And this game is too tempting to complain - in the first event, the audience can barely see the performance of the warriors on the field, only the heroic audience Harry riding the broom can't appreciate it.

But starting with the second project, the audience is forced to stare at a water that can't even rise for an hour, which is a bit outrageous.

And the third project was carried out in the maze, not to mention the audience, even Dumbledore didn't know what was going on inside, no wonder no one knew that the Goblet of Fire had been replaced with a door key.

Lockhart doesn't know which genius designed this kind of game. Maybe Ludo Bagman's brain full of gambling only thought about how to facilitate him to operate in the dark, so he didn't think about the game from beginning to end. Ornamental issues.

Lockhart believes that the idea of ​​fighting against fire dragons and underwater competitions is worth learning from, but he cannot allow the audience to face the air 0B all the time, which is not in the long-term interest.

In his plan, the top five competition is divided into the welcome ceremony, the opening ceremony and the selection of warriors, the opening match, the Quidditch friendly exchange and public welfare competition, the second event, the Christmas ball, the third event, and the ski exchange competition. , the fourth event, the Easter entertainment, the finals and the closing ceremony, these events can fill the Warriors' schedule from October to June next year.

For a large-scale event, the popularity of its activities must be maintained by constant exposure. Otherwise, in terms of human memory, after the novelty has passed, its popularity may subside faster than it swept in.

Like the original, the difference between the two projects is 4 months, which is simply a rhythm that is not cool.

It's not that Jones doesn't know this, but the reason why she hesitated just now is because it costs money to hold so many events.

But Lockhart answered her question—the sponsors weren't worried about him at all

They spend too much money, they only worry about too few projects, resulting in the event's lack of popularity

Enough, and business on the Muggle side has long proven that.

"It's unimaginable that someone would spend so much money on advertising." Jones sighed, even if they didn't spend the money, they were already well-known. "

"You're wrong about that, Jones." Lockhart was familiar with this. "These businessmen are eager to spend this money, and to them it's not money.

"What else can you call it if you don't call it money?" Jones thought he was joking.

"It's called saving money." Lockhart didn't look like he was joking at all. "Muggles recognized the role of advertising earlier than us, and the nature of wealth, so they could figure out a reason-- That is, spending money to advertise a brand is not spending, but saving.”

If Jones could understand the first half of the sentence, she could not understand the second half.

Seeing that she doesn't understand, Lockhart is not easy to explain. This is not only because she specializes in surgery, she may not understand it, but more importantly, even if he explains it clearly, the other party may not be interested.

Wealth can be gold, but it can also be real estate, stocks, factories, and connections, all of which can be understood by everyone, but they are all tangible.

But advertising is a special thing, because it is not a thing that exists as an entity, but an "influence" relative to people, or an impression or neurotransmitter in the brain.

But these virtual things are also wealth, because all wealth is relative to people.

Something is really valuable only when people feel it has value; something is really wealth only when people feel it is wealth.

So, how can we make more people think that their products are valuable?

- A bottle of Coca-Cola, just a little bit of leaf extract, plus sugar, soda, coloring, it can sell for several dollars, but in fact if you just look at the raw materials

In other words, it's only worth a few cents.

Similarly, a bottle of "fruit-flavored dairy products" contains thickeners, flavors, pigments, and emulsifiers that add up to less than a dime, but it costs more than four yuan for consumption in supermarkets.

Another example is diamonds, which are neither scarce nor special crystalline structures can be sold so expensively. It can only be said that all those who have participated in marketing are responsible.

Why are they so expensive? Isn't it because advertising has an effect on people, "anchoring" the value of this thing in their minds?

That is to say, for a large enterprise, the money spent on advertising is not called spending money, it can only be regarded as storing the spare funds in another place. The money spent has become an "impression" in the minds of his target customers, and it also belongs to the company's assets, and it is also a core asset.

That's why Coca-Cola isn't afraid of factories burning down - the real value of their brand is not here, but in the so many stars who compete with Pepsi every year.

As long as these stars are not out of breath, the money they spend on advertising is effectively stored in the brains of the star fan base.

Small and medium-sized merchants in the wizarding world may still be ignorant of this concept, but international chain stores like Fengya Wizard's Ritual are undoubtedly aware of it, and that's why they spend their money so happily.

As a traditional wizard, Hessian Jones may not be aware of this problem for the time being. However, Lockhart is going to wait for him to take the position, and he must find an opportunity to let the wizards learn what is business social thinking.

Chapter two hundred and seventy-ninth Yan Guo plucking

The hindsight of the Ministry of Magic officials was a good thing for Lockhart, because they were generally inexperienced, so now Lockhart can do whatever he wants.

The matter of the Big Five Tournament has been widely spread in the wizarding world. Not only the wizarding media at home and abroad have followed up on this hot topic, but even the posters of the Big Five Tournament have begun to hang in front of the sponsors' stores.

It is good to have more stakeholders involved. All participants will spontaneously help you promote this event, because the hotter the event is, the more famous their products will be.

Lockhart thought it might be right to keep the schedule a secret, as wizards had already begun to speculate in their own way about who the Big Five would be, what the event would be, and who the final champion would be.

"The Warriors of Hogwarts win at three-to-one; Durmstrang wins at four-to-one; Beauxbatons and Ilvermorny are at six-to-one, and Vagado is at eight-to-one...everyone Do you despise Africans so much?"

He just glanced at it and threw the newspaper with the odds aside, and decided to ignore it for the time being. Until the Warriors were selected, the odds were useless.

He has more important things now - before the people from those schools arrive at Hogwarts, he has to take care of the private affairs that the Prime Minister has entrusted to him.

The recent news of the Extraordinary Apothecary Association's sudden recruitment of workers caused a small earthquake in the wizarding world.

After all, the job market is so big that suddenly recruiting dozens of people as apprentices is a big deal for them.

But the point is that there aren't that many suitable people, especially fresh graduates from Hogwarts.

Shengsheng, the number is really too small.

Although the "N.E.W.Ts" exam for the seventh grade is held in June, it is reasonable to say that no one should be recruited, but the extraordinary pharmacist^], will recruit apprentices this time, so these people do not need to live in the kitchen ", just get the writing eagle from the potions class" is enough.

If the students who have passed the owl can't configure the hair growth potion, it can only be said that the education of Hogwarts is indeed wrong.

But the problem is that these students who do not need to take the "Die Yuan" have all found jobs before March, and there are very few students who start looking for jobs after the final exam results are released.

To this end, Mr. Granger had to let go of the selection criteria, select people from previous graduates, and even hired Slughorn, a retired old slug at home, as a supervisor, and finally managed to get enough to start the work. number of people.

Seeing that it was so difficult for him to even recruit production workers, Lockhart proposed to change all the glass bottles and paper labels of the sanitizer to "imported" from Muggles.

Of course, Mr. Granger could only agree. Not only was the cost of using crystal bottles too high, but the wizarding world simply did not have the ability to produce 100,000 crystal bottles a week, so he could outsource it to Muggles, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Although the shelf life of the potion will be greatly shortened when bottled in glass, considering that Muggles who buy it may not wait until the shelf life expires, so it doesn't matter, as long as the label states that the shelf life is only one month.

Then, Lockhart came to London with the first batch of germs they produced: and met the royal housekeeper under the introduction of Major.

As a housekeeper, of course, he must strictly review everything that tries to get close to the royal family, even if there is an introduction by the Prime Minister.

Fortunately, in order not to embarrass the masters he serves, the old butler also

He also went bald early, so the first experiment of this drug was the housekeeper himself.

In order to get the license as soon as possible, Lockhart gave him the medicine only one-third diluted.

The butler took the drug from the "Extraordinary Pharmacy Company", which he had never heard of before, suspiciously, and then made Lockhart wait in London for three days.

Three days later, when Lockhart saw the housekeeper again, the other party was already waiting for him with a springy face and curly gray hair.

"It's amazing, I only cut part of it tomorrow morning, and it grew out at night... It's like magic!"

"Of course." Major said flatly, "Mr. Granger of the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association has been immersed in the field of human biology for many years and is a rare expert in pharmacology. The University of Manchester is ready to award him an honorary professorship. now..."

The housekeeper didn't care much about Major's boasting, he just wanted to complete his task as soon as possible.

He turned to Lockhart, and his tone was a little more earnest and a little less domineering:

"Several His Royal Highnesses are very satisfied with the effect of this medicine. I hope that you can provide a batch of medicines as soon as possible out of respect for the royal family. Your Highness has promised that I am willing to give you appropriate remuneration for this..."

"Remuneration?" Lockhart pretended to be surprised. "Why do you think we are such shameless people? The honor of serving the royal family is our greatest reward."

The butler raised his eyebrows, noncommittal to Lockhart's remarks.

It's not that he doesn't know that the royal family has long been reduced to a mascot-like existence in the UK, and he absolutely doesn't believe it when it comes to respect or something.

Even His Royal Highness, during his military service, wouldn't a bunch of officers still run over to kick his ass?

So the old housekeeper tidied up his hair, which had grown longer in just a few minutes, and said solemnly: "You don't have to say so, no matter what kind of compensation you want, it is not for the royal family. What, on the contrary, the principle of 'reward for meritorious service' is more important to the royal family, and we will not throw away this glorious tradition for any petty profit... I hope you can understand."

"Understandable," Lockhart said hurriedly, "but we really only have this one request - I mean, let the world know that we have served the royal family."

The old butler finally understood what Lockhart meant: "You mean... to promote in the name of the royal family?"

"Yes." Lockhart affirmed his statement.

"In this case, I think you must also know that there are now a total of 800 Royal Authorized Brands in Great Britain, and all Royal Authorized Brands are members of the 'Royal Authorized Owners Association'.

If you want "Extraordinary Elixir" to become an authorized brand, I would be happy to write a letter of recommendation for you to the association. But only the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales or Her Majesty the Queen are eligible to issue a commission. Regarding this...don't know you Are you 'ready'?"

After saying the word "prepare", the butler's white-gloved fingers rubbed gently, as if to imply something.

"I know the rules..." Lockhart tried to keep himself smiling, "I'll have a lawyer sign an endorsement... ah no, power of attorney."

"Very good." The old housekeeper seemed very satisfied. "In addition, let me say that the authorization of the royal family is only valid for five years, and it will be re-examined after five years."

Lockhart tried his best to resist the urge to pull off all the white hair, and sent the housekeeper away with Major.

It is indeed worthy of the British royal family, and the ability to pluck wild gooses is not much better than that of hundreds of years ago. Queen Elizabeth II also lives up to its name. Compared with King I, the policies are indeed the same.

Lockhart now feels like those pirates in the Great Voyage Age, no matter if you rob Spain or the Netherlands, you will end up paying a share to the Queen.

But it doesn't matter, the wool comes out of the sheep anyway, and Muggle consumers in the UK will pay for it.

If Lockhart wants to tie the Extraordinary Apothecary Association to his warship, then he must show his strength, and if he wants to show his strength, he can add a ^RyalJ to the label, which is undoubtedly the most powerful. Good proof.

As for the money... it's all external. Lockhart was bleeding.

So Lockhart found a lawyer, went back to the door with a license from the pharmacy and the Prime Minister's secretary, and got an authorization document issued by Charles himself.

After getting these things done, the "Extraordinary Potion" can finally be sold legally.

I have to say that the face of the royal family is still easy to use. After Lockhart showed the certificate of authorization from the royal family, the managers of chain pharmacies such as United Boots and TLC not only agreed to sell this hair restorer in their own pharmacies: they even agreed to Give certain propaganda window resources in the pharmacy.

But they were dissatisfied with Lockhart's pricing -- they thought, if Lockhart's products were as magical as they said they could turn a bald man's head into a waterfall in a week, then Pricing should definitely not be £5.

"You can only supply 100,000 bottles a week, that is to say, only 14,000 men can enjoy the treatment of this medicine every week. But there are more than 30 million men in the UK, and the baldness rate is close to 40% , in this case, you can consider setting the price at 20 pounds." The other manager said so.

Lockhart hesitated: "Will it be too expensive and no one will buy it?"

"No no no, on the contrary, if it's only £5, then no one will dare to buy it," the managers swear by it.

As a result, Lockhart set the price of the medicine at £20, and the wholesale price at the factory at £10, leaving enough profit margins for the pharmacy.

Drugstores are of course overjoyed—they are also selling things. Of course, they like to sell best-selling items that don’t take up inventory and high-margin luxury goods, and this hair growth potion has both.

Therefore, they assured Lockhart in front of him that they would give him the best publicity resources. At the same time, before the sales data for the first week had come, they had already begun to urge Lockhart to make up for the second week. goods.

Lockhart secretly inquired and found that all the pharmacies in London, the hair growth produced by Extraordinary Pharmacy, had been sold out.

In other words, Lockhart sold nearly 1.5 Galleons for a bottle of hair growth that was diluted several times and the cost of medicinal materials was almost less than a xike. Even after deducting the royalties and Muggle taxes, Lockhart gets 1 Galleon from it.

According to his agreement with Granger, he only needs to pay Granger the price of a bottle of 8 silver siko. If all these medicines can be sold, Lockhart will earn 50,000 Galleons a week. , and the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association is the same.

Lockhart didn't intend to make much money from it, but the situation was better than he imagined, and the supply for a bottle was still in short supply for 20 pounds, so he had to "ashamed" the money.

He didn't immediately tell the Pharmacists' Association of his calculations, but waited until the second week's delivery factory before he called Granger out and showed him the bank's remittance certificate.

As you can imagine, Granger was completely insane.

"All sold?" he asked.

"It's all sold out." Loha ^ [Temple nodded.

Granger slapped himself first, then smashed everything he could see in the room in Lockhart's face, then took out his wand and began bleeding himself.

Lockhart had to cast a Binding Charm before he did more stupid things, tying him firmly to the floor to make him a little quieter.

Granger lay on the dusty ground with a smirk on his face: "Satisfied" was written between his eyes, and his mouth was still talking nonsense.

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:oo I'm going to buy 10 magic stones, 5 for potions, 5 to attach to my new car and turn everything I can see into gold! "

Lockhart was too lazy to say to him: "Okay...but before that, shouldn't you think of a way to expand the production capacity of hair growth?"

The question was so pragmatic that Mr. Granger took it to heart immediately.

"You're right, I'm going to call people from the association to a meeting... tens of thousands of Galleons a week... they'll all go crazy."

Mr. Granger wrote a letter and prepared to send owls, believing that under such a huge dividend figure, all potion pharmacists would not be moved.

- The profit of tens of thousands of Galleons a week is more than two million Galleons a year; more than ten million pounds, this is the profit of a large enterprise even on the Muggle side. And in the wizarding world; this amount of money is enough to turn the Extraordinary Apothecary Association into a fight: it has become a behemoth far exceeding the size of a few broomstick manufacturers, and even the Ministry of Magic may not be as rich as them.

Lockhart can already imagine what kind of earthquake this will set off in the wizarding world

To put it bluntly, what exactly did the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association do in this matter? What they paid was nothing more than cheap potion raw materials, hair growth that even a first-year student could do, and recruiting a few potion apprentices, there was no threshold at all.

Will anyone be jealous?

There will definitely be, not only those shabby houses, but in the face of such profits, even those pure-bloods who are still bright will not be able to hold themselves back.

Will anyone interfere?