Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Advertising Negotiation
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"How about this?"
Lying on the bed, Sister came over holding some clothes. A blue blouse and black pants. I shook my head as I pictured her in them.
"The one we saw earlier seems prettier."
"Isn't this one good too?"
"The white blouse with black pants looks cleaner and more stylish."
"Got it."
Sister hurriedly changed into the outfit she'd pointed out earlier.
Today was the day we had a meeting with Oju Foods. Over the past two days, we'd filmed videos while preparing for negotiations with them.
We'd drawn up a list of potential questions, figured out what we needed to secure and what we could concede. Since this was all new to Sister, I'd taken the lead.
I had plenty of experience with salary negotiations, ad deals, and the like.
"Whew."
"Want me to get you some calming pills?"
"No. I can do this."
Sister shook off her nerves with a deep breath.
She'd been like that ever since we left the house. Her face was pale as a ghost, and her hand clutching the checklist trembled nonstop.
I got it completely.
The only interviews Sister had ever done were for college admissions and part-time jobs.
Meanwhile, our opponents were a major corporation making waves with their diverse food products. It was only natural to be shaking.
"Hand."
"Hand."
I took her hand and squeezed it tight. Unlike usual, it was ice-cold, which hurt my heart.
"Ready to head in?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
We entered the Oju Foods building. After telling the lobby desk staff, they guided us to an empty conference room.
A large table that could seat over a dozen people behind transparent glass walls. The walls were lined with electronic whiteboards, and Oju Foods ad posters were plastered everywhere in the room.
- Park Jung-ho
- Ha Tae-woo
- Sia
Mostly celebrities whose names alone rang bells.
"Those ads must cost a fortune. Wow."
Sister covered her mouth in awe. If anything, it seemed to deflate her even more, her shoulders hunching slightly.
That's when a man opened the door and walked in.
"Hello. I'm Na Kyung-mo from the marketing team. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Kim Haneul."
"I-I'm Lee Juyeon."
We exchanged brief greetings and introductions. We started with some light chat, asking about each other's recent news.
"I've been watching both your YouTube and StarTube channels. I never dreamed you'd spot the seasoned ribs issue we'd been agonizing over and even create a recipe for it."
"We're the ones who never expected direct contact from Oju Foods."
The mood was warm and friendly. Na Kyung-mo's face was full of genuine curiosity and delight, not a hint of falsehood in his claim of being a fan. It helped ease Sister's tension quite a bit.
"Well then, shall we talk contract details? We put a lot of thought into setting your ad fees. Even with your channel's growth, it's rare for a major corporation to hand an ad to a channel under 100,000 subscribers."
The moment money came up, Na Kyung-mo's expression turned icy. The friendly guy from seconds ago was gone, replaced by a marketing employee laser-focused on minimizing promo costs.
The sudden shift made the relaxed atmosphere awkward again.
"Especially the Stam gift sets—they sell like hotcakes every holiday season. The partner commissions will be hefty too. Anything else you want on top of that?"
"W-Well..."
This question was definitely on our prepared checklist. We'd rehearsed the answer too.
Sister did her best to steady her nerves and spoke up.
"We'd like to lower the upfront payment in exchange for running royalties."
"Running royalties..."
Na Kyung-mo tilted his head. He pulled out a laptop from his bag and opened it.
"Maybe I didn't explain clearly. We've already assigned Stam ads to various influencers. You two are among them."
Na Kyung-mo opened a file showing the influencers selected for the Stam ads. Seventeen in total. There were million-sub YouTubers and 100,000-sub ones. We had the fewest subscribers of the bunch.
"The ads will be collaborative uploads. The Sky and Kite channel will pair with mukbang YouTuber Kim Woo-jin for content. Haneul cooks, and Kim Woo-jin eats it up deliciously. Upload the joint video to each channel, and done."
A cooking YouTuber cooks, a mukbang YouTuber eats. It was an old-school plotline that would still be popular twenty years from now.
Na Kyung-mo took a sip of coffee and continued.
"With so many influencers involved, plus other ads running, how could we possibly do running royalties?"
"That's..."
"Frankly, from our side, we're negative on Sky and Kite's proposal. Anything else you'd like?"
Na Kyung-mo had smoothly taken control of the conversation with his measured tone. Sister got caught in the flow and started stumbling over her words.
She'd opened strong, but the guy was a pro negotiator from a big corporation. Before Sister could struggle more, I jumped in.
"So basically, you can't measure the sales lift from our ad specifically, right? Correct?"
"Yes. That's right."
"There's one way. Your message mentioned providing a partnership link. Buyers using that link get a discount, and we get a commission cut. That's my understanding—am I right?"
"Yes, but... you're not suggesting we track sales via that link, are you?"
I nodded.
Using that link would definitively show sales driven by us.
Because the link was unique to our YouTube and StarTube channels. Viewers from other ads wouldn't bother coming to our channel just to buy through it.
Whether subscribers or not, anyone buying via our link had clearly seen our video.
Na Kyung-mo let out a deep sigh. Then, with a serious look, he gave us some advice.
"One thing you're missing: not everyone who sees the ad will use that link. Some won't know about it, some will find it a hassle, others will chase bigger discounts. Especially disadvantageous for someone with few subscribers like you, Haneul."
His tone carried a hint of genuine concern. And he was right.
Partnership links were mostly used by die-hard fans. We didn't have many loyal ones yet.
In other words, this proposal was like us saying, "We'll take a pay cut~"
"We understand your concerns, but we've decided we can handle it."
"Hmm... So what are your desired royalty terms?"
"Cut the base fee from 8 million won to 3 million won. In exchange, commissions at 8% for sales up to 50 million won, 18% above that. Plus incentives: 5 million won at 50 million, 10 million at 100 million."
Na Kyung-mo nodded along until the incentives, then stiffened.
"Higher commissions plus incentives? That's a lot of conditions."
"From your perspective, it's a win. A 60,000-sub channel won't hit 50 million net sales easily, but the promo reaches our average 100,000 views."
No matter how big Chuseok was, 100,000 views didn't guarantee sales.
Not everyone buys ham canned gift sets, and Stam ads were already everywhere.
Realistically, 50 million in sales was a stretch.
"Hmm, one moment."
Na Kyung-mo scribbled numbers with his pen, pondering. Then he shook his head.
"Honestly, I predict around 40 million in sales from you, Haneul. Small channel, but you've got potential. At that rate, it'd exceed the original ad fee."
"Then we'll drop the ad rate to 1 million won. Total 9 million. Sure, higher than 8 million, but 40 million sales assumes we crush it."
Na Kyung-mo stared at me. Then his lips curved up.
"You were aiming for this from the start. You sure? If I'm wrong and sales barely hit 10 million, you'll walk away with next to nothing. Confident?"
I shrugged—what was there to say? In the end, he slid over a revised contract.
"This'll make the section chief happy. Handing a 100,000-view channel for just 1 million."
"Long or short, we'll see."
We signed.
It was pre-agreed with Sister, so no objections from her. With that short exchange done, we left the building.
"Whew."
Sister plopped onto a nearby bench. She let out a huge sigh and pulled out a handkerchief. It was soaked from nerves.
"You okay?"
"No. Still feel sick. You? How'd you stay so calm in that vibe?"
It was just normal for me, but apparently heavy for her.
"I was shaking plenty."
"Liar. Your voice didn't waver at all. Hell, Kyung-mo was the flustered one first."
"That's... 'cause you're right there?"
Wink.
Silence fell.
A moment later, Sister rubbed her arms, shivering. Goosebumps erupted on her pale skin.
"Eww! So cringy I wanna lose my limbs."
"Ow! Don't hit me. It's true! Why hit me?!"
Her sharp swat meant the nausea had passed.
We didn't head straight home. Since the ad was a collab, we needed to meet Kim Woo-jin, who lived nearby.
"He said around here."
"There it is."
We entered a building and knocked. A bearded guy opened the door with a "Who is it?"
"Who're you?"
"Sky and Kite, doing the Stam ad collab with you. We set a light meeting for around 4."
"Ah! Right, forgot the time. I'm Kim Woo-jin. Nice to meet you."
We shook hands and stepped into the studio.
He ran a mukbang channel with 300,000 subs. Started YouTube way before us, averaging 200,000 views even now.
After some casual chit-chat, we dove into the real meeting.
It was a collab. We had to spark chemistry across channels, entertain more viewers than usual, and drive Stam sales.
At least twice as tough as solo content.
"Hmm... As a senior YouTuber, let me suggest a concept first..."
He had more experience here, so we listened closely.
Unlike her nerves in the negotiation, Sister was proactive now, tossing out ideas. I left it to her since content wasn't my forte.
"That sounds good. Oh, Haneul? What Stam dish will you make? Needs to be something special, not basic."
"Hmm... Cooking, huh."
I glanced at the studio kitchen. Five burners, firepower like a home stove. Kim Woo-jin was mukbang, not cooking.
I had a rough idea.
"Mukbang guy—you eat big, right?"
"Ten bowls of jjajangmyeon, easy."
"Perfect. I'll tell you the menu day-of. More fun that way. Look forward to it."
I was determined to rake in big money from this ad.
Beyond the cash, Sister had stepped up and trusted me. Failing to deliver on that?
Absolutely not happening.
Fired up inside, I mentally ran through eight Stam recipes.