Chapter Ten: Layout in Neon
Having personally experienced the development of Neon's economy, culture, and entertainment, John realized that his previous layout was too simplistic. Facing such a vast Neon market, just comics, animation, music, and Television Stations were far from enough. Neon's cultural and entertainment market required more investment and a more detailed layout.
Time waits for no one, and he truly didn't have much time left; there were only three years until the Plaza Accord. Within three years, he had to accelerate his investment in Neon and quicken the pace of expansion in Neon. Only then could he seize enough profits from the Neon market and complete his plan!
To create comics, the first thing to understand is the sales situation of comics. Currently, Neon's retail industry is a very traditional sector with numerous bookstores and record stores, where competition is fierce and has even begun a slow decline. Such a traditional industry, once overly expanded, will inevitably lead to an industry crisis!
He also needed to plan ahead in retail. The target was not those bookstores or record stores, but convenience stores, or more precisely, the acquisition of 7-Eleven. However, after more than ten days of consideration, John had to abandon this idea. It was not suitable to focus energy on impossible goals within a limited time. Now, his funds were extremely valuable, and the price of acquiring 7-Eleven was too high for him to bear.
He needed to shift targets now. If he waited until he had sufficient funds to act, it might already be too late! In today's Neon, opportunities flash by. By the time he had ample funds, 7-Eleven's value would also have increased exponentially.
John also didn't know when he would have ample funds. How to use his limited funds to complete the layout of the retail industry—that was the most important thing. He couldn't just wait; he needed to take the initiative and seize everything he wanted!
John was well aware of how crazy Neon's development became after the Plaza Accord and how terrifying the speed of land price growth was. Based on this, he had to complete the layout of Neon properties before the Plaza Accord. Only by doing this would his development in Neon not be affected by the Plaza Accord, and he would also be able to obtain massive profits when the real estate bubble arrived!
For a moment, John even considered using his 20 million pounds and abandoning speculation in gold, but this idea was quickly rejected. Compared to Neon real estate investment, 20 million pounds wouldn't even make a splash. This amount of capital was far from enough for the layout of Neon real estate. He couldn't abandon his financial investment plan just to lay out Neon!
To establish his own Consortium, the bank was the core. The goal had been set, and those 20 million pounds, along with the 5 million US dollars, were the start-up capital. The bank was the foundation of the Consortium. No matter what, he couldn't abandon the financial plan for investing in Neon real estate; acting foolishly by putting the cart before the horse was not an option!
Although traditional industries face fierce competition, they are not impossible to enter. As long as an entry point is found, the situation will quickly open up. Bookstores can be considered a good choice. With bookstores, there must also be publishing houses. Light novels must be put on the agenda, and publishing houses cannot only be used for printing comics; expanding publishing is an inevitable choice.
In the traditional field, competing with other publishing houses in Neon would inevitably face huge resistance, which was not the result he wanted! Light novels, fashion magazines, and entertainment magazines became the priority. Unfortunately, Neon's newspaper industry was even more troublesome than Television Stations, with many restrictions on foreign capital. Otherwise, the newspaper industry would be a good choice!
"Matsumoto, the comic company is on the right track now. You need to expand publishing. Fashion magazines and light novels will be our next focus. It's best to establish our own library to strengthen our IP. As for the comic weekly, don't rush the work. We have plenty of time and are not in a hurry. We are a full-color weekly. As long as there are no major mistakes, we can definitely sweep the entire Neon comic market. Excellence is our focus!"
"Boss, how should we choose the advertisements for the weekly? Should we cooperate with companies like Dentsu, or run them ourselves?" Matsumoto Taro raised the big question of advertisements. A comic weekly's profits come not only from weekly sales but also largely from advertisement revenue. In fact, advertisement revenue might not be less than the profits from weekly sales, not to mention merchandise. Of course, it was too early to discuss merchandise now.
John frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't worry about the advertisement issue for now. We'll put advertisements aside. It's too early to talk about advertisements. Our positioning is not the Neon market, but globalization. We won't discuss advertisements for half a year. With half a year for accumulation, I believe our Phoenix Comics Weekly will sweep the global comic market. It won't be too late to discuss advertisements then. Talking about them now would only benefit the advertisement businesses!"
His boss was too confident; this was Matsumoto Taro's most direct feeling. The stronger his boss's confidence, the more Matsumoto Taro believed that Phoenix Comics Weekly would be a huge success. Although Matsumoto did not have a deep understanding of the comic market, one thing was very clear.
Quality. The quality of their comics far surpassed other comic weeklies, and they were in color. They could definitely sweep the entire comic market, whether in Neon or globally, their weekly would dominate!
Matsumoto Taro also had some understanding of how much advertisement revenue a best-selling comic weekly could generate in half a year. His boss was willing to give up such a large profit just to accumulate sales and expand sales. This showed how optimistic his boss was about the future of the comic weekly!
Any advertisement revenue is based on sales data. In half a year, if the comic weekly sold well, or even swept the global comic market, it would undoubtedly be an astronomical figure. Perhaps their weekly could break ten million, because Phoenix Comics Weekly was based on the global market, not just the Neon market.
"Boss, what should be our positioning and direction for fashion magazines? We've never done fashion magazines before and have no experience in this area!" Matsumoto Taro was somewhat concerned about fashion magazines. This was his first time dealing with a fashion-related magazine, and he had no experience whatsoever. In contrast, Matsumoto Taro felt that doing light novels was much better than fashion magazines. The target audience for fashion magazines was too narrow, and sales were a big problem, requiring reliance on advertisements for support. The most critical point was that fashion magazines were monthly or bi-monthly, which severely impacted sales!
When deciding to create a fashion magazine, John had already considered this issue. Creating a fashion magazine was not a spur-of-the-moment decision; it had been thoroughly considered. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation are topics no one can avoid. Founding a fashion magazine was preparation for establishing a clothing company in the future. Even if it didn't make money, it didn't matter as long as it broke even, or even lost a little money, which was acceptable. Clothing revenue would be the main source of profit!
"Girls. We will start with fashion magazines for girls. If there are no issues, we'll then do boys' magazines, and then expand to high-end luxury magazines! In short, take one step at a time, don't rush, and prioritize stability, just like with comics. Color editions, and strive for excellence!" For any magazine to succeed, the most basic requirement is to strive for excellence!
In just over ten days, John once again leveraged his family's power and successfully acquired a small record company in Neon, giving Legendary Records a branch company in Neon. However, this record company could barely sustain itself and wasn't making any money at all.
Fortunately, John wasn't concerned about the immediate gains or losses. A small record company, even if it lost money, wouldn't lose much. With suitable singers, it could easily turn things around. He had a vast amount of songs in his mind, so he wasn't worried about the record company lacking room for development!
With a record company established, singers became the top priority. This required the Elite Agency to act. Also within those ten-plus days, he acquired another small agency in Neon, Neon Elite Agency, as a branch of Elite Agency!
John regretted that many well-known singers in Neon had already debuted, such as Seiko Matsuda, Naoko Kawai, Nakamori Akina, and Kyoko Koizumi from the '80 and '82 groups. He could only turn his attention to other targets.
A newly established agency, although fully structured, making it a top idol agency was not an easy task. Even with someone like John, a small agency's capabilities were limited; it couldn't cultivate too many idol singers. Its foundation restricted the agency's development.
The first batch of talent cultivated by Neon Elite Agency should ideally be female idols, between three to five people, no more. The company didn't have that many resources to provide. Given his layout in Neon, cultivating three to five people was most suitable, and all the resources he had could only achieve this much.
For a newly established agency to grow and thrive, it's not about casting a wide net but focusing on cultivating elites. Just as the company's name implies, it only cultivates elites, which is also John's true intention. If they are not elites, the company will not cultivate them. Every idol who debuts must become a huge success, which requires meticulous cultivation! Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to waste here, so he could only delegate the work to his subordinates, to the scouts. His valuable time would not be wasted on these minor matters!