Wei Hongsi paid no heed to the strange looks from others and looked at Ji Cheng, saying, "Director Ji started with 'Cheng' (sincerity/truth), so I'm treating you with sincerity in return. That shouldn't be wrong, right?"
Ji Cheng turned his head slightly, only looking at Wei Hongsi out of the corner of his eye, appearing unwilling to engage with him.
Wei Hongsi didn't mind and turned to look at He Feng. "Supervisor He, I produced that report. It went through your review and bears the company's seal."
"I was just..." He Feng started to speak but quickly waved his hand. "Let's not talk about that for now!"
"So, I can disagree, right?" Wei Hongsi pressed, staring at him.
"I... you..." He Feng was immediately left speechless.
Lu Jiaqi pursed her lips, suppressing the corners of her mouth that threatened to curl upwards.
Producing a new report wasn't actually difficult, just a bit more time-consuming, but she certainly wouldn't be the one to suggest it.
Regardless of who produced the report given to Paradise, once submitted, it represented Zhiwei Technology. As Wei Hongsi said, it bore the company's seal.
Arbitrarily overturning and reissuing a report would be no different from slapping their own face, especially if done under pressure from a client. If word got out, it would have an extremely damaging impact on the company's reputation.
So when He Feng suggested reissuing the report, Lu Jiaqi almost thought she had misheard. It was akin to biting the hand that feeds you, while also smashing the company's signboard.
But since they didn't report to each other, she couldn't openly rebuke him.
She hadn't expected Wei Hongsi to directly counter his supervisor's opinion, and the key point was that He Feng had no way to refute it.
Lu Jiaqi was naturally pleased to see this outcome, and her confidence in the report Wei Hongsi produced grew a few more notches.
Hearing the exchange between Wei and He, Ji Cheng shot a sidelong glance at He Feng before addressing Wei Hongsi. "Engineer Wei, is it? Since you also speak of sincerity, let's lay our cards on the table. I don't absolutely need your report, you understand?"
Wei Hongsi nodded. "I know. Even now, it hasn't reached the point of absolute necessity."
Ji Cheng snorted coldly. "Good that you know."
Wei Hongsi continued, "But the cost would be significant."
Ji Cheng frowned, scrutinizing Wei Hongsi carefully, his tone unfriendly. "Do you have some idea about this?"
Wei Hongsi said very earnestly, "If the analysis commission is entirely under Director Ji's responsibility, then my previous statement stands: congratulations!"
Ji Cheng slowly leaned back in his chair, a contemplative expression appearing on his face.
As the client, Paradise Beverages could certainly choose not to adopt Zhiwei's analysis report. Whether they found another company to produce a new report or skipped this step and proceeded directly with advertising was their right.
The problem was, neither path was viable.
Paradise Beverages was the largest soft drink manufacturer in the country. A new product launch was related to hundreds of millions in revenue and would have a significant impact on the company's market value. They had a mature new product launch process that had been validated by the market. For something as important as advertising, no one dared to be negligent or casually skip the effectiveness analysis stage.
And Zhiwei Technology, as a leading enterprise in this field, produced reports with extremely high authority. With such a report already existing, even a company with a status in the industry not inferior to Zhiwei's would be reluctant to take over the job.
So for Ji Cheng, persuading Zhiwei to reissue the report was the optimal path to resolve this issue.
Moreover, he believed the problem lay with Zhiwei. Compared to that report, he was more inclined to trust the experts and his own team.
But seeing Wei Hongsi's composed and unruffled demeanor, he couldn't help but feel somewhat swayed.
More importantly, the other party seemed to be hinting that this matter presented an opportunity for him.
Seeing that Ji Cheng wasn't angry this time, He Feng looked somewhat confusedly to his right at Lu Jiaqi.
Catching He Feng's inquiring gaze from the corner of her eye, Lu Jiaqi shook her head slightly, not wanting to say a single word.
After a moment, Ji Cheng sat up straight and looked at Wei Hongsi. "Engineer Wei, would you mind having a private chat?"
Wei Hongsi nodded. "No problem."
Ji Cheng then looked at Lu Jiaqi. "Manager Lu, could you help find a small meeting room?"
"Let's use my office," Lu Jiaqi said, standing up.
The two people who came with Ji Cheng remained seated, and naturally, the others from Department Eight stayed behind to keep them company.
Seeing the three of them heading out of the conference room, He Feng half-rose from his seat, but noticing Lu Jiaqi made no indication, he thought for a moment and sat back down.
Lu Jiaqi's office wasn't too far away. It wasn't very large, but it was sufficient.
She led the two men inside, had them sit down, poured two cups of tea, and then prepared to leave.
"Manager Lu, let's chat together," Ji Cheng said, making a sweeping gesture with his hand. "This is your office. It wouldn't be right for me to usurp the host's role."
"Alright," Lu Jiaqi said with a smile, ignoring the slightly inappropriate phrasing.
Ji Cheng looked at Wei Hongsi. "Engineer Wei, let's be direct. What exactly is the problem with Plan B?"
Wei Hongsi said, "According to my analysis, people who see Plan B will subconsciously develop a negative valence emotion."
"Negative valence emotion?" Ji Cheng looked puzzled. "What does that mean? People who see that ad will feel unhappy, so they won't buy it?"
"What Director Ji described is negative emotion, which is usually a more direct response. Like a movie, some people like it after watching, some don't. It's the same with ads. The negative valence emotion I'm referring to is a concept within the valence dimension."
Wei Hongsi tried to explain as plainly as possible. "Simply put, people who see the Plan B ad will superficially think it's good, but subconsciously feel it's bad, ultimately affecting their purchasing decision."
Ji Cheng was half-convinced, half-doubtful. "But many people in our company have seen that ad, and they don't have that feeling."
"That's precisely the issue. Subconscious negative valence emotion isn't subjectively felt, but it continuously accumulates. Once it reaches a certain level, it manifests as strong resistance, reflected in words and actions."
"Oh!" Ji Cheng nodded slowly. "So, quantitative change leads to qualitative change?"
"That's one way to understand it."
"Can this situation you described be verified?"
"It can be, but I don't recommend it. Once a test subject's resistance towards the product forms, it becomes like an obsession, very difficult to reverse. Not only will they not purchase it themselves, but they'll also spread this sentiment to people around them."
Even though he knew it might be futile, Wei Hongsi still explained, hoping to minimize the impact. Because for Ji Cheng, this matter was extremely important. He definitely wouldn't rest easy without personally verifying it.
"Alright, I understand," Ji Cheng nodded. "So, how does this negative valence emotion arise?"
Wei Hongsi said, "That's currently unclear. We must analyze the content of Plan B itself. I need authorization."
Lu Jiaqi immediately understood. "Director Ji, you'll need to issue another commission for Engineer Wei to utilize the company's relevant resources."
"Oh, that's necessary," Ji Cheng pondered for a moment. "There's not enough time today. Tomorrow morning, Manager Lu and I will sign another contract."
Wei Hongsi knew the "not enough time" was just an excuse and guessed what Ji Cheng planned to do, but there was no way to stop him.
However, the number of test subjects for Ji Cheng's verification would be limited, far fewer than the audience of a fully launched ad campaign. So, he could go ahead and do it.
Once everything was settled, Ji Cheng took his leave, and Lu Jiaqi accompanied him back to the conference room.
Wei Hongsi went directly back to the 16th floor. He sat at his workstation for quite a while before finally seeing He Feng return with a displeased expression, which surprised him a little.
Had this guy been sitting in the conference room the whole time?