Chapter 89

So, this time, she thought they would indulge together with those who had worked hard.

"Hehe, that's great. It's really great."

"Seriously... Where else can you find a workplace like this... Mr. Choi, you're the best!"

Of course, there was another meaning to it.

This OEM contract, with Amuse as the principal and Ilpum Korea as the subcontractor, was expected to lead to a corporate conversion of the café Amuse soon.

Just before it would become a more complex and massive business entity.

This might be the last time the three of us could have a modest celebration.

"Then, let's just go through one more cycle."

"Yes!"

*

After leaving the factory, I called Choi Jeong-hyun.

"Yes, I met with the production management team leader, had a conversation, and passed on the process. He seems like a good person."

[That's fortunate. Since he's so meticulous, there shouldn't be any issues with quality control. The problem is the delivery size...]

He was asking how many bottles would be delivered to MarketKiller each day.

"Based on the current 9-hour operation, we can deliver up to 3,300 bottles."

[Hmm... Should we reduce it? To about 1,000 bottles.]

"What? Why do you think that?"

[You know, it's called hunger marketing. It's good to make the 'sold out' sign appear quickly during the initial launch.]

"Oh, you mean scarcity marketing."

It was a marketing technique I was familiar with.

So-called 'open run.'

Reducing the supply so that it sells out immediately.

Then consumers would naturally seek it out.

The scarcity would lead to word-of-mouth promotion.

This method had been proven effective in various fields, from luxury goods to cars, electronics, and confectionery.

[Yes, it seems Jin Daebu also thinks the same.]

"Hmm, I disagree."

[...Is that so?]

I wasn't unaware of this.

However, there were also counterexamples where companies suffered significant setbacks by relying too heavily on hunger marketing.

"Mr. Daebu, nowadays, consumers also have strong negative feelings about hunger marketing. They wonder if you can't predict sales or if you're intentionally making it scarce, treating them like fools."

[Yes, I've heard that too.]

"But the purpose of selling this is for the brand, to promote Amuse and Ilpum."

[That... is true.]

"Ultimately, our ultimate goal is to provide a product that satisfies consumers. Do we really need to use such transparent tactics?"

[...]

"Let's supply the maximum amount we can produce first. Let's appeal to as many consumers as possible."

[Ha-ha... I understand. Since Amuse is in charge of product planning and is the 'principal' in the contract, I'll trust you this time.]

It was the first time.

Choi Jeong-hyun referred to me as 'Amuse' rather than 'President Shin' or 'Yoo-won.'

A rare sense of distance.

But it didn't really bother me.

Because it felt like I was being recognized as an equal partner.

"Thank you always, Mr. Daebu."

My thoughts remained unchanged.

"And... 3,300 bottles could sell out, right?"

*

Launch day.

MarketKiller headquarters.

Jin Ye-na, feeling anxious, bit her nails.

At first, she didn't realize how much was riding on 'Amuse Cold Brew.'

However, during the launch preparation process.

[Mr. Jin, is this condition reasonable? If we give this company such a special favor, won't other companies protest? It will be disadvantageous for us in terms of fees and promotions.]

Internally, she faced strong opposition from the executives.

[Mr. Jin, Blue Place has signed an exclusive contract with Hello Public. They're pulling out from our side. I wonder what kind of conditions they offered to give up so many distribution channels.]

Hello Public was fiercely chasing from behind.

[The moment Hello Public takes the MS No. 1 spot, we'll lose the peanut butter market. The first-mover advantage will be gone. Do your best.]

The overseas private equity fund that had invested billions in MarketKiller had been relentlessly pressuring for performance.

'Damn.'

But Jin Ye-na still believed in herself.

In her business sense.

In the person she had chosen.

'The atmosphere is good so far.'

The more she saw Shin Yoo-won, the more she felt she had made the right decision.

At first, it was a cold brew with only 2,000 SNS followers and a difficult positioning.

But in just one month, a lot had changed.

On the eve of the launch day.

Posts about 'Saya Brew' were reappearing in the Instagram feeds and live streams of celebrities like Im Hee-ju and Yoo Si-sung.

'What did the coffee truck do to get these people to cheer for it?'

Of course, Jin Ye-na had no idea about the behind-the-scenes involvement in film production.

Additionally, on YouTube, led by 'GuldeokGuldeok Eating TV,' several channels were featuring explorations of Café Amuse.

'Is this... because of that Halloween party? The photos were incredible. Is that girl the strong competitor Mr. Choi mentioned? Damn.'

The most talked-about item was still the cold brew.

The reviews from YouTubers were good, and the Instagram reactions were hot.

It was the first time she had seen a café's Instagram grow so quickly.

[amuse.only]

[Followers: 18,893]

It was almost hitting 20,000 in just a month.

Dozens of comments were piling up on the 'D-Day' posts that had been continuously updated this week.

Clearly, Amuse and Amuse's cold brew had a lot of buzz.

Since it was an exclusive contract with MarketKiller.

If this cold brew became a proper issue, it could completely turn the tide.

'For online platforms, issue-making is the top priority.'

Only 10% of consumers who search for a product and buy it leave with just that product, according to data.

Usually, when one product becomes a topic, it has a sales promotion effect several times its price.

'This can't fail...'

What particularly bothered her was.

Shin Yoo-won's rejection of hunger marketing.

'There's no better guarantee than a sold-out mark on an online shopping mall... but there's no choice.'

"Ah! Ow."

Jin Ye-na pulled her nail out of her mouth and looked at the monitor again.

A message appeared.

[Mr. Daebu, it's one minute before the Amuse Cold Brew launch.]

Jin Ye-na, as always when a core product launches, held her phone in one hand and her mouse in the other.

And at the moment of launch.

She checked the MarketKiller website and app like a hawk.

Popup banner, OK.

Main page banner, OK.

Side banner, OK.

Discount coupon target, OK.

2x points event target, OK.

Ilpum Korea special exhibition, OK.

Cold brew product exposure at the front of the special exhibition items, OK.

'Phew.'

All promotions were applied normally.

'The product page should be fine.'

This time, she typed 'Amuse Cold Brew' into the search bar and entered the product page.

But a gray thumbnail appeared, and she couldn't access the product page.

'What, the product update hasn't been done yet?'

She immediately picked up the intercom.

"Team Leader Jo, check the Amuse Cold Brew product page. I told you this was important, right? Are you not going to do it properly?"

[Ah, Mr. Jin, that's not it.]

"What's not it?"

[The server can't process it right now, and the actual product is sold out.]

It wasn't that the update hadn't been done.

Sold out... 3,300 bottles, right?

"I see."

She hung up and refreshed the page.

'You mean it sold out while I was checking the promotions? Did it take a minute? That's impossible.'

This isn't a luxury item or Air Jordans.

Thinking there might be some mistake.

Jin Ye-na nervously hit the refresh button.

Then her phone rang.

'This will prevent me from checking the app!'

She was about to hang up, but the caller was 'Shin Yoo-won.'

Jin Ye-na immediately answered.

"Yes, Mr. Shin."

[Mr. Jin, did you see it?]

"Ah, sorry. The product page is currently..."

[Hunger marketing, it worked, didn't it?]

What? Really sold out?

And at the same time, on the screen.

A shining icon and seven letters embedded in it.

[SOLD OUT]

"Yes!"

Jin Ye-na jumped up from her seat, raised both arms, and shouted.

Forgetting she was on a call.

"It works! I said it would work, you brats! Why wouldn't it work, what do you know about it!"

Shin Yoo-won, hearing her outburst, chuckled.

Today is a double celebration, isn't it?

[It seems you were very worried.]

At Shin Yoo-won's words, Jin Ye-na stopped her fists in mid-air.

'Oh...!'

Then she quietly sat back down and composed her voice.

"Um, it's not that. I always thought it would go well, but there were a lot of negative comments. Who else could have grown from a 6-pyeong office to this point? People were just sticking their noses in... Ah, anyway."

This isn't it, Jin Ye-na shook her head and smiled.

"Congratulations, Mr. Daebu. It's a great start."

[Thank you. It seems to be thanks to MarketKiller's aggressive promotions.]

"Ah... No, we just followed the contract."

While she answered formally, Jin Ye-na was still baffled.

It sold out while she was checking the popups and banners. What does he mean by 'thanks to the promotion'?

[But, how long is our promotion running?]

As expected, Shin Yoo-won brought up something else.

Jin Ye-na, reading his intention, rubbed her forehead.

"Two weeks. Double the special exhibition items."

[Ah, two weeks... double... I see.]

'This guy, is he pushing it?'

Jin Ye-na calmly replied.

"Yes, our platform has 30,000 items, Mr. Daebu. Having the main banner for two weeks is really huge. We can't do more than that."

But an unexpected response came back.

[Ah, of course. I really appreciate it. But, how about taking down the main banner for now?]

"Huh?"

[Our product sold out before the banner went up. There's no point in it being exposed now, so how about taking it down?]

"..."

What is this guy thinking?

There are people who insist on having the main banner, but no one asks to take it down.

[If sales slow down later, you can put it back up for the contracted period.]

But he wasn't wrong.

For MarketKiller, it would be more beneficial to expose other products since this one was already sold out.

"Yes, I understand... I'll adjust it."

[I hope you can maintain the promotion period as it is.]

"Ah, two weeks as planned."

[Yes. Actually, it didn't have much effect today. If MarketKiller, such a capable organization, starts new work now, it can be done in an hour, right?]

"Right."

It wasn't a difficult request.

Even if it went up for 5 or 10 minutes, it wouldn't make sense to deduct that from the two weeks.

Jin Ye-na, holding her phone to her face, immediately issued instructions via the company messenger.

- Take down the Amuse Cold Brew main banner.

- Temporarily put up the self-retention policy banner.

- Discuss with the store to see if we can move up the banner schedule.

MarketKiller started as a startup.

Direct and immediate decision-making was its characteristic.

'But...'

Jin Ye-na quickly asked.

"I'll take down the main banner. But what about the popup banner? The 4-day one, should we remove it too?"

[No, change the popup banner to the Ilpum Korea special exhibition.]

"The Ilpum Korea special exhibition is already in the special price tab."

[Still, put it on the popup banner.]

"Yes, I understand."

Well, that's their decision.

"But, Mr. Daebu, is this the maximum capacity? 3,300 bottles?"

[That's true, but we can increase it.]

"How much?"

[We need to talk with Mr. Choi, but I think we can go up to 5,000 bottles.]

"Great. Increase it as soon as possible. If more is needed, do it."

With the product selling out in just a minute.

5,000 bottles weren't enough.

[Of course. Thank you, Mr. Jin.]

"No, thank you. And tonight..."

Jin Ye-na checked her appearance in the desk mirror and spoke confidently.

"Let's have dinner together. As a celebration."

[Ah... Is everything done already?]

What is he talking about?

"What's done?"

[Ah, no. We're having a small celebration with the Amuse members. I'll hang up now.]

"Huh?"

[Mr. Jin, you're the best. I'll contact you again.]

"Okay, good job."

Beep beep beep──

Jin Ye-na put down her phone roughly.

In a fit of anger, she typed.

- Recalculate the Amuse Cold Brew sales projection. How can you do such a shoddy job after we've invested so much in data mining? If you had predicted it properly from the beginning, would I have been criticized?

But she deleted it all before hitting enter.

"..."

She knew it wasn't because of that.

She knew it better than anyone.

*

Amuse Shinchon branch.

Today, they decided to close the store and have lunch with the Essential Duo. They would also monitor the MarketKiller launch and celebrate.

'It sold out before we could celebrate, hehe.'

Chef Choi Pil-su was showing off his cooking skills, honed from years in France, in the kitchen.

"Almost ready, get ready to eat."

"Yes!"

She immediately placed the napkin on her lap.

During the call with Jin Ye-na, various aromas had been stimulating her senses, making it hard to wait.

But Im Su-jeong still couldn't put down her phone.

"Mr. Choi, people are still posting on the inquiry board, hehe."

"Really? What are they saying?"

"Is it really sold out? Is it just the start of sales? When will it be restocked? What time will the restock be?"

Im Su-jeong read out the posts, pretending to be a real customer, while Choi Pil-su approached with a large plate in both hands.

"Let's start with Mr. Choi."

On the table covered with a white cloth.

Next to the wine and tableware set up in advance, a dish with a visual appeal rivaling that of a high-end restaurant was placed.

I couldn't have imagined such quality.

"Did you really make all of this, Mr. Pil-su?"

"Hehe."

"Wow... I need to take a photo first."

I took a photo from the angle that looked the most delicious.

First, one plate.

Clams that looked fresh, sprinkled with green parsley powder, on a bed of spaghetti.

Click─

But the dish on the other plate was something I had never seen before, and it was the source of the intense meat aroma.

It looked like braised ribs but wasn't.

It had more broth than braised ribs.

The appearance with carrots, mushrooms, and parsley made it look like a Western dish.

"Mr. Pil-su, what is this? Is it a Western-style braised ribs?"

"It's called Beef Bourguignon, a French beef stew. It's similar to braised ribs and should suit your taste."

Ugh, I can't wait to try it.

"Wow, you should open a restaurant."

"No, I only cook like this at home."

Choi Pil-su brought his own plate and sat down.

"Here, let's have it!"

I uncorked the wine I had prepared and poured a glass for each of them. They were the ones I had made last night with Tam's help.

And a short, swift toast.

"Success for Cold Brew! Great job, everyone! Cheers!"

The three glasses clinked together with a pleasant sound.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold! Bon appétit, Mr. Pil-su!"