[Chapter 14: Building the Fan Club]
On June 8, Bella officially started her job, first going to Universal to complete her onboarding process. She then called Mira, and the three of them discussed their next steps at the Universal office.
As Linton's personal assistant, Bella's primary responsibility revolved around establishing and operating Linton's fan club, which was a new venture without any existing references, requiring them to figure it out as they went along.
Before delving into work discussions, they first considered various options for Bella's office location. One option was an in-house office at Universal, where she could share an assistant's room just outside her office with Molly, who had been assigned to her by Universal but was not called in for the meeting. The other option involved renting an office nearby (since Universal was only concerned with paying her salary).
Considering that setting up and operating the fan club was a new model for managing stars that required traveling across the country, handling numerous letters, and hosting fan leaders, they concluded that the best decision was to rent a nearby office as Bella's workspace. Once the fan club was off the ground, it could later upgrade to become Linton's fan club studio.
...
Bella then shared her vision for the club. Having studied media and previously worked at an entertainment newspaper, she had some ideas about fan management. She proposed a three-step plan for the fan club's establishment.
The first step involved creating fan clubs in the ten largest cities by economy. Some cities already had Linton fan clubs, and they would reach out to them for official recognition, renaming them as Linton Fan Club Chapters to help expand their influence. In cities without fan clubs, they intended to find passionate fans through inquiries via letters, identifying those with influence, willingness to act, and initiative to lead the creation of local fan clubs, all named as Linton Fan Club Chapters.
Additionally, she suggested that the leaders should ideally come from high school and college students, as they were the most enthusiastic and had the time, with student networks making it easier to spread the word.
To ensure these leaders' enthusiasm and motivation, she mentioned that Linton should support them with action, mainly by providing signed photos, signed albums, and unique gifts. If time allowed, fan meet-and-greets could be organized to invite them to participate.
Linton nodded frequently, signaling Bella to continue.
The second step focused on assisting these ten fan clubs in hosting fan events to expand their scale and increase engagement. They could provide materials for support, such as posters featuring Linton's image, t-shirts, or baseball caps. Ideally, Linton could sign a small number of materials for added impact.
The third step revolved around using these ten fan clubs as the ignition point, promoting and expanding outward. They could select core members from these clubs to help establish new ones in other cities, offering financial and material support.
Linton felt satisfied; it looked like they had found someone capable. In an era before the internet became widespread, this plan was quite impressive. However, though the strategy was solid, he needed to observe its execution capabilities.
He turned to Mira and asked for her thoughts. After a moment of hesitation, she questioned, "Could we involve Universal's local promotion teams in building the fan club? After all, they have representatives stationed across the states."
Linton was somewhat reluctant to involve Universal, considering that establishing a fan club was not solely about fans. He was also planning to make movies, which weren't guaranteed to involve Universal either. Having made up his mind, he replied, "Bella, that sounds great. Let's stick to your plan. We'll manage the fan club's establishment and operation ourselves. But if you need Universal's collaboration, just let me know ahead of time. Prepare a plan and budget for me, and get started quickly. Oh, and make sure you find a larger office space. Good luck, and once you succeed, I'll reward you generously."
Linton had whimsically envisioned big rewards.
...
Afterward, Linton called in Molly, instructing her to hand over the management of fan letters and gifts to Bella.
To his surprise, Molly's expression changed, and she looked on the verge of tears as she urgently asked, "Boss, did I do something wrong? Tell me, and I'll fix it."
Seeing her reaction, Linton quickly realized he underestimated how coveted his assistant position was among typical Universal staff. He reassured her, "You did nothing wrong. I simply want Bella to manage my fan club and handle my fans, it has nothing to do with you."
Molly thought to herself, how could it not involve her? She had worked hard to secure the assistant position, believing that handling relationships with fans was essential for showing her effort and results. Losing that primary responsibility made her feel expendable, which was unacceptable. While she didn't entirely understand what the fan club would do, it sounded impressive, so she said, "Boss, the workload for building a fan club seems considerable, and handling fan letters and gifts requires a good amount of effort too. Shouldn't I join in to help share the workload?"
Linton hadn't anticipated Molly would be so eager to contribute. What he didn't know was how highly sought after this assistant position was at Universal, and Molly had fought fiercely to secure it. Recognizing her previous effectiveness in handling fan letters and gifts, Linton didn't want to discourage her enthusiasm. He remembered Mira's earlier suggestion and said, "Alright, you can still manage the letters and gifts. However, since we are establishing the fan club, make sure to sign the responses and gifts as Linton Fan Club. Also, consult with Bella on how to identify the fans she needs from incoming letters. When Bella requires support from Universal's local staff during fan club events, you'll coordinate that. Of course, your main job will still be liaising effectively with various departments at Universal Records."
"No problem, I promise to manage it well," Molly said happily.
"That's settled, let's split up and get to work."
...
They all went their separate ways. Linton headed to Daniel's office to discuss the promotional work for Believer with the marketing team.
After the consecutive success of the first two singles, Linton's rising star status made for an advantageous launch for the third song, Believer.
The promotional strategy for Believer was fairly straightforward, maintaining routine advertising while reducing Linton's promotional workload but significantly improving quality and sophistication.
The company selected four prominent second-tier magazines (they were still waiting on major publications, like Vogue and Time) and six entertainment newspapers with national circulation to arrange interviews on the 9th and 10th.
On June 11, he would go to Manchester to participate in the Bonnaroo Music Festival and perform.
From June 12, he began participating in three sporting events as a special guest, performing during halftime. The dates included June 12th for an NBA Finals game in Chicago, June 13th for an MLB game in New York, and June 15th for another MLB game in Los Angeles.
From June 14, Linton would also appear on three talk shows. Plus, an additional fan meet-and-greet and in-store signing would be organized in one of the top ten economically strong cities across America.
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Looking at the schedule, Linton was amazed at how light his workload seemed this time: it would all be wrapped up in a maximum of three weeks, and the intensity wasn't at all comparable to the previous two promotional pushes, which didn't feel typical of Universal's usual approach. He looked at Daniel in astonishment.
Daniel explained, "Given your current popularity and the saturation of promotions over the past couple of months, your visibility is already very high, and the newer markets have been ignited.
All we need to do is ensure that posters are everywhere, place the promotional material in optimal locations, and with MTV and numerous local stations airing the Believer music video, along with many radio stations promoting it, there's no need for a whirlwind of live events.
However, the mainstream audience still needs to recognize your talent, which we aim to address this time as well, focusing on top-tier magazines, major newspapers, high-rated talk shows, sporting events, and music festivals, which are the best promotional platforms.
But remember, performing live at sports events and music festivals really tests your vocal skills and stage presence. Don't take it lightly; make sure to deliver your best performance, showcasing the finest live effect. Plus, with the explosive vibe of Believer, its empowering lyrics, and its melody, it fits perfectly for such occasions, guaranteed to ignite the audience's excitement.
Let's see the results. After these events, Believer should definitely clinch the Billboard number one position, and your fame will surely soar, turning you into a beloved superstar.
You can arrange your other time as you see fit. Oh, is Cameron in Los Angeles? If so, feel free to keep showing off your closeness on camera and stir some buzz."
Upon learning Cameron was filming, he thought there was no need for that. "Your visibility was already sufficient, and stirring up relationships wasn't as critical now."
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On June 2, the latest Billboard chart was released, indicating that Mariah Carey's I Don't Wanna Cry topped the chart, with Numb in second place and Baby still holding third. Numb sold 700,000 copies that week, while Baby sold 400,000.
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That evening, Naomi became addicted to the pleasure and kept coming back for more, unable to resist. It was perfect, allowing him to improve his skills while enjoying himself and bringing joy to others. With Linton's graciousness in yielding, the two found themselves even, falling asleep in each other's embrace by two in the morning.
*****
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