After leaving Jian Wei’s advertising company, I drove my car to the city center and wandered alone through the maze of streets across the city. In my mind, I was constantly thinking about what approach I should take to deal with this public relations crisis that, while not extremely severe, was quite thorny.
As I walked, I eventually arrived at the foot of Zhuo Mei’s building. I couldn’t help but stop and gaze at it. Before me stood a magnificent skyscraper, its shadow under the sun equally grand. Yet, who could see the rotting insides caused by human scheming and infighting? This world is truly merciless, and people even more so. For their own interests, who still cares about the beauty of this blooming youth? Thus, the world becomes increasingly murky, and even the wind that travels freely cannot disperse the pollution.
Distracted, I suddenly seemed to become someone irrelevant to this world, hidden in an insignificant corner, watching crowds of people turn into blurred shadows rushing past me. Then I saw Fang Yuan and Mi Lan exiting from Zhuo Mei’s building. They were arguing intensely, yet I couldn’t hear a word. In the end, I only saw Mi Lan angrily get into her Audi R8 while Fang Yuan, looking dejected, lit a cigarette for himself under the shadow of the building.
I walked up to him. He looked surprised, crushed the half-smoked cigarette, and asked me, “What are you doing here?”
“Just happened to be passing by.”
Fang Yuan nodded, then took another cigarette from the pack, tried to light it, but gave up.
“What were you arguing about just now?”
Fang Yuan glanced in the direction Mi Lan had driven off to and replied, “Mi Zhongde has already learned about Mi Lan assembling a PR team. Therefore, the PR crisis in Zhu Mei Suzhou is only the beginning. It will soon spread to Zhu Mei in Shanghai and Nanjing. I don’t want to see this situation continue, so I asked her to persuade Mi Zhongde to stop this madness.”
“What did she say?”
Fang Yuan shook his head and said, “You saw her reaction just now… Zhao Yang, ask Jian Wei’s PR team to quickly come up with a feasible plan to stop this escalating battle for Zhu Mei.”
I sighed, took the unlit cigarette from Fang Yuan’s hand, put it in my mouth, lit it, took a deep puff, and then said, “I wonder what Mi Zhongde is thinking. Zhuo Mei was originally Mi Cai’s father’s life work. Why won’t he let go? Originally, he could have supported Mi Cai to smoothly take Zhuo Mei public and further develop the group. Now both sides are losing out. What’s the point of all this?”
“The key issue lies in that word ‘support.’ During Mi Lan’s time studying in the U.S., it was always Mi Zhongde who painstakingly managed Zhuo Mei. After Mi Lan returned home, she aggressively demanded control back. Would he willingly give it up?… Actually, there’s no right or wrong in this battle for Zhuo Mei, only different positions.”
Undeniably, Fang Yuan’s explanation was flawless. Because of my relationship with Mi Cai, I always tended to view the power struggle from Mi Cai’s perspective, making Mi Zhongde seem so despicable and vile. Yet, thinking from Mi Zhongde’s perspective, there must also be much resentment and hatred.
As I remained silent, Fang Yuan patted my shoulder and said, “Zhao Yang, I have many things to attend to at the company. I need to go back up now.”
“Wait… If you were to handle this PR crisis, what would you do?”
Fang Yuan thought for a while and finally said, “All I can think of for now are some conventional methods. I believe Jian Wei’s PR team would think of them too.”
I nodded. Fang Yuan patted my shoulder again and then turned to walk back into Zhuo Mei’s building.
…
After finishing my cigarette, I turned and left Zhuo Mei’s building. Across the street was Baoli Department Store, where I had worked for several years. So I came to stand at the foot of Baoli Department Store again.
It still presented a prosperous scene, rivaling Zhuo Mei. Yet this prosperity inexplicably irritated me. Suddenly, a thought popped into my mind: why must we limit our thinking about solving the crisis solely to Zhuo Mei? Couldn’t this crisis be shifted elsewhere?
A bold idea formed in my mind. I planned to shift the crisis onto Baoli Department Store, Zhuo Mei’s biggest competitor in Suzhou. Since Zhuo Mei’s customer data had been leaked, what if Baoli Department Store’s customer data were also leaked?
Regardless of the consequences this idea might bring, at least the public’s attention wouldn’t be entirely focused on Zhuo Mei. The pressing pressure would then be halved, making it much easier to handle, and we could also severely damage this competitor, preventing them from capitalizing on Zhuo Mei’s PR crisis.
After confirming this idea, I immediately drove back to Jian Wei’s advertising company.
…
Ten minutes later, I arrived at Jian Wei’s company again, rushed into her office, and said to her, who looked surprised, “I have an idea for this PR crisis.”
Jian Wei put down the documents in her hand and said, “Tell me about it.”
“Now, call Wei Ruli and Sun Rui. Let’s discuss together whether it’s feasible!”
Jian Wei seemed to trust me completely. She immediately picked up the phone and dialed Wei Ruli and Sun Rui, who were still outside. About 20 minutes later, the two successively arrived.
This time we didn’t go to the conference room but discussed directly in Jian Wei’s office. I immediately proposed my idea of shifting the crisis. After Wei Ruli and Sun Rui heard it, they exchanged shocked glances for a long time before saying, “This is indeed a bold and unconventional idea. Stirring up the waters first can create space for us to resolve the crisis. More importantly, it prevents Zhuo Mei’s biggest competitor, Baoli Department Store, from taking advantage. We think it can be implemented as the first phase of the solution!”
Jian Wei looked at me with a pleased expression and then said to the two of them, “Do you have a way to get Baoli Department Store’s customer data?”
“This isn’t a big problem for us. As long as we’re willing to spend money, it’s doable. After all, Baoli Department Store isn’t a united fortress. There are always people who will harm company interests for personal gain.”
Jian Wei immediately decided, “Money isn’t an issue. I’ll approve another 500,000 yuan for expenses right away, but the execution efficiency must be high!”
Sun Rui and Wei Ruli nodded simultaneously. I then asked with some concern, “Is my idea a bit too underhanded?”
Wei Ruli shook her head and replied, “This is business warfare. If Baoli Department Store were the one facing the crisis, they would definitely have no hesitation in shifting it onto Zhuo Mei. In fact, after working in the PR industry for so many years, we’ve seen all kinds of business warfare tactics. Yours is actually quite mild, but it’s very creative and worth learning from for handling PR crises in the future.”
…
After Wei Ruli and Sun Rui left, only I and Jian Wei remained in the office. She smiled at me, but I couldn’t figure out her intentions.
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