From Taobao intern to the father of Pinduoduo

Chapter 62 Duyoua.com

"My idea is to collect all the ugly items on Taobao, make netizens laugh, help manufacturers clear out their inventory, build brand awareness, and ideally create a festive impression."

"I plan to ask my colleagues in the tech department to create a special page to showcase all the ugly stuff, and let netizens vote and award prizes."

"Of course, we can evaluate which awards to give out later and try to give out as many as possible. For example, we can set up categories such as: funnyly ugly, heartbreakingly ugly, and bizarrely ugly."

"Finally, if the 'ugliest' item selected by the users is successfully chosen, the users will be given some platform coupons or similar items to increase user engagement."

The group nodded in agreement, feeling that Wang Zaixing's proposal was highly feasible and had no major problems.

They turned their attention to Lin Mu, wanting to hear what insights this true creative idea had to offer.

Lin Mu was stroking his chin. To be fair, Fu Gui's proposal had a good framework, but the details regarding benefits could be further elevated. Let him show off.

He said, "Creating a festival is a great idea. But listening to your implementation plan, do you seem unsure how to actually put it into practice?"

Wang Zaixing nodded.

Lin Mu retorted in rapid succession: "You need to broaden your perspective. We're not just clearing out some slow-moving goods, nor are we putting on a show for entertainment; we're digging into undefined beauty and overlooked emotional value."

"As for the specific implementation, the voting process in your draft is too monotonous. It just lets users vote to select the awards, which is not very meaningful."

"Ideally, it should be engaging for users, allowing them to generate content during the voting process."

"For example, for the ugly items in the competition, you can ask the sellers to write product descriptions in the style of a comedian, and then set up a 'Buyer Show Genius Award' to let buyers who bought the ugly items use their imagination to take photos, such as taking a photo of an ugly doll that looks like the world-famous painting 'Mona Lisa'."

"For this high-quality content, we can directly reward it with traffic and promote it to the homepage of the special topic."

"In this way, the event is not just a one-way interaction, but a content ecosystem co-created by sellers, buyers and the platform, which can multiply its topicality and reach."

Wang Zaixing suddenly realized.

He is still viewing issues through outdated methods of voting and hype, such as the Super Girl competition, where users voted via text message, sparking a nationwide craze.

However, while this case might have been considered a novel trend a few years ago, it has become outdated now that PC internet has officially launched and the mobile internet wave is about to arrive.

Lin Mu's revised draft transformed the voting process from a simple selection into a fun and engaging activity for everyone.

Lin Mu continued, "Since it's an awards ceremony, we can take a serious approach and make it look proper."

"We can invite one or two niche art designers or artists to be judges, and then invite one or two internet celebrities to make up a four-person judging panel, which we can call the 'filler judging panel'."

"This is called empowerment. Once the online voting results are finalized, we will hold an awards ceremony offline."

"When each award is presented, a picture of the ugly item is displayed on the big screen, and then the actual item is brought up from the audience. The host reads a few humorous comments from netizens about the ugly item, and then the judges give their comments."

"With this kind of packaging, the seller will feel proud, and netizens will find it amusing, thinking, 'What a load of rubbish, yet you're seriously inviting judges.'"

"Finally, we can keep this special page and make it a permanent entry point to Taobao's Ugly Things Museum, holding it once a year to build brand awareness."

"In addition, we can track the subsequent sales of those award-winning ugly items. If a product goes from being a slow-moving item to a niche bestseller because of this event, we will have the best publicity case next year, and it will be easier to ask the group for resources then. I've already thought of some catchy phrases for you."

"We are not running an event, but cultivating fertile ground where miracles may happen."

After a long speech and a boastful display, Lin Mu took a sip of wine to moisten his parched throat and said, "I was just thinking about it casually. The main thing is that you, Fugui, have a solid foundation. If we give it a little push, this event might actually become a hit."

A few seconds of silence fell over the table. Wang Zaixing paused for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh, making a sharp "smack" that made him gasp. He rubbed his thigh and said, "Damn it, Lin Mu, this isn't just a correction, it's like you took a machete and cleaved my draft in two from beginning to end. Interesting, absolutely interesting!"

Wang Zaixing thought to himself that the difference between the two lay here: their sensitivity to and foresight regarding the Internet.

Each of his proposed solutions is based on past classic cases, including this voting and selection process, which uses the thinking of the Internet 1.0 era, namely the one-way communication thinking of portal websites.

Lin Mu, on the other hand, uses the Internet 2.0 mindset, which is a user co-creation mindset.

If Lin Mu hadn't become a Taobao customer service representative but instead worked as a marketing strategist, he would definitely have been a top-notch marketing expert.

Lu Hai patted Wang Zaixing's leg and said, "Zaixing, do a good job with this event. I'll help you apply for resources. It has a very promising future. Don't get carried away and go to Taobao Mall too."

Just then, Lin Mu's Nokia phone rang, and the caller ID showed an unknown number.

He answered the phone, and a gentle male voice came from the other end: "Hello, Mr. Lin, this is Li Mingyuan from Baidu Youa website. I've carefully studied every single post you made on the Taobao seller forum. They're truly remarkable; the younger generation these days is really pushing the older generation forward."

Li Mingyuan? Lin Mu recalled the past. Around 2007, Baidu's e-commerce project was officially launched, and Youa.com went online.

By the following year, 2009, user growth had reached its peak, capturing 3% of the market share. However, that was the pinnacle. Around 2010, the core project leader left, and if he remembered correctly, Youa.com completely disappeared in 2011 or 2012.

There's an interesting joke about Youa.com: when they launched, the group claimed they would surpass Taobao in three years. But three years later, Taobao didn't do much, while their entire team disbanded.

In fact, Lin Mu had long considered that with his current reputation, some competitors might approach him, wanting to poach him.

In today's e-commerce battlefield, Taobao dominates, followed by Paipai.com, Youa.com, and eBay, the former industry leader.

Lin Mu was also thinking of talking to Paipai.com, which was led by Tencent. Although Paipai.com disappeared in the wave of the Internet in later years, at this point in 2008, Paipai.com was the second largest in the industry, occupying 5% to 8% of the market share, which had surpassed eBay.

It was also the only competitor that made Jack Ma feel any pressure in 2008. There was no way around it; no one could ignore the massive amount of traffic controlled by Tencent.

Lin Mu snapped out of his reverie and asked, "What brings you here, Mr. Li?"