“I saw it in America.”
Man, it was something else.
It was huge.
People!!!
People, people, people!!!!
Sure, I promoted the shopping mall like crazy from the radio magical devices that I randomly placed within a 50 km radius.
But even with that, not even this eye of a genius like Kongming could have predicted so many people would come… Actually, I probably knew.
Anyway, I’ve caused another societal phenomenon, akin to the commotion when we launched the gaming devices.
This time, even people who weren’t interested in the game consoles came, so the uproar might be even bigger.
Thanks to that, the Royal Capital’s Imperial Guard Knights have gathered again, trying to disperse the crowd… Ah, in this world, if people gather without permission, they get dispersed. It’s still that kind of era. And despite the knights yelling to disperse, the customers don’t listen.
On top of that, many of the customers are young aristocrats, wealthy merchants, or their aides, so it seems like the knights can’t forcibly suppress them with brute force.
See, even though they are the Imperial Guard Knights, they are still just knights.
When someone shouts, “I am an emissary of Count So-and-So!” they can only back off in fear.
Not to mention, a lot of noblemen have secretly come to check it out themselves after hearing the rumors. So the knights can’t make any reckless moves.
So, how many came, I wonder? About a thousand?
The mall is bigger than the royal castle, but it’s still pretty crowded.
There were some disputes inside the store, but the homunculus maids who work there beat them up and threw them out, so it’s all good.
I’m not afraid of the aristocrats either.
Oh, and I was summoned to the royal castle again for questioning and a scolding for stirring up the country, but I set fire to the messenger’s clothes and made him run through the streets.
Then, Prince Gilbert, the second prince, came directly.
He’s humble and polite—quite admirable.
I’ve said this countless times, but I have no intention of bowing my head to a foolish royal family that’s weaker and dumber than me and can’t even govern the people properly.
But Prince Gilbert, who humbly bows his head, is someone I can respect.
When he asked for an explanation, I just said, “Isn’t it weird to get angry at someone just for opening a store? Don’t you agree?” And sent him on his way.
But still, I felt a bit bad for sending my friend Gilbert back empty-handed, so I gave him some luxury cookies and tea leaves as a gift.
“See you, Gilbert.”
“Ah, yeah. I’ll be going now.”
“Whaaaat?!?! You dare treat a prince like that…?!”
Oh, Fran-chan is throwing a fit again, as usual.
She’s such an entertaining woman.
“Well, Gilbert is my friend, after all…”
“I swear, being around you makes my heart feel like it’s going to stop!!!”
“Love?”
“Terror!!!!”
Adorable.
While brushing off Fran-chan, I gathered the executives back in the conference room.
Then I played footage from the surveillance cameras in the meeting room.
Naturally, the video showed the mall packed with customers.
“Wow… that’s incredible.”
Grace said, sounding amazed.
It seems she didn’t expect this many people to come.
“All right, Grace, take out your notes. Let’s analyze why the shopping mall is so popular.”
“Yes, sir!”
Good response.
Grace is a woman who wants to make the world better through education, and she herself loves learning.
Let’s teach her about ‘marketing’!
“So, what do you think attracted so many people?”
“Well… I think it was because we called people in advance through the radio?”
I had secretly placed radios in every city and village in this country.
Regularly broadcasting stealthy advertisements for Aurora, along with some music.
“That’s a good start! Promotion is the most basic of basics in marketing. No matter how good the product is, if customers don’t know about it, they won’t buy it. Anything else?”
“The theme song!”
Betty chimed in.
When I turned on the audio from the surveillance camera…
“Waiting for you in your dreams, Aurora
New discoveries and a wondrous wonderland.”
“Aurora, a sparkling mall,
Exciting shopping time,
Everything you want is here,
A paradise where you’ll lose yourself.”
“Step inside and you’ll find
A variety of vibrant shops,
Feel the fashion and trends,
Change into a new you.”
“Aurora, a sparkling mall,
Exciting shopping time,
Everything you want is here,
A paradise where you’ll lose yourself.”
“Take a moment to relax at a café,
Connect with a smile in the community,
Enjoy fun-filled days with friends,
Experience it all at Aurora.”
“Aurora, a sparkling mall,
Exciting shopping time,
Everything you want is here,
A paradise where you’ll lose yourself.”
“A paradise where you’ll lose yourself,
Aurora, a sparkling mall.”
A mysterious commercial song was playing.
Yes… the commercial song!
As everyone knows, the world’s oldest commercial song was the 19th-century “Funiculì, Funiculà.”
It was made to advertise a cable car on a mountain.
This world’s civilization is about equivalent to 13th-century Europe, so the concept of a commercial song is about six centuries ahead of its time!
Incidentally, I wrote the lyrics and music myself. I played guitar, Ada on piano (I taught her in case this ever happened), Betty and Alan on vocals, Fran-chan on drums (whacking them awkwardly), and Yuki played the flute. We somehow managed to put it all together.
In this world, you can’t even listen to music for free.
There’s no way people wouldn’t flock to a place that plays fun music.
“Brightness, perhaps? I’ve been around to other trading companies, but they all feel dim and make the products look bad.”
Good observation, Alan.
Fluorescent lights… I don’t fully understand them, so I made tons of glass rod-like magical devices that emit a similar light.
Recently, I developed magical devices capable of using generated magic, and devices that inscribe magic formulas onto objects. Am I running a factory here?
“Alan, great point. Brightness inside a store is important. Anything else?”
“Maybe the quality of the products?”
Francis added.
“True, the quality is the best in the world. What else?”
“Perhaps the prices are affordable?”
Yuki suggested.
“That’s another good point. So, in summary, we’ve done more advertising than any other store, it’s a comfortable place to be, and the products are cheap yet high-quality. Right?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“So, the first step to selling anything is analysis. You can’t sell sand in the desert or water in a river, right? It’s the same principle. You have to analyze your company, products, and the surrounding market to understand the situation. That’s the first step.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“There are various methods of analysis, such as 3C analysis, PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, and—”
And so, I taught the basics of marketing to my executives, with the backdrop of our wildly successful shopping mall.
