After receiving a call from the supervisor, Osborne, who had already walked to the underground parking lot after work, immediately decided to return to the company.

He didn't come to the back office alone, and on the way he met the company's Hill president.

President Hill is the top executive in Europe.

Regarded as half of Osborne's superiors, but basically in charge of different businesses, there is still a certain degree of competition in the future for the head of Scholastic's entire 10 billion group.

Director Charlie is Hill's beloved general.

If nothing else, both of them should have come for the investigation of the Internal Service Department.

When they met, they just said hello without smiling, and then took their respective secretaries and assistants, like two distinct armies, side by side into the office area of the internal logistics department.

"The detective cat is very well drawn, are you right in your conscience?"

As soon as they reached the door, they heard Charlie's taunts.

"Mr. Charlie, the sample of the detective cat has passed your own review by the art department, what do you call it now?" Osborne pushed open the door and said with a smile.

“Bullshit！ I didn't review it. Charlie's tone was angry.

"Why, Deputy Director Schubert is not from the art department? Or is it that the group's art department has become a hall for your Charlie? Only you can review the manuscript? This is the rule of the school. ”

The smile on Osborne's face vanished, and his tone was sharp.

"Okay, okay, Director Charlie is also for better market sales, and cares about the quality of illustrators for major projects, which is the job of an art director, which is understandable." President Hill plays a round for his subordinates.

"When it comes to artistic quality, Vice President Schubert has already given a professional judgment. As for the rules and regulations, have you found out that Assistant Cole has violated discipline? ”

Osborne turned to the head of the Internal Service Department.

The person in charge took the internal phone on the table and said a few words.

From the moment the fat assistant was taken to the back office, his work computer had already been taken away.

The group's technical department will check and download the e-mails and e-mails with the "Little Prince" project and the agent of the detective cat.

At present, it seems that there is only a few seconds of time difference between the assistant submitting the sample to the art department and someone from the art department taking the file, which seems to be collusive.

No other findings were made.

"Technicians are still checking more in-depth content and will be notified if there are follow-up findings."

The person in charge glanced at the fat assistant's still sweat-stained face, and said, "It looks OK now." ”

Based on his intuition, the person in charge still thinks there is something wrong with this matter.

However, if someone sells trade secrets to a rival company, the person in charge may take it seriously. This kind of fairy fight that is obviously high-level office politics, and he doesn't bother to delve into it.

"In that case, the investigation is over. Assistant Cole, Deputy Director Schubert, you can go. Osborne snapped his fingers with a quick slash.

"Stop, stop, they can't go. It's not over, who said that there is no problem with the artistic level! ”

Charlie exclaimed.

Isn't it funny that this thing can end so easily?

"I don't think Deputy Director Schubert made a mistake on personal negligence, and his judgment of the detective cat cannot be taken as a correct evaluation."

"What are you going to do? The contract has been signed, and the sample can be re-reviewed. Osborne frowned.

"If you let a third-party art appraisal agency review it, I actually have no opinion." Schubert stared into Charlie's eyes.

Discussing the level of the detective cat's test draft painting alone, he is not at all guilty.

"Third-party audits? No...... There is a better way. Charlie chewed on his cigar with a sly expression.

He is also reluctant to engage in any art appraisal.

Not only is there no precedent for this, artistry is a very false thing, even if the detective cat is identified as unqualified, what can it do.

Osborne and Schubert also have excuses that can be distinguished.

Charlie hopes to put these hateful fellows on the pillar of shame along with the detective cats in a simpler, crude and convincing way.

He's going to completely destroy the reputation of this web illustrator.

"Since you are optimistic about the detective cat, how about asking her to hand in a cover draft, and letting the original Ville Rhein studio hand in a cover draft, bind them on the cover of a blank book, and do a mock market research?"

Charlie said confidently: "What better way for illustrators to prove their artistic level than the market?" The customer is the best judge. ”

Simulated market research.

After the turn of the millennium, it is no longer a new concept for large business groups, and a very mature model has formed.

A simpler mock market survey is to send out questionnaires on the streets.

Many of the polls that people conducted on Twitter and Weibo, and the questionnaires filled out by Moments, belong to this category.

Large enterprises, on the other hand, are more serious and professional in their early market research.

Many large-scale projects will be costly, and professional business consulting companies will be hired to hire customers of different ages, races, and social classes to conduct professional market analysis.

There are pre-screening sessions for movies, and 3A game masterpieces have A-test, B-test, and C-test.

Publishing companies also have their own way of doing market research.

At best, a small publisher may hold a trial reading session or contact a few book reviewers to see how the manuscript is received.

A business empire like Scholastic is much more wealthy.

In the European headquarters building on London's Financial Street, where they are now, there is a [bookstore].

From the decoration to the furnishings, from the design of the windows, to the chandeliers on the floral panels to the patterns on the oak floors.

Everything is modeled after the décor codes of Waterstones, the UK's largest and most trafficked bookstore chain.

This [bookstore] is not open to the public, and it is not a bookstore.

Everything looks like a bookstore, but what it really does is a 1:1 model test field built by the marketing department.

Bookstores can meet almost any research need related to the physical book market.

Its main design purpose is to provide the group's channel providers with the evaluation of the sales operation of physical bookstores.

Bookstores in the West, like coffee shops, are a type of social occasion.

Whether it's the temperature and flavor of the freshly ground coffee sold at the bar in the storefront, or the impact on sales in the different locations of the bookcases for different ages, or whether it is necessary to add a children's play area in a physical bookstore, or the ambient music that couples expect to hear when they go on a date in a bookstore......

The marketing department can invite volunteers to design different market research programs according to the different needs of the group.

There is basically no difficulty in determining which of the two illustrators is more popular.

Simply print a few sets of illustrator covers from different illustrators, bind them on a blank book model, and place them on the bookshelf.

Then invite 100 volunteers to visit the bookstore, count their intentions, and you're done.

The principle is not complicated, and the difficulty of the investigation is not high, just a matter of one afternoon.

"I don't agree, since the contract has been given, how can it be easily replaced." Osborne frowned, "Without this reason, it's simply humiliating." ”

"The level of the work in the Willein studio is the truth."

Charlie had a stiff neck, didn't look at Osborne, and set his sights on President Hill.

"I think...... This scenario is feasible. Osborne, I know you want to push the detective cat, or you still have to put the interests of the group first. The board's projected sales target of 30,000 copies a Chinese New Year's Eve is under great pressure, and this is not the ideal occasion to gild a newcomer. ”

President Hill's words seem pertinent.

But he is not a fool, and he can hear the bias in his words. Not only does Hill think that market research is imperative, but he doesn't think Detective Cat has any chance of winning.

It's not just President Hill.

Including the onlookers of the internal service department and the assistants and secretaries accompanying the two presidents. After they heard this proposal, most of them had a similar portrayal in their hearts.

It's not that they don't like the detective cat.

Rather, the level of the studio is too much higher than that of the average illustrator.

People are afraid of comparison.

If the passing mark of an illustrator is 30 points, a person with a score of 60 is considered a very good artist.

The painter of Villerhine will probably be able to score 85 and 90 points.

The difference between 90 points and 60 points is as obvious as the difference between 60 points and 30 points.

When an ordinary good painter encounters the Willein studio, he will look like a bad and cheap painter who can't even reach the passing grade.

This gap will be intuitively reflected in the sales volume.

It is not impossible for a lucky person to be just a few percentage points behind, and for a bad luck to lose 50 percent or even double the sales volume.

Book products, especially children's books, are destroyed by garbage illustrations, there are simply not too many.

Similar to the situation of the poor "poisonous" illustrations of Dongxia textbooks that have caused widespread criticism in society, it is also common in the European and American book markets, where child protection laws are more stringent.

If you spray a few words in a few educational magazines, parents will not dare to buy them for their children.

Charlie looked full of confidence and victory, so he didn't notice that Deputy Director Schubert beside him had a strange look at this time.

Schubert lowered his head and thought in his mind about the sample illustrations submitted by the detective cat, and then recalled the work of the Vellein studio he had seen......

His back straightened up a little.

You can do it, alas!

As long as the detective cat can continue to maintain this level, Schubert does not think that the standard of the Verlein studio will be higher than that of the detective cat.

He is confident in the artistic level of the detective cat.

Zha Li relied on market research and used the heavy punch of the Ville Rhine Studio in his hand to smash the group's confidence in the detective cat.

Turn.

Isn't this a good opportunity for the detective cat and his Schubert?

Sensei said how much fame he could bring to the detective cat by beating this old-school studio, and Schubert could also use it to gain a foothold in the art department.

Schubert's heart skipped a beat, and he noticed that President Osborne was quietly watching him, and immediately nodded quietly.

Osborne was sure in his heart, but he didn't let go of his mouth.

"I disagree. Director Charlie's proposal is bad rules. It is normal for such a powerful studio as Villerein to draw better than the detective cat, and there is no precedent for the removal of the artist for this reason. The contract has been signed, and the agent of the detective cat family will not agree to do any more market research. ”

"You can give the detective cat more compensation. You can give her a long-term contract, add a bonus, or divide it into an extra one or two or something. Hill said lightly, "If she can defeat the Villerhine studio, it doesn't hurt to give her a little more sweetness." If not, it is a big deal to pay liquidated damages to cancel the contract...... I don't have the ability, and I can't blame others. ”

Pay the contract liquidated damages, or give an extra one or two points of sharing, the president doesn't care too much.

To put it bluntly, it's all small money.

The group has at least a billion dollars in revenue every year, and if you count IP adaptations, it's remarkable that a super-bestseller can account for 5% of them.

A monster like Harry Potter may not be encountered once in decades.

The original "The Little Prince" is also among the ranks of such monsters, but today, when hundreds of millions of copies have been sold, the aura on its body has faded a lot.

One or two percent of the million-copy sales is certainly a huge benefit for individual illustrators, but for the group, it is a drop in the bucket.

Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars, even if "The Little Prince" is expected to be tens of millions of euros in total sales during the sales cycle, it may not really be a big deal for Scholastic.

What really made President Hill and Osborne so serious.

It's the huge reputation that a super-bestseller can bring.

For example, Scholastic's work has been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks in a row in the North American market.

and whether the new edition of "The Little Prince" can be selected as a recommended extracurricular book by various education committees or private schools.

Or even simply a literature textbook.

Not only can it bring a lot of stable income every year, but also the benefits of hidden channels and cooperation bridges are very important to Scholastic.

Selling textbooks is a very big deal in Europe and the United States.

It is normal for a student to spend thousands of dollars a semester to buy textbooks, but if he buys all new books, he will not be able to buy a second-hand Mustang sports car after reading middle school textbooks.

At the same time, from a personal point of view, being able to make a super bestseller is also an opportunity to show the board of directors what he is capable of.

"In this way, my colleagues in the marketing department have not discussed whether "The Little Prince" should be released as a collector's edition book gift box."

President Hill waved his hand and made the final decision on this matter. "Whether it's Detective Cat or Vellein Studio, whoever is ahead in the market research. The group will dedicate a set of illustration postcard peripherals for their works, which is considered a reward. ”

The postcard peripherals of books refer to a set of thematic postcards or illustration collections that are published with the illustrations in the book as the theme when some children's or cartoon books are published.

Disney's works, or light and anime such as "Sword Art Online" and "Attack on Titan", all have such peripherals for sale.

A light single copy of Sword Art Online may sell for more than a dozen dollars in North America, and a collector's edition commemorative gift box containing Asuna's illustration book may sell for $60 or even hundreds of dollars.

This merch can be placed not only in a book gift box, but also sold separately.

If the book itself is popular, the sales are generally not bad, the profit margins are very high, and it is built entirely around the illustrator.

This reward is really exciting.

(End of chapter)