As the company developed and Random Entertainment grew stronger, more people were working for Jiang Juyou, leaving fewer opportunities for Cong Lixia to be useful.
This made him seize every chance to emphasize his importance.
During those few seconds in the elevator, Jiang Juyou listened to his constant chatter.
"I'm the most capable assistant."
"I'm not a weak soldier."
"I'm a loyal dog."
He applied every descriptor he could find to himself, good or bad, making Jiang Juyou's brows furrow.
She remained silent until they entered the office. Only after closing the door did she speak, "Couldn't you have checked the meaning of those words before using them?"
"I know what they mean," he replied, sounding rather proud.
"..."
Jiang Juyou took her phone from her pocket and placed it on the desk before sitting down. "If you're bored, you can play some games."
"I'm not bored. Do you want to play games?" Cong Lixia asked.
Jiang Juyou rolled up her sleeves and shook her head, "No thanks, I have a pile of work to do."
Upon hearing about work, Cong Lixia appropriately closed his control panel and disappeared from her sight.
He had barely been quiet for two seconds when Jiang Juyou said, "If you're not bored, you can watch me work."
Before she could even finish speaking, the control panel reappeared in front of her.
...He really was like a puppy.
-
With the momentum from their show and the Timetrain brand behind them, the public showed unprecedented interest in Random Entertainment's two new groups.
Especially the AIcho group.
Initially thought to be Random Entertainment's second group, they became the third after another group was launched ahead of them. Unlike Timetrain, who debuted riding their popularity wave, AIcho remained dormant for half a year.
Contrary to expectations of an early album release, they mostly performed cover songs at the music festival, with many being their popular numbers from the survival show.
Yet this was enough to catch attention. Like their first public appearance, that freshness still had a striking impact.
The word "ambition" seemed permanently attached to these four members - it came up whenever they appeared.
Perhaps intentionally planned by their management team, the music festival content aired during their debut promotion period.
Their debut profile photos alone drew considerable attention, but when the official album teaser photos were released, it completely ignited public anticipation for AIcho.
"Title: Gossip Discussion/Curious what new plans Random Entertainment has."
"Expectations were already maxed out from the debut profile photos, with superfans creating fan sites at lightning speed. It's only been a few days, but tensions are already rising."
"The joint voting during the finals remains legendary - probably the most harmonious day in their fans' careers."
"Group fans can cry over that memory now."
"From what we can see, Random Entertainment is taking this seriously - the album production team includes famous international music producers, and I heard their MV production team has won awards."
"With half a year of preparation, they must have plenty prepared."
Comments:
"Yeah right, the company's only rejects are worth three."
"According to the schedule, they should release album details today. Kind of excited."
"Their album probably won't sell more than the five androids, but wonder how the songs will be?"
"Are the five androids about to make a comeback too?"
"Random Entertainment holds up half the idol industry, this winter break is going to be crazy."
"I come to this group for entertainment so often, I know them all now even though I'm not a fan."
"Oh! Album details are out!"
"Shocked by Random Entertainment's grand scale, is this what big companies are like..."
"Wow..."
The discussion thread was full of speculation about how Random Entertainment would manage their girl group. Today happened to be the day for releasing album details, and while everyone was chatting, they suddenly received notifications across various platforms.
AIcho's official blog released the album configuration details.
The album comes in vinyl version, photo card version, and PhotoBook version. Photo cards and PhotoBooks are available in both individual and group versions.
These ordinary album configurations somehow caused an uproar among casual observers. After fans controlled the comments for a while, they noticed likes were coming in slowly and scrolled up to see what had excited the general public about the album configurations.
"??? Who's the collaboration with?"
"Wait what?"
"Did I read that wrong?"
"? In C-pop?"
"Huh...?"
The album configuration was standard, following current industry norms, but what contained them was extraordinary.
Idol group albums are meant to convey visual design and concepts - some groups make their albums like pizza boxes, cake boxes, or include a bag.
AIcho combined these elements--
"First time seeing a luxury bag included with album purchase..."
"Well, this will be my first luxury bag."
"Thanks, I'm about to own a Letizia."
AIcho's album is designed like a magazine, with layout and cover similar to current fashion magazines, and on the cover, they're all wearing bags.
The magazine is called AICHO, and the featured brand is LETIZIA, a 47-year-old Italian luxury brand.
This brand is very familiar in C-entertainment - younger actresses have all been invited to their shows. The brand positions itself towards youth, with main customers being girls in their teens and twenties.
While not at the level of LV, CHANEL, or GUCCI in luxury status, it's not cheap - one bag costs 30-40 thousand yuan.
It's well-known in C-entertainment because rising actresses have all been invited, with various fan bases speculating about what title their favorite would receive. While actress fans were still debating, this came along.
"Title: Gossip Discussion/Has L gone crazy?"
"I've seen collaborations before, but nothing like this... Shouldn't domestic PR stop this? It'll ruin the brand's reputation. Bags that usually cost 30-40 thousand yuan suddenly becoming album freebies - have they lost their minds?"
Comments:
"?"
"What about luxury brands collaborating with bubble tea? Should they apologize with their heads bowed?"
"It's fine, they're not mass-producing. Only pre-orders get bags, and you need to buy the complete set, one chance per ID."
"Random Entertainment knows how to boost sales, they've got me convinced."
"It's win-win, how is this devaluing?"
"Wasn't interested before, but now they've got my attention."
"The brand reposted on Weibo, saying it's meant to be young girls' first shoulder bag."
"It's clearly win-win, just look at the buzz it's creating."
"The complete set costs nearly 1000 yuan, not cheap at all."
"Nearly 1000 for the complete set??? Random Entertainment is that expensive now?"
"The vinyl is expensive - it's colored vinyl, with different colors depending on pre-order timing. Pink vinyl this week, purple next week. The vinyl alone is nearly 400 yuan, not to mention five photo card sets and five PhotoBook sets, totaling over 900 yuan."
What shocked both casual observers and fans was AIcho's debut album collaboration with LETIZIA, with bag designs inspired by the AI album.
Though made of nylon, the value comes from the brand - this is authentic LETIZIA.
This format of selling "magazines" with gifts follows Japanese magazine sales methods, with the LETIZIA bag as the included gift.
AIcho's title track is called "Luxury."
The lyrics are about self-love and self-worth, not needing to rely on anyone or seek validation from others, because "I" am already a unique and precious luxury item.
This move suddenly boosted expectations for physical album sales, which weren't initially high. While they might not surpass Timetrain, reaching one million copies should be easily achievable.
The effectiveness of this promotional strategy became evident on the same day. After the album configuration was released, Galaxy immediately opened the purchase channel, breaking through 300,000 copies just that afternoon. This achievement was reached even without fans activating the bundled merchandise links. If the dedicated fans started competing with each other, the growth would be even more staggering.
To ensure everything would go smoothly for AIcho's debut day announcements, their staff spent an entire day double-checking and confirming everything to prevent any mishaps.
The collaboration with luxury brands proved to be an incredibly effective strategy in generating both attention and trending topics.
While the previously released album preview photos only attracted attention from idol fans, after the album configuration was announced, all subsequent promotions saw different results with nearly exponential growth in engagement.
As their data metrics increased, so did their commercial value. Unlike idol groups like Timetrain that relied solely on fandom support, AIcho had set their sights on a much broader target from the beginning.
"These four girls have big ambitions, and their team's ambitions are no smaller," was Jiang Juyou's assessment after understanding their management team's intentions.
January 23rd marked AIcho's official debut. They had a debut performance scheduled for that day, and had been recording their stage performances several days prior. Although online reviews of their stage performance had already leaked, the official release of their music would happen on this day.
The album was officially launched on all major platforms at midnight, and by 1 AM, the news had broken the internet.
#Pei Zhiping Named REPU Beauty Global Ambassador#
#Han Lemi Named FAL Ambassador#
#Si Yanyu Named Eyecare Asia-Pacific Ambassador#
#Yu Dan Named Prona Ambassador#
#AIcho Group Appointed as LETIZIA Asia-Pacific Ambassador#
Netizens in the trending topics could only respond in shock:
"Holy cow..."
"Oh my god..."
"No way..."
Fans: Overwhelmed by their intense career ambitions~
-
