Bernard Arnault’s business acumen was such that even Ye Chen had to admit inferiority.
He had spent his entire life pondering one thing: how to make more money. Therefore, his economic mind was extremely powerful.
Collaborations had always been a common tactic in the luxury and fashion industries. A few years ago, LV had collaborated with the streetwear brand Supreme. At that time, an ordinary short-sleeved T-shirt, because it fused the logos of these two brands, was priced in the five figures. After constant hype by a group of end speculators, the price even doubled on top of the original.
Even in the digital world, collaborations were frequent. For example, certain computer and hardware brands would collaborate with well-known games, which could further increase their sales.
For consumers, collaborative products were also very cost-effective. Because by purchasing one item, they could get the endorsement of two brands, it was naturally more worthwhile.
For Bernard Arnault, in most cases, he disdained collaborations. Because the vast majority of brands did not have the fame of his brands. If he collaborated with those brands of a lower tier, it would be equivalent to letting others take advantage of him.
But now the situation was different. Now his production capacity was severely limited, and consumers were all holding money waiting to buy his products.
His supply chain, after so many years of refinement, whether in production costs, production efficiency, or production quality, perfectly matched his previous needs. But they had never imagined that sales could suddenly surge dozens of times, selling in one day what used to take several months.
Now, asking them to increase capacity, even if they exhausted themselves, they could at most increase by 30 percent, which simply could not meet the current demand.
Bernard Arnault was also very clear that the enthusiasm of the public was like the tide of the sea; it would recede.
If he could fully satisfy their purchasing needs before the enthusiasm faded, he could maximise the extraction of their value. But if the supply chain failed at this time, then when the public’s enthusiasm receded, it would mean completely missing this good opportunity to make money.
And collaborations could just solve this problem.
Handing over production tasks to other companies was equivalent to opening up N production lines and supply chains at the same time. All problems could be resolved easily.
Moreover, because his fame was now at its peak, people all wanted to buy products from his brands. This naturally squeezed the market of other brands, leading to their products becoming unsalable. Many brands’ sales today had plummeted by more than 80 percent compared to before. At this time, if they could collaborate with brands under Bernard Arnault, it would also solve their own excess capacity and allow them to earn more money.
Therefore, the major brands that received collaboration invitations almost all accepted the collaboration proposals at the first opportunity.
Immediately after, the designers of these brands, upon receiving authorisation, began to intensively use the classic elements of Bernard Arnault’s brands to design collaborative products.
Bernard Arnault was extremely excited.
He had people calculate that if this heat lasted for a month, his nominal three-year losses in the American market might be directly recovered.
If the spillover from the American market was added, he might gain even higher profits from this matter. That is, not only would he not need to compensate a single penny, but he could also earn an extra tens of billions in a year.
He thought excitedly to himself: “This is truly fame and fortune in the real sense!”
“Moreover, this kind of fame harvest is something I dared not hope for in most of my past life!”
And this also made him full of gratitude towards Ye Chen.
Immediately after, he fulfilled his promise to Ye Chen.
