THE HYPE

"Have you heard about the 01.01 SALE???"

Squealed a girl, sitting next to her best friend when she saw that the other party was busy checking the page of an online store.

"Hell yeah! Of course, I do, and I'm super excited to check out my items."

The other party replied with the same level of enthusiasm.

"I see. You already marked the date and purposely delayed buying your goods so you could avail the big discount."

Another one commented with the same level of energy as the two other girls.

"Hey guys, I heard that there is actually far more important than the new year's sale this time..."

Another girl from the next table waded into the conversation when she heard what her colleagues from the other table were talking about.

They were actually at their work's cafeteria having their lunch and almost everyone present in the place at that moment was talking about the same thing.

"Oh, c'mon spill the bean!"

The first girl replied and it was obvious from the gleam on her eyes that she was excited to hear the news.

"Alpha Tech is releasing their sneakers!"

"Alpha Tech? Is that the same company that pioneered Android Partner?"

Another character who the author would not bother to name butted in.

"The one and only..."

"Oh shoot! I must get myself a pair of that sneakers!"

The same kind of conversation was also going on in various places, and it was not only limited to that cafeteria.

Apparently, everyone on the face of the earth was thrilled by the news of the new product being released by this said company, Alpha Technology Inc.

Meanwhile, at the marketing team of Alpha Technology Inc., a couple of days ago.

"Sir, the Astro Sneaker is about to be released next week. The goal is to break the record of our Android Partner product as the fastest item sold in an hour. But how could we do that?"

"Precisely my concern, Shereen. There is no doubt that people would go crazy for our AI robot, that is why it is no surprise that it was sold out right away on its first day of being released in the market. However, the Astro sneaker is different. We are not yet sure if it would receive the same fervent reaction from our consumers."

"Your concerns were all unfounded. An excellent marketing technique is all we need to compel our customers into buying our product at the speed of light. Here is my take..."

Xander, head of the marketing team, clasped his hands together and put them atop their glass table, before continuing,

"At exactly 12 midnight of January 1, at the luxury brand on our website, we will sell only 100 special editions of Astro Sneaker. As it is a special edition, we will number the sneaker on its midsole from 1-100."

As he was saying that, Xander fumbled on the remote and started presenting to his team the slide presentation of the marketing plan that he prepared prior to their meeting.

Confidence was radiating on his very presence, as though the other party was one hundred percent certain that his plan would work; that was despite the fact that they had never tried that strategy before.

"It is only available on our website. In other words, it is an exclusive contract.  Number 1 will cost 10,000 dollars; Number 2 will be 9, 990 dollars. It will be 10 dollars less for each increase in number. Number 100 will be 9000 dollars. It will be the first system to differentiate the cost."

Xander paused for a while and looked at his team. Only after confirming that he had all their attention did he resumed from what he was saying,

"After one minute, shopping fanatics will be desperate to buy this sneaker on our website. Why? Because they will want to buy the lowest number at the highest price. Why again? Because once the sneaker was numbered, it will become the only pair in the entire world. That is the power of limited editions."

Xander concluded his presentation with his arms spread apart as though he was already claiming that success was approaching.

The whole team, on the other hand, clapped their hands in approval when they heard their leader's idea.

Alpha Tech sure had a great head leading their marketing team.

As they expected, people worldwide anticipated the release of the said sneaker.

As early as 11:55 pm, people were already in front of their computers.  Everyone had their eyes focused on the screen, never daring to look somewhere else.

In 5..... 4.... 3... 2.. 1-----

When the clock stroke 12, the keyboard warriors gained their advantage

PLEASE WAIT A MOMENT.

The webpage displayed those texts on the screen as the consumers waited for the fruit of their effort.

After a few more minutes.....

"Ms. Shantal Norstorme, thank you for purchasing number one."

"YES!!!"

The girl almost smashed the screen of her computer out of utter excitement when she saw her order confirmation.

While others were wallowing at the sight of 'SOLD OUT' notice on their screen, Shantal on the other hand was celebrating to her heart's content.