The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 200



Only Krnovel

Episode 200 Age of Confusion (4)

CES is held every year in January.

Last year, the company gave up on CES and focused on WWDC, Apple’s developer conference, so it did not launch any excellent new products.

But this year was different.

Some premium home appliances made in collaboration with the Anor family were unveiled at CES.

President Woo Seong-il, who was present at the CES, was called into the vice president’s office to ask about his reaction.

“What is the response to CES? “I should have gone there myself, but I couldn’t because I had so much schedule.”

“The response has been very good. “Consumer appliances have received a lot of attention overall, although some people who think technology is everything have complained.”

“It’s natural that products that are closer to works of art than home appliances attract attention.”

“The problem is that buyers are not expressing their intention to purchase. “Because it is priced so high, the number of buyers is limited.”

Home appliances made by hand.

Even if there were a lot of orders, it was a product that couldn’t be sold in large quantities.

The purpose of creating a premium line in collaboration with the Anor family was to improve the image of Taewu Group.

“I’ll take care of that problem myself. But your face doesn’t look very good these days. “It looks like your body has suffered from frequent business trips.”

“My body is not what it used to be. “But I can still work for another 10 years.”

Are you asking me to leave Taewoo Electronics to you for 10 years?

I gave President Woo Sung-il many opportunities, knowingly or unknowingly.

I highly valued his political ability and acknowledged his contribution to getting the affiliate president on my side.

But now the opportunity is over.

Now it is time to take him down from his position as president of Taewoo Electronics.

“Take a short vacation.”

“no. When you die, won’t you be able to rest for the rest of your life? “I want to focus more on work now.”

He is truly a person whose acting skills are top notch.

I wish I had a little more ability.

Therefore, I tried to give him a position suited to his aptitude rather than the CEO of Taewoo Electronics.

“Go on vacation. “If you want to move to a place other than the CEO of Taewoo Electronics, you have to be mentally prepared.”

“Vice Chairman! Are you saying you are going to fire me?”

“This does not mean dismissal, but transfer to another position. Taewoo Electronics is now on track. “Many affiliates want a CEO like President Woo Sung-il.”

“I think of Taewoo Electronics as my child. Please don’t let us say goodbye. “There is still a lot we can do for Taewoo Electronics and the Vice Chairman.”

It was CEO Woo Seong-il who lowered his head and then folded his body in half as he spoke.

You probably don’t want to give up your position as president of Taewo Electronics, one of the top three companies in the Taewo Group.

In that case, you had to shake the carrot and make them resign from their position.

“You’ve been working at Taewoo Electronics for over 30 years, right?”

“It is not wrong to say that I have devoted my entire life to Taewoo Electronics.”

“So that’s the problem. “Wouldn’t you be able to sit in a higher position if you knew the situation of other affiliates well?”

“What if you say it’s a higher position?”

I pointed to the plaque with my name on it.

[Taewoo Group Vice Chairman Kim Min-jae]

“Do you mean to hand over the position of vice president to me?”

“I want to do that, but how can I do that? You need a cause and experience. That is why I am proposing to move Taewoo Electronics to another affiliate. “That’s the only way I can sit here.”

“I was stubborn without knowing the vice president’s deep intentions. I’m really sorry.”

President Woo Seong-il’s eyes were fixed on the vice president’s nameplate.

If I wasn’t in front of him, he seemed ready to reach out for the nameplate.

“If you wish, you can continue to remain at Taewoo Electronics. But to climb higher, you have to take some risks. “I will do my best to accommodate you, but there will be some areas where President Woo will need to use his personal skills to overcome them.”

“If you were born as a man, how can you live your life just settling for where you are? Even though it may be difficult, I will aim higher.”

My eyes had rolled back.

Now, even if I begged him to stay at Taewoo Electronics, he would reject me and try to leave.

“First, take a fifteen-day vacation. “When you return from vacation, there will be personnel orders.”

“During my vacation, I will return with my body and mind in a fighting state! But I would like to know which affiliate I will be moving to.”

“It’s difficult to say anything because that issue is up to the chairman to decide, not me.”

“You can’t know the test questions in advance and solve them! “I’ll wait for personnel orders to come out.”

Was President Woo Seong-il such a passionate person?

He squared his shoulders and walked out of the vice president’s office very confidently.

The head of the planning department watched this from the waiting room, and I called him into the vice president’s office with a wave of my hand.

“Why did President Woo Seong-il become like that? “He exudes the energy of a general going into battle.”

“I told him to step down from his position as president.”

“Is it hard?”

“On the surface, it will be known as a career rotation system. If you move to an affiliate and build up performance, you may be able to move up to a higher position, but on the other hand, if your performance is not good, you will have to become an advisor or head of an overseas corporation.”

“If you were to say it was a high position, it would be that of the vice president. … “If you want to get to this position, don’t you have to have some decent achievements to even hand out your business card?”

“You never know. “You may achieve unexpected results.”

It was truly the last chance given to him.

Would you say it’s an opportunity?

President Woo Seong-il is now on the guillotine, and if he escapes the guillotine through his personal skills, he will receive a huge reward.

But it took a miracle to survive the guillotine.

Miracle was a word used only when something impossible was accomplished successfully.

“Considering President Woo Seong-il’s tendencies, it seems difficult.”

“I think so. So, find an affiliate company that President Woo Seong-il might go to. “It’s a difficult place with poor performance.”

“We will find a suitable location and report back to you.”

“More than that, how did the Super Bowl advertising contract proceed this time?”

Super Bowl held in the United States.

Although it is an American football tournament that is unfamiliar to Korea, it is the largest sports tournament in the United States with more than 100 million people watching.

Because there was no promotional effect as high as the Super Bowl advertisement, it was necessary to spend more than 200 million won per second to win the advertisement.

Taewoo Group’s entry into the U.S. market was in full swing.

In particular, a Super Bowl advertisement was needed to promote Taewoo Motors and Taewoo Electronics.

“We are in final negotiations. The vice president told us to occupy the best time slot even if it meant spending more money, so we set a higher advertising cost than other companies. “It is approximately over 9 billion won.”

“One advertisement costs 9 billion won. Well, it’s that effective. And please be sure to insert the advertising text I mentioned.”

“The production of the advertisement has already been completed, and the insertion of the phrase mentioned by the Vice President has been completed. However, advertising agencies are raising doubts about the phrase because it does not fit well with the Taewo Group.”

“You will know that when you watch.”

2004 Super Bowl.

In many ways, it would be the greatest Super Bowl of all time.

We decided on an advertising phrase that would make the most of that opportunity.

“By the way, are you planning to watch the Super Bowl? “Your U.S. business trip schedule overlaps with the Super Bowl.”

“I don’t really like crowded places, so I don’t plan on being intuitive.”

It was a Super Bowl filled with unpleasant incidents.

I didn’t want to go to the stadium myself and witness unpleasant scenes.

“So you are visiting the United States on some other business?”

“Yes. ah! “And there’s someone I want to meet before I go to America, but I can’t remember his name.”

“If you just give us a little information, we can arrange it for you at the planning office.”

“I run an Internet-related company, and I’m probably developing a video sharing system right now. “I heard somewhere that someone was starting such a business, but I never asked who it was.”

“That level of information is enough. “I will find the company’s location and name later today and report it to you.”

Taewoo Group’s information network was enormous.

In particular, Taewoo Group’s planning office had better information than most police stations.

Because the person I was looking for was a businessman, I was able to find it more quickly.

“I found it! CEO Kim Ik-soo, who produces screen savers, is visiting various places to raise investment money to create a video playback platform.”

“Did you come to Taewoo Group too?”

“That’s right. “We came to visit at the end of last year, but did not invest due to the low probability of business success.”

The planning director’s insight was not bad.

With the advent of the smartphone era, video playback platforms are receiving a lot of attention.

It was a difficult business to succeed in Korea, and the head of the planning department had already figured out that and did not invest.

“I’d like to meet you sometime.”

“We will schedule it as soon as possible.”

The planning director went outside for a moment and spoke on the phone.

It took less than a minute and I came back with good results.

“CEO Kim Ik-soo said he would come to Taewo Group right away. By the way, Vice President, do you plan to invest in a video playback platform?”

“There is interest, but it is a difficult business to succeed in Korea. From server problems to network usage fees and copyrights. “You can become popular, but it’s hard to avoid losses.”

“I thought so too, so I didn’t submit the investment report to the vice president.”

“Still, the fact that he even thought of this makes him seem like he has outstanding abilities, so I’d like to meet him sometime.”

While waiting.

The planning director brought information related to CEO Kim Ik-soo.

As photos were not available, the information was in text format, and by the time the report had been read, CEO Kim Ik-soo visited the vice president’s office.

“thank you for the invitation. This is Start System Kim Ik-soo!”

“Come and sit down. “I was interested in the investment proposal sent to Taewo Group and requested a meeting.”

“Thank you for your interest. “We plan to challenge the video platform market with Fantasy TV.”

“But there seemed to be a lot of problems. “In particular, it is a structure in which we can never see a profit due to issues with server costs and network usage fees.”

“We plan to solve that problem through advertising.”

In the case of YouTube, revenue was also generated through advertising.

However, YouTube was a global company, and CEO Kim Ik-soo’s platform targets the Korean market.

Although the economy is said to be reviving after the foreign exchange crisis.

Naturally, compared to the global market, the number of companies requesting advertising was bound to be small.

“To solve this problem through advertising, the advertising must be very long. “That’s something customers never like.”

“As the number of users increases, the price of advertising can be set higher. If that happens, we can turn a profit!”

CEO Kim Ik-soo was full of confidence.

I looked at his face to check the details, and found that he had very good abilities.

Of course, his abilities are excellent.

He created a video platform a year before YouTube.

Even if it cannot be said to be the world’s first, it is clear that it is at least the first video platform in Korea.

“No matter how much you increase the advertising price, it is very difficult to succeed. In your opinion, there is only one way for a video platform to succeed.”

“Which way?”

“This is a way to become a video platform that dominates the global market.”

“… … “Is that possible?”

“It might be possible if we receive an investment of tens of billions of won. But if there is not enough investment, it will collapse before it gets back on track.”

I scared CEO Kim Ik-soo.

Because he already knew what the video platform he would create would be like.

But if he held my hand, his future and the future of the video platform he would create could change.