51: Chapter 51 The Chen Mo Effect

Three days after the Shanghai press conference ended, Chen Mo received a data report sent by Jessica in a Los Angeles recording studio.

"Brother Mo, this just came over from OnePlus!" There was an irrepressible excitement in Jessica's voice. "The first sales figures for the OnePlus 2 are out!"

Chen Mo leaned against the mixing console, his monitor headphones hanging around his neck, holding his phone in his left hand.

The screen showed a table packed with dense numbers.

His gaze scanned from top to bottom, stopping at a certain row.

"Are you sure this wasn't sent by mistake?"

"General Manager Liu verified it himself. He said he checked this number three times!"

After the OnePlus 2 went live on the domestic online store, it sold out in seven seconds.

The stock OnePlus had prepared for the initial sale was five times that of the original timeline, and it was all wiped out.

The pre-order data from the three major shopping platforms was transmitted simultaneously.

On the JD platform alone, the pre-order volume for the Chen Mo-endorsed OnePlus 2 broke three million within seventy-two hours.

"3.2 million!" Jessica read the number aloud. "JD said this is the highest pre-order record in the history of their mobile phone category. The previous record was held by the iPhone 6, at 2.8 million."

Chen Mo didn't speak; Jessica continued reading.

The data for Heimao was 2.1 million, and Suning was 1.3 million.

In other words, the total pre-orders across the three major platforms added up to 6.6 million.

The pre-order data from OnePlus's offline stores also arrived simultaneously; across thousands of stores nationwide, the total pre-orders for the Chen Mo-endorsed version exceeded one million units.

Pre-orders at many stores were backed up for three months.

A consumer wrote in a store's guestbook: "I came for Chen Mo. He isn't just an endorser; he is a sincere recommendation officer."

This message was photographed by a store clerk and sent to an internal sales group, where Liu Hu saw it and forwarded it to Chen Mo.

The first month's sales data was compiled on the thirty-fifth day after the press conference.

When Jessica sent the full report to Chen Mo's email, the body of the email contained only one line: "Brother Mo, Scott said he wants to frame this number."

The OnePlus series' global sales in the first month exceeded five million units, with the OnePlus 2 accounting for over forty percent, and its individual sales surpassing two million units.

At this time, the 1999-yuan flagship phone market was in the midst of a brutal red ocean fight, but because of Chen Mo's recommendation, OnePlus broke out in the domestic market.

The data for the European market was listed in a separate column.

In Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, the sales in all five countries broke OnePlus's local monthly records.

The growth in the French market was the most exaggerated—a year-on-year increase of 120 percent!

Liu Hu included a note in the email: "When the French bought the OnePlus 2, the most common sentence written in the purchase remarks was—'Pour l'allumeur de lampe.' For the lamp lighter. 《L'Autre Rive》 dominated the charts in France for four weeks; the French recognize you, and they recognize the phone you endorse as well."

Liu Hu said that the "Chen Mo Effect" is a light, so Chen Mo is also called the lamp lighter.

He copied this passage and saved it in a separate memo.

The term "Chen Mo Effect" hit the trending searches for the second time on the day OnePlus released its Q3 financial report.

When Liu Hu was interviewed by Caijing magazine and asked what the "Chen Mo Effect" meant for OnePlus, he said something.

This passage was published in full at the beginning of the interview: "I have seen many endorsers, but Chen Mo is the only one who didn't recite the script we wrote at the press conference. He spoke about himself."

"In the London one, he talked about recording his song, about the difference between the sixty-second take and the sixty-third take."

"After he finished, our engineers in the audience had red eyes. Later, they told me that those words were more powerful than any commercial. Because it wasn't an advertisement; it was real."

The reporter asked him if he had expected the OnePlus 2's sales to exceed expectations by so much.

Liu Hu said: "I expected it, because he is the lamp lighter. Consumers can see and trust a brand endorsed by the lamp lighter."

Domestic media clipped this quote and changed the title to "Liu Hu: Chen Mo is the Lamp Lighter," and the total reposts across the web broke five million within twenty-four hours.

Scott's call came in the evening.

"The renewal letter of intent for the OnePlus contract has been sent over. They want to extend the three-year contract to five years, and the signing fee has doubled."

There was a smile in Scott's voice.

"Liu's exact words were—what Chen Mo brought to OnePlus wasn't just sales, but a redefinition of the four words 'Made in China' to the whole world. This value isn't even covered by a five-year contract, but we are giving what we can for now."

"Sign it."

Outside the window, the moon in Los Angeles had risen, and the recording studio was lit up all night.

In May, Las Vegas only comes alive after dark.

The palm trees outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena were illuminated purple by neon lights, and the fountain at the entrance jumped to the rhythm of the music.

The red carpet stretched from the entrance all the way to the roadside, crowded on both sides with reporters and fans, the flashes as dense as the stars in the Nevada desert.

When Chen Mo stepped out of the black Mercedes-Benz, the night breeze of Las Vegas washed over him with a dry heat.

He was wearing a Dior haute couture piece, and the Cartier on his left wrist looked premium yet elegant.

In the fan zone on both sides of the red carpet, some people were holding up light boards. A white girl wearing glasses held up a hand-painted sign depicting a lawnmower, with one wheel big and one wheel small.

Chen Mo walked up to her. The girl's sign almost fell to the ground.

"Did you draw it crooked on purpose?"

The girl admitted frankly: "I wanted to get your attention."

Chen Mo chuckled at her honesty, took the marker to sign his name, and drew a small circle after it.

"You succeeded."

The girl was shaking with happiness, constantly sharing her feelings with the people around her.

Walking into the arena, the MGM Grand Garden Arena was a size smaller than the Staples Center, but the lighting tonight was more intense.

Next to Chen Mo was still The Weeknd; perhaps the two of them in the same frame generated too much buzz.

The Weeknd was wearing a deep red suit today, his hair braided into his signature pineapple shape, holding a glass of champagne from who knows where.

"You drink?" Chen Mo looked around and said in surprise.

Seeing Chen Mo sit down, he put the champagne aside.

"That half of 'Closer' at Coachella—after I went back, I had my team find the official live audio recorded at Coachella, and I had it on loop for several days."

Chen Mo cracked a joke and said: "Got some inspiration?"

The Weeknd nodded, took out that box of mints from his inner suit pocket, poured out two, ate one himself, and handed the other one over.

Taylor undoubtedly won Best Female Artist.

She was wearing a sequined jumpsuit, her short blonde hair tucked behind her ears, as she walked up from the side stage.

Chen Mo saw those two pearl earrings on her ears.

She took the trophy, thanked her team and fans, and then her gaze dropped toward the direction of the third row.

"There is one more person. He taught me one thing: good music isn't shouted out; it's waited for."

She didn't say any name, but the whole audience looked toward the third row.

The Weeknd turned his head, with a rare hint of playfulness: "She's talking about you."

Chen Mo didn't respond; he couldn't respond to that.

Best New Artist award.

The award presenter opened the envelope, took a look at it against the light, and then leaned into the microphone: "And the Billboard Music Award for Top New Artist goes to—Chen Mo!"

(And the Billboard Music Award for Best New Artist was awarded to Chen Mo!)

The spotlight hit Chen Mo's face.

He sat there, waited for a second, and then stood up.

The Weeknd reached out, and the two high-fived.

Taylor stood up from her seat and gave him a thumbs-up.

Chen Mo walked onto the stage and took the crystal trophy.

The Billboard Music Award trophy is a transparent rectangular crystal with a layer of the colorful Billboard logo sandwiched in the middle.

He stood in front of the microphone, the spotlight enveloping him in a white circle of light.

Thousands of eyes in the audience were watching him, and the ABC television cameras were broadcasting this moment to the whole world.

He looked down at the trophy in his hand, then raised his head, his eyes shimmering with a halo of light.

"Over the past half year or more, I have been called a perfect idol by many netizens and media, walking in one year the path that others take several years to complete, but the truth is, I have been living very tensely, very afraid of not doing well."

"The only place that puts me at ease is the recording studio. I don't record songs perfectly on the first try either; I often record dozens of times because of a single detail, rewinding over and over again, driving my producer, David, crazy."

Chen Mo smiled as he said this, and the people in the audience laughed along.

"What is perfect isn't me, but the process and the direction. This award is for those days, for everyone in the recording studio who rewinds over and over again—you know what I'm talking about."

He held the trophy to his chest, thanking Scott, thanking David, thanking Jessica and Daniel...

The Weeknd was the first to stand up, then Taylor, and then more and more people stood up.

They didn't stop clapping until their palms were red.

Chen Mo walked off the stage.

The Weeknd looked at him and raised an eyebrow: "Your state is completely different from that time at the Grammy Awards."

"At the Grammy Awards, I was clapping; this time, I don't need to."

"Fine, you win. I bought a OnePlus too."