In a small village at the foot of a mountain in Argentina's Mendoza province, Blake turned on his phone and immediately received several text messages alerting him to calls.

The call was from Blake's colleague and friend Antonio, who knew there must be something going on in the company and immediately called back.

"Blake, you're finally willing to answer the phone!" Antonio's voice rang out.

"Antonio, I told you before, I'm on vacation, climbing in Argentina, Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere! At an altitude of nearly 7,000 meters, there is no cell phone reception! Blake explained.

"So you haven't been watching the news lately, have you?" Antonio continued: "You don't know anything about Zhang Guan? ”

"Zhang Guan's matter? Hahaha, of course I know! He's been banned and banned by their country's athletics management center, right? I knew this before I went on vacation. And I also terminated the endorsement contract with Zhang Guan's economist for the next two years! ”

"At that time, we signed a four-year endorsement with Zhang Guan for 10 million US dollars, and now there are two years left, that is, we have to pay him 5 million US dollars, but if Zhang Guan is banned, he will not have the slightest endorsement value. And I only spent $200,000 in liquidated damages to terminate this endorsement contract, and I saved $4.8 million for the group! If we hadn't known that Zhang Guan was banned, we might have spent an extra $4.8 million in unjust money. Blake said this, his eyebrows fluttering, and he said with some excitement: "Does the board of directors really appreciate my decision?" They should give me a raise! ”

"The board of directors is debating whether to transfer you to Africa!" Antonio snorted coldly.

"What? Transferred to Africa? Antonio, don't be kidding me! Blake spoke. He felt that he had done a great job and that he should be commended. Transferred to Africa? That's the second most important punishment after dismissal.

"Blake, I suggest you hurry up and watch the news! Sports news, Australian Open. Antonio sighed and continued: "Zhang Guan has advanced to the final of the Australian Open, and he will compete with Federer for the title of this year's Australian Open. ”

"What do you say? Australian? Zhang Guanke is a track and field athlete! Blake said angrily, "Antonio." It's not April Fool's Day! And we're friends, you shouldn't play such a joke with me! ”

"Blake, I knew you wouldn't believe it. Your phone should be able to access the Internet, you can use your phone to search for it, whether what I said is true or not! Antonio said helplessly.

Blake hung up the phone, and he immediately searched his phone for news related to the Australian Open.

"The biggest dark horse in the history of the Australian Open, Zhang Guan advanced to the final! 》

"What?" Blake suddenly felt that the world was spinning, and he almost sat on the ground.

……

A month ago, when Zhang Guan had just been banned by the Athletics Management Center, Blake got the news. As the head of marketing for the group. Blake immediately contacted the championship team and asked for an early termination of Zhang Guan's advertising endorsement contract. In Blake's view, Zhang Guan's ban and ban will lose media exposure and has lost the value of endorsement.

At that time, Zhuge Wenbo once talked to Zhang Guan about this matter, and joked that "the emperor is not in a hurry and the eunuch is in a hurry", and Zhang Guan also said at that time that as long as the sponsor is willing to pay liquidated damages, the contract can be terminated. So Blake paid $200,000 in liquidated damages. Terminated the advertising endorsement contract with Zhang Guan.

At that time, Blake still felt that he had made a lot of money, because it was the beginning of 2007, and he could not pay the 2007 fee if he terminated the contract now. And this four-year, $10 million advertising endorsement was signed until 2008, and Blake felt that he had saved $5 million for the company.

Blake then ignored the follow-up reports about Zhang Guan. He started his vacation. An avid mountaineer, Blake travels to Argentina to conquer Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America.

January and February are the best seasons for mountaineering in the Southern Hemisphere and for climbing Aconcagua. When Blake entered the mountains, he lost his mobile phone signal. Then the process of climbing and descending the mountain took him ten days, these ten days. It was ten days of the Australian Open. When he returned to the village where he could receive a cell phone signal, the semifinals of the Australian Open had just ended.

……

In the conference room, Blake was crying and fidgeting.

"Blake, about the termination of the contract with Zhang Guan, so we need a reasonable explanation." A director directly asked: "Zhang Guan was originally our spokesperson, and we still have a two-year contract between us, why did you terminate the contract early, you never knew that doing so would bring huge losses to the company!" ”

"I did it to avoid losses for the company." Blake went on to argue: "I received the news that Zhang Guan has been banned by their country's track and field administration, and the media will ban him, and he will not be able to compete for a long time in the future, and there will be no reports of him in the media, so he has lost his commercial value, and if we continue to execute the contract for the next two years, it will be a waste of money!" ”

"Zhang Guan can't participate in the competition? So what is the Australian Open? He won't be reported in the media? If you look at the sports sections of the major media now, who are the headlines? Even the media in China, this week's focus is on Zhang Guan, but you tell me that Zhang Guan is being banned by the media? In the age of the Internet, any news can be spread all over the world in just a second! Another director said angrily.

"I don't know why this is happening! Zhang Guan is a track and field athlete, how could I have imagined that he would play tennis and make it to the final of the Australian Open! Blake said aggrievedly.

"Then why don't you wait, if you are willing to wait a week, you will be able to see the news of Zhang Guan's participation in the Australian Open. So my question is, why are you so desperate to terminate the contract with Zhang Guan! The person who spoke smiled strangely, and then said: "I heard that after completing the termination of the contract with Zhang Guan, you will quickly rush to Argentina to climb the mountain, you should not want to miss the good season of mountaineering!" ”

"What do you mean? Are you saying that in order not to miss the mountaineering season, I have to complete the termination of my contract with Zhang Guan as soon as possible? Blake's face was angry, but the expressions of the other directors at this time also represented the same doubt.

"I chose to terminate the contract with Zhang Guan as soon as possible in order to avoid paying him the endorsement fee in 2007! If we carry out the 2007 contract, we will have to pay him $2.5 million! Blake explained.

"Now we'd rather pay him $2.5 million and then execute the 2007 contract. But even if he is given 2.5 million, he will not accept it now. The speaker went on to add: "Zhang's agent has suspended some commercial endorsements and advertising talks, and they will wait until after the Australian Open." Do you understand what that means? ”

"Wait until after the Australian Open to talk about commercial endorsements?" Blake was stunned, then suddenly laughed: "Hahaha...... Could it be that Zhang Guan's agent thinks that Zhang Guan can win the Australian Open? And then the good lion opened his mouth? It's so funny, Zhang Guan's opponent is Federer! Although I don't know much about tennis, I also know that Federer is the strongest tennis player of all time, and Zhang Guan will definitely be beaten by Federer! What a bunch of naïve agents! ”

"But what if Zhang Guan really won the Australian Open?" The director, who looked very angry just now, said: "If the king of world athletics and the champion of a Grand Slam can achieve the best results in both fields, what an exaggerated commercial value Zhang Guan will have, and he will become the sports star with the highest commercial value in the world!" Oh no, it should be the star with the highest commercial value! And this kind of superstar would have been our spokesperson, and we only need to give him 2.5 million dollars a year! ”

"That's not going to happen!" Blake said confidently: "It is impossible for Zhang Guan to defeat Federer. ”

"Mr. Black, even if Zhang Guan can't win Federer, with his original fame, plus a runner-up at the Australian Open, is enough to be worthy of an annual endorsement fee of 2.5 million! So it is undeniable that the termination of the contract with Zhang Guan this time is our loss. The director who spoke first reminded.

Blake suddenly fell silent, he knew that what the other party said was right, with Zhang Guan's current fame, no matter what sport he is engaged in, even if it is to skip rope and kick shuttlecock, as long as he can continue to appear in the public eye, someone is willing to pay endorsement fees. And now Zhang Guan has successfully advanced to the Australian Open finals, and in terms of commercial value, the endorsement fee of 2.5 million US dollars a year is really not expensive.

……

Zhuge Wenbo put his phone to his ear, looking triumphant.

"Mr. James, you are right, our cooperation with your company has been very smooth...... Yes, the previous termination was a misunderstanding, but since we have signed a termination contract, we should follow the contract, our championship team has always been very contractual! ”

"Re-contracting? Of course! We have worked together before and are very familiar with each other, and Zhang Guan is also very eager to continue to be the brand ambassador of your company! ”

"No, no, no, of course not at the original price. The original contract was signed in 2005, you know, the economy has been growing rapidly in the past two years, and inflation is also very strong, and now everything is going up, so we have to adapt to the situation and raise the price a little bit. ”

"How much does it cost to endorse a year now? Mr. James, please don't worry, this Australian Open final will start tomorrow, now Zhang Guan is preparing for the game, we don't want Zhang Guan to be distracted by commercial endorsements, so let's enjoy tomorrow's Australian Open final, and wait until the Australian Open is over, and then continue to talk about the price? ”

Zhuge Wenbo hung up the phone, and the depression caused by the termination of the sponsor's contract a few days ago was swept away.

"Zhang Guan, come on! When we win Federer and win the Australian Open, we can sign a few big advertising endorsements! (To be continued.) )

PS: The first chapter is delivered! My family's net has finally been repaired, so I'll send a chapter first. Today, Saturday, let's break out! Do you still have commuter passes?