Chapter 400 Acquisition of a Brand

Boss Yang knew that Liu Zhou must want his help with something, but he didn't expect that Liu Zhou would actually ask about Hong Kong clothing brands.

But you know what, he actually knew this.

In addition to Emperor Entertainment, he also has agency rights for jewelry, real estate and watch brands.

He started his business as an agent for watch brands, and the first Omega brand store in Hong Kong was opened by Boss Yang.

Later in the 1980s, Boss Yang made a comeback, started a jewelry business, and established Emperor Jewellery.

Jewelry and branded watches, both of which are considered luxury goods, are naturally closely related to the fashion circle, which in turn is closely connected to the entertainment circle.

So Boss Yang entered the entertainment industry in the 1990s, and unexpectedly he would surpass others and become the new generation leader of the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

After the Hong Kong film industry went into recession, only a few entertainment companies with strong backing such as Emperor Entertainment and Media Asia Entertainment have continued to produce several films every year.

Later, Media Asia's boss Peter Lam gradually lost interest in the entertainment industry and rarely invested in movies. In the end, Emperor Entertainment Group became almost the only dominant player in Hong Kong.

The reason why Boss Yang is so influential in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, apart from his own strength, is mainly because many people in the Hong Kong film industry depend on him for their livelihood.

The main reason why people in the Hong Kong entertainment industry dare not get angry in front of Liu Zhou is because many Hong Kong filmmakers depend on him for their livelihood.

After Liu Zhou acquired Golden Harvest, he did not abandon Hong Kong films due to their decline. Instead, he increased the number of Hong Kong films produced, with seven or eight films produced every year, even more than Emperor Entertainment Group.

Although Hong Kong filmmakers have already moved north in large numbers, not everyone is willing or able to do so. This ability is not just about professional ability, but also includes factors like personal connections and so on.

The number of Hong Kong film producers is now even less than a fraction of that in its peak period, which has left a large number of Hong Kong filmmakers both on and off the stage out of work.

Those who have connections or strong abilities have nothing to worry about. There are still many people left. Those who are more marginalized generally change their careers, and some go north to find a job, but there are still quite a few people left.

These people rely on Hong Kong's film and television companies to start working and make a living.

It must be said that although Wang Jing does not seem to have a very good reputation in the mainland and is often said to make bad movies, it is precisely because he has always maintained efficient output that he has supported many Hong Kong filmmakers.

Although he has received mixed reviews in mainland China, he is still highly regarded in Hong Kong.

In addition to Wang Jing and Gu Zai, not to mention his charity work in the mainland, he also worked hard like a model worker in Hong Kong and supported many people.

Not only did Gu Zai become the president of the Artist Association, he also started his own company as capital. So although he is a rising star, when taking pictures, he was able to stand in the first row, while Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau stood in the second row.

Now the branch of Golden Harvest Group in Hong Kong is cooperating with Emperor Entertainment Group, and the close relationship between Liu Zhou and Boss Yang is also well-known in the circle.

It can be said that these two companies control the jobs of most Hong Kong filmmakers.

So even if someone was bullying Liu Zhou, a mainlander, they could only bear it.

Liu Zhou allowed Golden Harvest's Hong Kong branch to maintain such a large production volume, certainly not to save Hong Kong films, as Hong Kong films were already beyond saving.

Liu Zhou's main purpose is to win people's hearts and select outstanding film talents.

Although there are many excellent filmmakers in the mainland, many of them don't know much about commercial films. In this regard, Hong Kong filmmakers are indeed unique.

The reason why Golden Harvest has been expanding so rapidly in recent years without any sense of stagnation is that in addition to recruiting some outstanding filmmakers from the mainland, Golden Harvest also has a steady stream of talent imported from Hong Kong.

The formation of a movie involves many aspects, and talents are needed in every link.

In mainland China, not only actors will sign with companies, but some people behind the scenes will also sign with companies, so several large companies in the industry will also compete for outstanding behind-the-scenes talents.

If there is no influx of talent from Hong Kong, even if Golden Harvest has the money to expand its scale, it will still be held back by personnel issues.

What's more, Golden Harvest produces more blockbusters, and some behind-the-scenes filmmakers in Hong Kong have more experience in this regard.

In order to prevent conflicts between Hong Kong and mainland filmmakers, Liu Zhou also directly formulated a strict rule that if a conflict occurs openly due to regional discrimination, the party that stirs up trouble will be fired directly.

It is not only aimed at Hong Kong filmmakers, but also at mainland filmmakers, and they are treated equally.

As for the intrigues behind the scenes, Liu Zhou has no control over it, nor does he want to care. This is part of the workplace.

At the beginning, both sides were clear-cut and conflicts occasionally occurred, but after seeing that the company was strict and fair in its approach, they gradually became less cautious.

With the cooperation in recent years, the two sides have begun to gradually integrate and learn from each other.

Hong Kong filmmakers have their own unique qualities, and mainland filmmakers are not completely useless either. In some aspects, mainland filmmakers are also better than others.

Therefore, through mutual verification and learning, the level of behind-the-scenes staff under Golden Harvest has been improved overall.

Now Golden Harvest has the ability to produce three blockbusters at the same time. Even China Film Group is not as good as it, let alone other film and television companies.

As the largest private film and television company, Golden Harvest not only has strong hard power, but also has unrivaled soft power among its peers.

However, what made Zhang Zhao want to curse was that people from other companies often came to poach Jiahe’s employees.

These behind-the-scenes talents are not as few as the stars signed by Golden Harvest, and Golden Harvest’s appeal to them is not as great as that to the stars.

Therefore, faced with the temptation of high salaries outside, many people choose to leave.

Zhang Zhao had no good solution to this problem, but after several years of mutual learning between Hong Kong and mainland filmmakers, Golden Harvest also developed a system for cultivating behind-the-scenes talent.

Although many people have been poached, there are also a steady stream of people taking their place, and this has even increased vitality and saved costs.

This made Zhang Zhao feel quite surprised, and he attached more importance to the training of talents behind the scenes afterwards.

These measures taken by Golden Harvest have also provided more Hong Kong filmmakers with jobs and opportunities to put their talents to good use.

It is impossible for Hong Kong films to disappear all at once. If we want to integrate Hong Kong films into the mainland film industry, we can only do it slowly.

The restructuring of the Hong Kong Film Awards is only the first step. As the reformed Awards become more and more influential, they should be called the China Film Awards in the future.

Now Golden Harvest has been supplying film talents from Hong Kong to the mainland, which is also a measure to integrate Hong Kong films into the mainland film scene.

When the older generation of behind-the-scenes filmmakers retire, most of the other behind-the-scenes talents will have already integrated into the mainland. Even if Hong Kong films still have those few old and strong Hong Kong stars, Hong Kong films will gradually become less pure.

In fact, during this process, Golden Harvest also spread its influence unknowingly.

Coupled with Golden Harvest’s previous foundation, Golden Harvest’s influence in Hong Kong is now no less than that of Emperor Entertainment Group.

Boss Yang of Emperor Entertainment Group is well aware of this. If Hong Kong films were still at their peak and the profits were huge in the past, he would definitely compete with Golden Harvest.

But there is no need to argue about the value of Hong Kong movies now, the mainland is where the big money is made. In the mainland, Emperor Entertainment Group now relies on Golden Harvest to a certain extent. Unconsciously, the roles and status of the two companies have quietly changed.

Boss Yang didn't feel unhappy about this, and Liu Zhou was not a domineering person. He always showed sincerity to his partners.

Therefore, Golden Harvest and Emperor Entertainment Group have always maintained a relatively close relationship, and Liu Zhou and Boss Yang have always had a good personal relationship.

Before, Liu Zhou had helped Boss Yang a lot in the mainland, and Boss Yang had also provided a lot of help to Liu Zhou in Hong Kong, so as the two sides interacted with each other, the relationship between them became closer and closer.

Now Liu Zhou wants to know about Hong Kong's local clothing brands. Boss Yang knows something about them because his business has a lot of overlap with the fashion circle.

"Mr. Liu, why are you suddenly interested in clothes?" Boss Yang asked curiously.

"Don't you think branded clothing and the entertainment industry are also closely connected?"

"I know that. Are you planning to acquire a clothing brand?"

"What's wrong?"

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Boss Yang was shocked. He didn't expect that Liu Zhou actually had such an idea.

Although branded clothing has a lot of intersections with the entertainment industry, they are mostly luxury brands, and there are no luxury brands in Hong Kong.

Moreover, although the clothing industry and the entertainment industry have many connections, they are two completely different fields. Operating a brand clothing company and operating a film and television company are also completely different.

Boss Yang was a little confused about Liu Zhou's thoughts.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's just a little unexpected and a little confusing."

"Boss Yang, you don't think I have too much money to spend, do you? I'm interested in cross-border business, right?" Liu Zhou said with a smile, "But you know what, I really have too much money to spend now."

In order to go public, Jiahe introduced CITIC Group as a strategic investment institution, but at that time it was not direct financing, but Liu Zhou directly transferred shares.

Liu Zhou transferred a total of 10% of the shares to CITIC and China Film, and the transaction was conducted based on the valuation of Golden Harvest Group of 10.8 billion yuan at the time.

So Liu Zhou directly received 10.8 billion in cash.

With so much money at once, Liu Zhou really didn't know how to spend it.

It is definitely impossible to keep the money. This is the stupidest thing to do. In the next two years, 4 trillion yuan will be printed to save the market.

But now, several companies under Liu Zhou have initially completed their layout and only need to develop slowly step by step without the need for further investment.

So at that time, Liu Zhou had a lot of money but didn't know how to spend it or where to spend it.

It wasn't until Liu Zhou was watching the news that he saw a report.

The Global Licensing Association recently released a report that global retail sales of derivatives reached US$2008 billion in 2517.

Among them, film and television derivatives were US$1132 billion, among which clothing revenue was US$379 billion, toys were US$337 billion, fashion accessories were US$285 billion, and others were US$131 billion.

Apparel and accessories combined accounted for $664 billion.

This is because the financial crisis broke out last year, and global sales of derivatives fell by nearly $2007 billion in 2008 compared to 800.

And these are only overseas data. The derivatives market in the mainland is still very small and in a state of development, so there are no statistics.

But the market in the mainland is small now, but it will be very big in the future.

Liu Zhou is very clear that as the mainland entertainment industry enters the era of traffic, derivative products of film and television, comics, animation and even novels are selling very well.

Especially the film and television related derivatives market, its scale has expanded exponentially.

It is impossible for Liu Zhou to do everything by himself, but he can still focus on clothing and accessories, which are the two areas most closely related to the entertainment industry.

So Liu Zhou suddenly felt that the 1 billion yuan of funds were useful.

Moreover, clothing is not only closely related to the entertainment industry, but the clothing industry has also been in a stage of rapid development in the past few years and is also an industry with a very high return on investment.

Of course, if you want to eat delicious cakes, you must brand it. In the future, people will pay more and more attention to brands when buying clothes.

At the beginning, Liu Zhou wanted to acquire a domestic brand, but now all domestic brands are in a stage of rapid development and the prospects look very good, so no one is selling.

For example, Septwolves, which will almost stop production and only engage in licensing and selling socks, is now at the peak of its popularity.

Brands such as Metersbonwe, Semir and Yishion have already gained momentum and started to expand rapidly.

There is no way the boss behind them would sell it.

So Liu Zhou turned his attention to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's economy initially relied on the development of the garment industry. Since the 1980s, several clothing brands have been born in Hong Kong, and those that are still alive today have strong brand influence.

Moreover, after more than 20 years of development, these Hong Kong clothing brands have entered a stable development period, and some have even fallen into development difficulties.

In the next two years, some Japanese and Western casual clothing brands and fast-moving consumer goods brands will enter the mainland market in large numbers.

Although Hong Kong's clothing brands have the first-mover advantage, they were a bit overwhelmed when a large number of competitors emerged because they had done so well in the past.

Therefore, it is relatively easier to acquire clothing brands in Hong Kong.

To be honest, after Liu Zhou decided to enter the clothing industry, his ambition was not just to acquire a mid- to low-end casual clothing brand in Hong Kong.

Liu Zhou also wants to try to see if he can acquire a luxury brand.

Due to the impact of the financial crisis, luxury brands are also having a hard time.

However, luxury brands are too expensive, and they are also rather arrogant. In the luxury goods sector, they have deep-rooted prejudices against the Chinese.

In the eyes of Westerners, Chinese people have no fashion genes at all.

Therefore, it would be very difficult to acquire a luxury brand.

But Liu Zhou is not in a hurry for the time being. The acquisition of luxury brands can be included in future plans. The most important thing now is to own a clothing brand first.

Liu Zhou plans to officially start the acquisition after Jiahe goes public, then integrate it this year and start again next year.

(End of this chapter)