The First Department Meeting

Chapter - 35

Today was surprisingly peaceful for Alex. No one in the department asked him for any kind of work. Instead, they would bring juice, snacks and other stuff for him from time to time. Even during lunch, the ladies came up to Alex and started stuffing him with the food they brought with them. By the time lunch was over, Alex was overwhelmed by their gesture both in his heart and his stomach. His stomach swelled and bulged enough that it might hop out, tearing apart his shirt.

After the break was over, stuffing Alex to the brim, the ladies walked in, followed by Alex. The moment they walked in, they found Karen waiting for them.

"I want all of you in the meeting room in ten minutes," Karen informed them. The ladies, hearing her, hurried back to their desks, picked up stuff, and without wasting a moment, followed behind Karen for the meeting.

In less than five minutes, all of them were in the meeting room, with Karen sitting in the middle while all the others were on either of her sides. Alex and Amber being the newbies were seated at the far end opposite each other.

"You must know why we are having a meeting now. Many of you know our company acquired another company a month ago," Karen said as she addressed all of them.

All of them nodded except for Amber and Alex.

Amber raised her hand to ask about it, but Karen, who saw it ignored her, and continued, "As for those who are new, let me tell you about it in short."

When Amber heard Karen, she brought her hand down. Karen continued, "Last month 'Theation' acquired a book publishing company".

Everyone present there had varied expressions on their face, after what Karen said. Even though some of them knew about it. None of them had any idea why the company would invest in such a non-profitable venture. It has nothing got to do with what the company is all about. The book publishing was a risky adventure. With people leaning towards convenience where they want everything on their phones, tablets and laptops. There is also no guarantee that the published book will do any better. On top of that, there is always a possibility of piracy. With all these factors in play, any sane person would rather burn money than invest it without any preparation.

"I know what is going through all of your minds, but it's not our job to question the decisions made by our superiors, neither is it our place to tell them what they should or should not do. Our job here is to do what we are asked, to the best of our abilities. Now we are asked to promote this new company. We all are here to discuss this matter and map out a strategy for promotion". Karen said. She was well aware of what they all were thinking.

All the ladies nodded their heads in understanding. Alex was impressed with how focused his chief was. He had never seen her partake in any gossip around the office or bad-mouth anyone. He already respected her a lot, and every day there was only an increase in her stature in his heart.

Now with orders at hand, the ladies began to discuss among themselves the possible strategies they can go with. Karen just sat there listening to them and occasionally putting forth her views.

"Boss, why don't we ask one of the celebrities from the ongoing shootings to promote the company on their social media? Instead of making them the brand ambassador of the company, we can enter into a pay per post kind of agreement with them" Elaine said. She was the social media manager, and she very well knew the power of social media and the influence celebrities had on their fans.

"What do you suggest?" Karen asked. Obviously, she liked the idea.

"We can approach them emotionally. You know with books the most pleasant thing is their smell. It's not only about the story, the hero, the princess or the devil. Die-hard readers tend to long for that smell from the book. We can approach this campaign in this direction. Not only will we approach the avid readers of books, but the celebrity effect will intrigue those, who had never in their life bought a book to read," Ellaine explained, "When they find their favourite celebrity reading a book, even if they don't understand it, they will buy the book just to copy them."

"That's a good idea, make a list of all the celebrities which fit our requirements in fees, popularity and their image," Karen said as she liked the idea. But she reminded, "Keep this in mind. The image of the celebrity is the deciding factor here. And we will only make them post a couple of photos, reels or videos on their Social media. As of now, we don't need a brand ambassador for this project.

"Yes, boss," Ellaine nodded and wrote down everything Karen said on her tablet.

"Chief. Why are we not looking for a brand ambassador and shooting a few advertisements?" Amber asked as she raised her hand.

"I don't think it is the right time," before Karen could reply, Hazel, pinched in.

"Why?" Amber asked, confused.

"When companies start, they don't just outright jump into the market with advertisements. They need to make a small local market for themselves first". Hazel explained to Amber, "Companies first judge the reaction of the public, and if they think that the results are positive, they start scaling up things."

"Ohh..." Amber nodded as she understood what Hazel said.

After this little educational lesson, all the ladies present again involved themselves in a discussion. The discussion kept ongoing for some time, but all this while, Alex didn't take part in it one bit.

Karen looked at Alex, who was sitting silently at the very end of the table, not taking part in the discussion, "Alex, are you not feeling comfortable?" Karen called out to him out of nowhere.

Hearing Karen, the chattering in the meeting room came to an abrupt stop, and the focus of all the ladies in the room shifted towards Alex.

"No, I am feeling fine". Alex said as he straightened himself.

"Then, don't you have any suggestions for us?" Karen asked, placing her palms on her chin as she supported herself with her arms on the chair. She looked curiously towards Alex.

"I have. In fact, I have two suggestions, but I don't know if you will like them," Alex said while scratching the back of his head, embarrassed.

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