A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

Darren had once met an old man who was older than sixty but had the appearance of a forty-year-old. After Darren asked him
several times about how he maintained his youth, the old man had finally answered. He had shared that he used some
traditional Chinese herbs and a few other herbs from different parts of the world. Now, Darren wished he could hire this old man,
but he wasn't able to find him again.
That was why Darren wanted to do the interview in person. As they neared the end of the interview session, a young lady walked
in.
She was fair-skinned, and her skin looked as white as an eggshell. Quickly, she took out one of her previous photos and handed
it to the panel of interviewers. Then, she sat down with a glowing smile on her face.
Curious, Darren slightly stretched out his head to sneak a peek at the picture. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the
same woman, but with her face covered in acne. For a second, he couldn't believe that the acne-covered woman in the picture
was the same person in front of them now.
He handed the photo to his secretary and said, “Go and check if the photo was processed by PS.“
While the secretary was doing what Darren had ordered, Darren took the time to ask the woman some questions. “What are your
thoughts on skincare?“
As if she had been expecting that question, the woman answered without missing a beat, “Skincare is the most important thing
for a woman. When a woman goes out, she should make herself look as if she is just her child's sibling. Many people try to
achieve that youthful-looking skin. I just hope that they will give my skincare products a chance.
Years ago, people thought that sticking thin slices of cucumber on the face was healthy for the skin. However, it was proven that
cucumber could actually dry out the skin. People misunderstood and thought that cucumber could remove wrinkles,“ she told
them. The woman continued to explain with gravitas, “I've studied many chemicals. Some of them are guaranteed to make
people's skin feel smooth and moisturized by up to 80 percent or even 90 percent, in just a short period of time. However, those
chemical ingredients are not the only things that can help achieve that radiant-looking skin. In fact, such ingredients usually
damage the skin in the long run. Continued use would just worsen the skin's health.“
“So, what are those ingredients?“ one of the interviewers asked curiously.
“If you want to know, you have to hire me first,“ the woman answered with a playful wink.
“Okay then, one last question.“ To be honest, Darren was already satisfied. “How long have you been studying skincare?“

“Ever since I was a teenager,“ she answered with a bright grin.
Nodding, Darren replied, “That's great.“ Then, he told the other interviewers excitedly, “I want her hired without any probation
immediately.“
As soon as Darren walked out, he bumped into his secretary. She handed the photo back to Darren and reported, “The photo
hasn't been processed with PS, sir.“
The woman's name was Abbie Zhou. She had come to this interview with several people who were also recognized
professionals in the beauty industry. To recruit more professional people, Darren made Abbie Zhou and the others conduct the
following interviews. He wanted to ensure that only relevant questions would be asked. The previous interviewers had a habit of
asking unimportant questions about matters like salary. Darren found those topics to be unnecessary.
Unsurprisingly, Abbie Zhou took her role as an interviewer seriously. None of the applicants who appeared during the next three
days of interviews were good enough for her.
The HR department reported the interview result to Darren, who had already expected it. Everyone who was striving for further
growth would be meticulous and would not hire anyone useless. It was clear that Abbie Zhou was an ambitious person.
“Update the new recruitment information. Try to satisfy Abbie Zhou's requirements as much as possible,“ Darren ordered in a
monotone voice.
Following his orders, the HR department updated the job requirements and made a post. Some recruitment platforms thought
that the new requirements were concerning.
Despite that, job applicants still flooded the KING Group's headquarters when they saw the recruitment post. After several more
interviews, Abbie Zhou finally found some competent people to work with her.
Soon enough, the KING Group had established a skincare research and development team. Under the leadership of Abbie
Zhou, the team didn't waste any time and put forward a proposal. They planned to use traditional Chinese herbs to prepare their
skincare products. These products would include toner, essence, and facial cleansers.
Since their company had been granted the license for e-commerce, Darren had planned to sell these skincare products online.
However, Abbie Zhou disagreed with Darren's plan. She believed that the KING Group should consider a trend in which they
would put some samples of their products in snack stores. This way, their skincare products would be seen by everyone.

Mothers who came there to purchase snacks for their children and even the men who just went to the store to buy snacks for
their girlfriends would be aware of their skincare products. They would have a strong sense of skincare.
If this plan worked, the KING Group would then officially open stores for their skincare products.
After hearing her suggestion, Darren was impressed. He even thought that it might be a waste of her talent to keep her in the
skincare research and development team. She would also do well if she worked part-time in the sales department.
“By the way, there are more series of skincare products that I wanted to launch,“ Abbie Zhou told Darren while looking at the
proposal that she had prepared.
There were several skincare sets that Abbie Zhou had designed. She had even classified the target market of their products and
categorized them into different age groups. She had made different skincare products that would cater to students, white-collar
workers, married women with children, and women who were older than 40. The prices of these skincare sets would vary.
Abbie Zhou also planned to use distinct elements on the outer surfaces of the bottles of their skincare products. She wanted
different designs that would accommodate their customers' needs. This way, a child could gift her mother their skincare products,
or men could buy the products for their lovers without getting confused.
After thoroughly reading the proposal, Darren looked at Abbie with a satisfied smile.
Then, Abbie Zhou told Darren that her parents loved each other very much. Her father would often buy gifts, usually cosmetics,
for her mother. However, her father didn't know much about skincare products. She recalled that her mother didn't know how to
react sometimes whenever he gave her skincare products.
With that memory in mind, Abbie Zhou wanted to develop sets that would make it easier for men to buy gifts for their wives and
lovers.
The team soon developed the products and launched them on the market. However, the products that they launched were
practically ignored by the people.
Abbie Zhou was confused by the lack of reaction. Darren was confused too. Determined to find the root cause of the problem,
Darren searched the blogs that they had used to launch their skincare products. After a few hours of meticulous scrolling, he
finally figured out why his company's newly-launched products weren't doing so well in the market.
Before the product launch, the KING Group had put a lot of effort into their advertisements to ensure that people would be
intrigued. However, after watching these advertisements, their customers had placed high expectations on their skincare

products. The customers were under the impression that the products would work immediately after being used just once or
twice. Obviously, their products could not actually do that.
Only then did Darren realize the flaw in their marketing strategy. Once he realized this, he immediately called a meeting with
Harlan and Abbie Zhou to discuss their next move.
In the end, none of them could come up with a solution.
In the middle of the night, Abbie Zhou and Harlan suddenly received a message from Darren. “Since our advertising strategy is
the reason why our products aren't being sold, we can solve it by adopting a different advertising strategy,“ the message said.
This time, Darren shared his opinions just like Abbie Zhou had openly shared hers with him.
Women weren't the only ones who liked to feel beautiful. Plenty of men were also fond of taking care of their skin. Everyone's
first impression of men usually involved them being sloppy and messy. Therefore, Darren wanted to ask Abbie Zhou to develop a
set of skincare products that was suitable for men.
“Men have rougher skin compared to women. Their skin is also oily and more prone to pimples. The ingredients that we use
must be refreshing. It won't take that long for us to develop skincare products suitable for men.“ Abbie Zhou and Darren reached
an agreement with each other.
It only took the research and development team a few days to develop the new skincare products that would cater to men's skin.
A few days later, the KING Group launched another commercial featuring their new products.
This time, the products had national styles.
In the commercial, a group of beautiful girls dressed in traditional Chinese costumes held the KING Group's skincare products in
their hands. These skincare products were limited editions.
The slogan stated, “Send them to your Mr. Right today!“
Men had several choices when it came to buying a gift for women. Lipsticks, cosmetics, and snacks were common gifts that men
could buy for their lovers. However, there were limited options for women to gift to their lovers. A set of skincare products that
would cater to men would definitely be successful.
Darren's new tactic of “hunger marketing“ was adopted.

When the supply of the products was kept low, it would give the consumers an illusion that the products were in high demand.
Everyone would think that the products were doing well and would anticipate the next restocking of the products.
Then, once it was available again, the products would be sold out quickly, and the company would make considerable
profits.