59: Shall we go big this time?

[Youth can be enjoyed, but it must never be wasted on waiting—Quality for Young People, Meilan series, will meet you next month.]

The posters and slogans both had a strong "used colloquially" style: minimalist posters and poetic advertising copy.

You have to admire the craftsmanship of "used colloquially"; otherwise, Old Huang wouldn't be known as the Carpenter.

It was all about the craftsmanship.

"Meilan series? What does that mean? Is Old Huang entering the low-end market too?"

"This slogan is clearly the work of Bai Yongxiang. 'Quality for Young People'—I love this slogan. I'm looking forward to the surprises 'used colloquially' can bring us."

"With Old Huang's craftsmanship, the low-end market will definitely see a huge leap in aesthetics, if nothing else. Look at those hundred-yuan phones from Red Star and Xiaomi—they're cheap, sure, but they're also ugly as hell."

"The price can be a bit higher, but the aesthetics must be better. I only bought Fruit because I thought shining 2 and hongmi 1 were too ugly."

"Get out of here, person above. Is it really because the phones are ugly? I don't even want to call you out."

The heated discussions from netizens put this manufacturer, which insisted on being 'small and beautiful,' back on the trending search list.

Seeing such hype on the very first day of the pre-launch warm-up, Old Huang, who had been angry about being poached, finally felt a bit better.

"'Quality for Young People'? Has the Meilan series been released ahead of schedule?"

"Where did Old Huang get the money to make low-end phones?"

Chen Chen looked at the trending list with a head full of questions. Normally, Old Huang wouldn't have launched the Meilan series until next year, but now it was a full year early.

Could it be that shining 2 and the Hongmi series provoked him?

In his previous life, Xiaomi released Hongmi at the end of July 2013. As the saying goes, 'red and blue make a pair'; to compete with Hongmi, Old Huang's "used colloquially" didn't launch the Meilan series until 2014 to challenge Hongmi.

When the first Meilan phone was released, it caused quite a stir. Its aesthetics were indeed top-notch, and its specs were maxed out, making it the only Brand at the time that could truly compete with Hongmi.

"Assistant Shen, notify CEO Lu to release the slogan for our shining note. We can't let 'used colloquially' take all the spotlight."

Shen Rou walked in from the next room with a laptop and said:

"Mr. Chen, isn't it a bit too early for the warm-up? The original plan was to release this phone at the September autumn launch event along with the Kunpeng mobile phone and the digital series."

"Isn't the progress on schedule? Since it is, we can release it next month to compete with 'used colloquially'. Having too many products at the autumn launch event would be overwhelming."

Shen Rou set the laptop aside, took out her phone, and opened the schedule, saying:

"The progress is on schedule, but if the shining note is released early and uses the same processor as the red star 2, it might impact the sales of the red star 2."

"It's fine. That phone has basically finished its sales cycle. Sales of 14 million units are already very good. Even if there's an impact, it will be minimal."

"Alright, I'll go notify CEO Lu right away."

Soon, Red Star's warm-up posters were simultaneously released on forums, the official website, and various other platforms.

[This time, we're doing something "Big".]

Below the slogan was a rendering of the back of the shining note.

"Haha, looks like the phone industry will be lively next month. 'used colloquially' just posted their promo, and Red Star immediately followed with a warm-up. Are they going head-to-head?"

"What does 'doing something big' mean? A big screen? A big battery?"

"I bet it's a big battery. Look at Red Star's phones; not a single one has a small battery. If the capacity isn't at least 2000mAh, you can't even call it a Red Star phone."

"Look, look! Huawei is also warming up for a new phone. It seems they're going up against Red Star. Go check out Huawei's slogan."

[This time, we're doing something "Even Bigger"—Brand series]

"So interesting! So many new phones are all launching in July? Students who just finished the Gaokao shouldn't rush to buy a phone. It looks like all three companies are targeting the youth."

"Red Star vs. Meizu, Huawei vs. Red Star. Interesting, very interesting."

"@Xiaomi @Lei Jun, what about you guys? Huawei, Red Star, and 'used colloquially' all have new phones coming out. Where's yours?"

Lei Jun was a bit dumbfounded seeing all three companies start their warm-ups in a single day.

Especially that slogan from Red Star—why did it look so familiar?

Isn't that the slogan for our hongmi note?

If you use it, what am I supposed to use?

Should I post "This time, we're doing something even, even, even bigger"?

That's not right either.

I'm out of words!

"Um, tell the marketing department to hurry up and make another poster. I swear, I feel like Red Star has an undercover agent in our Xiaomi."

"I just started selling phones with an internet mindset, and he immediately outsells me. My100 Yuan Phone hasn't even hit the market, and his is already out. Now my hongmi note slogan hasn't even been released, and his is exactly the same."

"Why is he always one step ahead of me?"

Filled with doubt, Lei Jun personally oversaw the marketing department, urging them to quickly revise the poster.

Taking advantage of the high level of discussion online, Xiaomi also had to start its warm-up.

Seriously, what are these three thinking? Why do they have to cluster their launches like this?

If you're going to play like this, don't blame me, Lei Jun, for not being polite. I'll just launch on July 31st. I'll let you guys go first, and then I'll compare my phone to yours at the launch event.

Yes, that's what I'll do.

I was just worried about having no models to compare my large-screen low-end phone against. Now these three manufacturers are collectively handing themselves over, so I, Lei Jun, will gladly accept.

Soon, Xiaomi's promo went live, though one thought up on the fly certainly wasn't as good as the one they had already prepared.

[This time, we're only doing it big.]

This slogan was a bit weaker in momentum than the others, but the netizens were excited.

This was the first time in China that these manufacturers had clustered their launch events for such direct, face-to-face competition.

This is definitely a good thing for consumers; competition leads to progress. This kind of face-to-face clash will likely be intense, and whoever launches first will probably get dissed the most.

"Wait, are these manufacturers obsessed with 'big'? Why don't the bosses just pull it out face-to-face and see whose is bigger?"

"If that's the case, wouldn't they be scared to death if I pulled mine out?"

"Interesting, truly interesting. This kind of scene is really rare."

Old Huang was also a bit stunned to see the other three companies all planning launch events for next month within a single day.

Seriously, I just wanted to launch a new series. Is this level of encirclement really necessary?

Old Jiang is slaughtering us, and Wang Jingwei is joining in the fun? Then let's fight!

No, it should be: Red Star is targeting us, and you, Xiaomi, are joining in? Then let's do this!

With the release of Red Star's final poster that evening, the hype reached its climax.

["Shine" will show you what's what!]