once designed, it has to be featured in international fashion weeks, invest money if necessary to get in!"
"And then spend money hiring international models, shooting photo spreads, advertising heavily. Media should be in place, invite those famous folks to speak and comment. Then, generously fund promotion through domestic short video platforms’ fashion bloggers, I’ve already thought of the ad slogan..."
Two girls looked at him in puzzlement yet anticipation: "What is it?"
Li Peifeng said with inflection: "’Sen Meng’ sub-brand ’True Self’ clothing, fully showcases women’s wisdom, independence, and resilience, allowing women to escape male-defined femininity, breaking gender-based clothing restrictions, demonstrating women’s beauty without relying on exposing curves, sparking a thought revolution through apparel."
The two girls listened, astonished, only finding it hard to describe.
Li Peifeng then asked: "How much do you think these clothes should sell for?"
Xu Manning played along: "I think it should be at least two hundred, right?!"
"Two hundred is just the cost, single items start at two thousand!"
Li Peifeng declared confidently: "You think it’s expensive? I’m not even offering a discount. You need to study consumer psychology; do you know what an independent woman is? An independent woman buys things that are the coolest and have the most stories, not necessarily the best. So you need to create a label for it."