From Taobao intern to the father of Pinduoduo

Chapter 143 Shameless Alibaba Infringes on Rights

Chapter 143 Shameless Alibaba Infringes on Rights

Next, Lin Mu elaborated on the possibility of Guanyun becoming the global QQ lingerie capital.

First, with the stimulus of the national four trillion yuan stimulus package, the entire country will achieve access to water, electricity, roads, and the internet. Furthermore, with the development of the national economy and the improvement of the domestic industrial system, affordable and user-friendly smartphones will inevitably emerge in China sooner or later.

The emergence of smartphones will likely drive demand for at least 5 to 6 million screens in China.

Meanwhile, domestic e-commerce platforms are making great strides.

In 2008, Taobao's total transaction volume reached 1000 billion yuan; in 2009, it doubled to 2000 billion yuan.

His Pinduoduo platform achieved a monthly turnover of 10 million yuan in its first month of operation, and now, after three months, it is expected to reach 40 million yuan by the end of August.

According to such a conservative estimate, by June 2011, the first anniversary of Pinduoduo's launch, its monthly turnover may reach 200 million yuan, and its annual turnover may reach 2 billion yuan.

This is just a conservative estimate; the huge increase will bring huge demand. In China today, a model has emerged where a county town contracts out a specific segment of the industrial chain, with a large number of private enterprises competing fiercely in this segment to make products that are both cheap and high-quality.

Such signs have already emerged in Guanyun. Faced with a surge in huge demand, factory owners have spontaneously expanded their production capacity and started brainstorming new products, and they are all in the same boat.

For a long period to come, it will be a period of growth, and this huge demand will only intensify. If the county government can step in to integrate resources and provide impetus, Guanyun can snowball its advantages and become a leader in the field. Once domestic demand is met, it can then turn its attention overseas to earn US dollars.

The county leader listened attentively, and he was surprised by the high growth of the e-commerce platform.

He knew e-commerce was powerful, but he hadn't expected it to be this powerful. After communicating with Lin Mu, the county leaders planned to go back and hold a meeting with their team members. The promises made by Ji were truly tempting; if they could be successfully implemented, it would undoubtedly be a huge boost to his promotion.

When Lin Mu returned to the company, Wang Zaixing immediately approached him and said, "Da Yan, there are already shops selling the same style on Taobao."

"I've traced the source, and it turns out they pirated our popular design, not produced it in Guanyun. They even copied the main image and product reviews exactly."

Well, Lin Mu wasn't surprised by this result at all; he just felt a little disgusted.

He picked up his phone and saw a series of QQ Hanfu shops on Taobao Marketplace, and their styles were exactly the same as the ones he had provided.

Not only did they copy Hanfeng QQ underwear, but they also copied the pearl thong style; they even copied the styles that the factory owners in Guanyun came up with themselves.

What's most infuriating is that they doubled the price on Pinduoduo, yet sales were still quite good, with each store easily receiving hundreds of orders.

Wang Zaixing said, "Dayan, should we ask the Ministry of Justice for support so that Boss Ye and his team can sue these Taobao sellers for infringement?"

'

Lin Mu shook his head and said, "It's pointless. If you want to sue these merchants for infringement, you have to sue Taobao first, and then get Taobao to provide these merchants' personal information."

"By the time this whole process is completed, it will be too late. And Taobao will definitely favor these sellers and won't cooperate with us easily."

He paused, then continued, "Our best decision is to go against the grain and try something fancy."

"What kind of method is it?" Wang Zaixing asked curiously.

Lin Mu said with a smile, "The main battlefield of Weibo is celebrities, and the gossip and feuds between celebrities."

"I happen to have a lot of fashion resources and know a few influential celebrities. It's impossible for them to publicly advocate for Pinduoduo or publicly condemn it, but it's more than enough for them to share and help us increase our popularity."

As he spoke, Lin Mu explained his specific strategy to Wang Zaixing in detail.

Two days later, as agreed with Lin Mu, Ye Xixi registered a Weibo account with the name "Be Positive Every Day".

She posted a short article, briefly recounting how she restructured her nearly bankrupt factory to sell QQ underwear, which not only supported her family and kept the jobs of other workers in the factory, but also earned her a good profit.

Unexpectedly, some sellers on Taobao shamelessly plagiarized her ideas, even copying her product images and reviews verbatim.

She filed a complaint with Taobao, but Taobao clearly favored the sellers. After careful investigation, she discovered that this wasn't the first time Taobao had done this, and the number of plagiarized products it favored was shocking.

Even if you manage to win a lawsuit against Taobao, at most they'll just shut down the infringing store and then promote another similar store, which is infuriating.

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After the long post was published, it initially received lukewarm reception; Weibo in 2010 didn't have the massive traffic it would later achieve. However, Lin Mu quickly initiated follow-up actions. He first hired a few basic online trolls to retweet the post. Once the number of comments and retweets reached 100, he contacted a female celebrity.

In 2010, "If You Are the One" was extremely popular. Initially, "If You Are the One" featured twenty-four male guests choosing one female guest;

Later, due to complaints about the show, the production team changed their approach, letting the female guests choose the male guests. Unexpectedly, this small change made "If You Are the One" a nationwide hit.

That year, a female guest named Ma Nuo became very popular. She once said a very famous line: "I'd rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle." She gained fame with this highly controversial statement and later went on to endorse games, earning a lot of money. However, with the advent of the mobile internet era, she gradually faded from public view.

Closer to home.

At this moment, Lin Mu was considered a minor figure of connections within the Chinese entertainment industry. He held access to the Parisian fashion scene, able to recommend talented female celebrities to Paris to make their mark and build resources. Through this network, he had become acquainted with many big stars.

Through a series of roundabout connections, Lin Mu found Mano and gave her a sum of money—not much, just 5000 yuan—to retweet Ye Xixi's Weibo post. At that moment, Mano was at the height of her popularity, and the retweet immediately appeared on her timeline, seen by many of her followers, haters, and casual fans.

Fans of diverse backgrounds saw this post and left comments, likes, and shares in the comment section.

Of course, the focus of their discussion was not the plagiarism incident itself, but rather that some people defended Ma Nuo while others ridiculed her, and the two sides argued fiercely, causing the data of this Weibo post to skyrocket.

Soon, this incident became a trending topic and a hot issue.

Finally, Lin Mu brought in heavyweight celebrity Yang Mi. He didn't have her directly comment on the matter and offend Taobao, but instead touched on it indirectly: "The plagiarism problem is really rampant these days. I have my own brand, and someone copied my designs. I had my legal team file a complaint, and they actually told me, 'You're a big star, what's wrong with me copying some clothes? You're not short of money anyway.' It infuriated me."

Yang Mi's fame is different from Ma Nuoke's. As soon as she spoke out, a group of fans jumped in to help her condemn the plagiarist. Many people also started to seriously pay attention to the matter she forwarded. Some people downloaded Pinduoduo out of curiosity and ended up getting so engrossed in the QQ lingerie section that they bought a lot of clothes for their girlfriends.

Thanks to Lin Mu's precise execution, this event achieved a remarkable leap, successfully going viral.