I ended my call with Jian Wei, didn’t even have time to say goodbye to CC, then grabbed the car key from the table and drove the car that Mi Cai had left for me, heading straight to Jian Wei’s advertising company.
Within fifteen minutes, I drove from the southern part of the city to the northern part. Almost running, I entered Jian Wei’s advertising company. Without knocking, I pushed open the office door, and all the people inside turned their eyes toward me in unison, surprised by my impulsive entrance.
Jian Wei stood up and said to everyone, “Everyone is here now. Let’s move to the meeting room first, and I’ll introduce you all.”
Everyone got up and walked toward the adjacent meeting room. I walked side by side with Chen Jingming, someone I was very familiar with, and quietly asked, “CEO Chen, exactly what kind of PR crisis has Zhongmei encountered this time?”
Chen Jingming’s expression turned serious as he replied, “Zhongmei’s VIP customer data has been widely leaked. Now the customers who are being harassed by other businesses are furious and are preparing to take legal action against Zhongmei to demand an explanation. You know Zhongmei’s VIP customers represent the most elite group in Suzhou. Their awareness of protecting their rights is extremely strong, and the media will soon get involved. I’m afraid it will be very difficult for us to resolve this!”
At that moment, I was filled with shock. First, I was shocked by Mi Cai’s foresight—this PR crisis indeed originated from a crisis of trust. Second, I was shocked by Mi Zhongde’s approach. This crisis of trust was more intense than what Mi Cai had anticipated. Customers were willing to hand over their personal information, even their private data, to a corporation, which represented a huge amount of trust. Now, if this data was intentionally leaked, it meant the greatest disrespect and desecration toward the customers. Worse yet, these customers represented Suzhou’s most privileged class. As Chen Jingming had said, this situation was far more complicated than expected.
After everyone arrived in the meeting room and took their seats, Jian Wei introduced me and Chen Jingming to the team members. Then, tapping the table with her pen, she said seriously, “Everyone here is an elite in the PR industry. I don’t need to emphasize the seriousness of this incident too much. I hope we can come up with a practical PR plan before the media gets involved, minimizing the damage caused by this crisis, or even completely resolving it.”
Wei Ruli and Sun Rui, the PR experts sitting beside Jian Wei, nodded simultaneously and said, “Don’t worry, Madam Jian. Since you paid a large sum to invite us to resolve this PR crisis, we will definitely do our best. We have years of experience in this industry and do have some influence with the media. Regarding the media involvement, we will try our best to delay it.”
Jian Wei nodded and said, “You must also come up with the plan as soon as possible. Never let this incident affect Zhongmei’s IPO on NASDAQ. Otherwise, even if we resolve this PR crisis, the mission will still be considered a failure.”
Finally, Wei Ruli and Sun Rui showed serious expressions. The real challenge of this mission wasn’t merely resolving the surface-level PR crisis, but more importantly, ensuring that Zhongmei’s IPO plan remained unaffected. Therefore, we needed extremely high efficiency and the ability to turn the crisis into a positive image. Only if this crisis could not only avoid affecting Zhongmei’s IPO but even become a positive driving force for it would the resolution be considered perfect.
This time, Wei Ruli and Sun Rui did not make any further promises to Jian Wei. Instead, they began quietly discussing among themselves. Finally, Jian Wei turned to me and asked, “Zhaoyang, do you have any good ideas?”
Even PR experts like Wei Ruli and Sun Rui were struggling, so how could I possibly have any good ideas at this moment? I shook my head at Jian Wei and said, “Right now, I can only think about how complicated this PR crisis is. As for solutions, I really don’t have any!”
Jian Wei showed disappointment on her face but said nothing more. After all, everyone understood that if a crisis could be resolved just through discussion, then was there still a need to form such an elite PR team to deal with it?
At this moment, Wei Ruli finally spoke up, addressing Chen Jingming, “CEO Chen, can you provide us with the list and contact information of the affected customers now? We will assign team members skilled in negotiation to calm them down first.”
“No problem, I’ll have it sent to your work email within five minutes,” Chen Jingming replied. Immediately after, he made a phone call. This was the kind of efficiency needed at this moment.
Sun Rui then said to Chen Jingming, “We also hope Zhongmei can prepare a compensation plan as soon as possible. Of course, we will try our best to prevent this PR crisis from resulting in compensation, but we still need to have a plan.”
Chen Jingming nodded, “I understand.”
At this point, I finally recognized the capability of a top-tier PR team. Although they hadn’t yet come up with a systematic solution, they had already started taking proactive measures and even prepared emergency plans. As a complete outsider, I obviously couldn’t be this methodical, nor did I have the ability to control media involvement. Therefore, the service fee of 5 million RMB that Mi Cai paid—equivalent to two golden advertising slots—was indeed worth it.
After the initial discussion, Wei Ruli and Sun Rui, along with their team, followed Chen Jingming to Zhongmei to gather real-time information. The large office was now left only with me and a worried-looking Jian Wei. Obviously, this crisis had placed tremendous pressure on her. After all, she had signed a wagering contract with Mi Cai. If this crisis couldn’t be perfectly resolved, the huge cost of forming the PR team would entirely fall on her advertising company, and Mi Cai’s situation would be even worse!
Under such a heavy burden, my mood also became tense… the more tense I felt, the less I could think of a good solution. I could only place my hopes on the PR team led by Wei Ruli and Sun Rui.
Frowning, Jian Wei said to me, “Zhaoyang, I had such high expectations for you, but why don’t you even have the slightest idea about how to resolve this?”
I was speechless for a while but still patiently replied, “…Didn’t I already tell you, I don’t have any experience dealing with this. If I could resolve it immediately once the crisis came, then what would be the need for top PR experts like Wei Ruli and Sun Rui?”
“I won’t accept your excuse of lacking experience. I know you have the ability and ideas. You must come up with a solution. If this PR crisis at Zhongmei can’t be resolved, I will personally suffer a loss of at least one million at the very least.”
“Jian Wei, aren’t you being a bit unreasonable? You didn’t pressure me like this when everyone was present just now!”
“I don’t care. You must come up with a solution, and it must be better and more practical than Wei Ruli’s team!”
Feeling annoyed, I instinctively took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep puff, and replied, “So you’re just throwing a tantrum, huh?… If I had any good ideas to solve this, I would definitely be the most proactive one!”
Jian Wei still wouldn’t back down and angrily said, “You were the one who connected me and Mi Cai for this collaboration. Are you just going to give up and walk away? Zhaoyang, listen to me—today, if you don’t come up with a solution that satisfies me, you won’t be leaving this office!”
This PR crisis had already made me feel extremely anxious, and now she was making things worse with her unreasonable behavior. Finally, I lost my temper and swore, “Damn it… Are you ever going to stop?!”
Jian Wei completely ignored my anger. She slammed her hand on the table and said, “If you’re a real man, then take responsibility for this matter. Stop talking useless nonsense like a whiny woman!”
Her continuous verbal attacks finally enraged me. I took two steps forward, stood right in front of her, and pointed heavily at the table, almost nose to nose with her, saying, “Fine, so you want me to take responsibility for this? I will. I’ll give you a satisfactory plan.”
Suddenly, Jian Wei lost her previous unreasonable and domineering attitude. She sat back down on her chair, glanced at her watch, and calmly said, “It’s three o’clock in the afternoon now. Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock, bring your solution and come find me.”
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