We got too much of us, there's too much, I just, we gotta downsize

“…So that’s the plan!” Vivian finished, leaning back in her chair with a bold grin on her face. “What do you think? Pretty great, huh? And not a lot of overlap with what you did! No, I think this will work out just fine!”

Kim studied Vivian carefully as she thought about the date strategy the heiress had proposed.

“…Are you really asking for my opinion?” She asked carefully. Sometimes, people like Vivian would ask what somebody thought about something, but it was actually just an excuse to hear themselves talk, and they didn’t want any actual feedback- and especially not any pushback.

But Kim wasn’t the kind of person to sugarcoat how she thought about something, especially not to stroke the ego of someone like Vivian Carrington.

“I’m seriously asking!” Vivian said, looking at Kim with a genuine gleam in her eye.

That put Kim in a difficult position. She wasn’t used to dealing with Vivian in such a genuine way.

“Well… then since you’re asking, I’d say… it’s not the strangest date I’ve ever heard of,” Kim said. “But are you sure Nick will like it?”

“Why wouldn’t he like it?” Vivian asked, confused.

“Nick’s not the kind of guy who’s going to be swept up by glitz and glamour,” Kim replied. “Your idea sounds like a lot of flash, but not a lot of substance. I think he’d really prefer something more casual to get to know you better.”

“Didn’t you two smash sports cars with baseball bats?” Vivian pointed out.

Kim blushed and shifted in her seat. “W-well…”

“See?” Vivian crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. “That sounds pretty flashy if you ask me!”

“N-no, it’s different with us!” Kim said quickly, shaking her head. “Nick and I, our date last night, we already had a connection, a serious one! But with you…”

“My connection isn’t serious?” Vivian asked, sounding honestly confused.

“Vivian… you met him a week ago,” Kim said bluntly.

“It was a little longer than that.”

“Okay, but that’s not my point!” Kim shook her head. “On my first date with Nick, we for a walk in the Botanical Garden, we got lunch at McDonald’s, and we went to the Amusement Park. It was a fun and exciting date, but I didn’t focus on a bunch of cool things that would catch his attention, we spent our time getting to know each other. It feels like you’re using this date to try and impress him, rather than show him who you really are.”

“…Huh.” Vivian stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I see… well, thank you for the advice, Kim! I’ll consider that. Now, what was that you needed my help with?”

Kim was stunned for a moment. “Uh… um?” That was it? That simple? Kim shared her thoughts, and Vivian just accepted?

Just like that?

“Well?”

Vivian looked expectantly at Kim, and Kim really didn’t know what to say. She straightened up in her seat and scratched the side of her head. “Sorry, I just… gimme a sec…”

It took another moment or two for Kim to process that Vivian really was genuinely considering her advice. Once she grappled with that truth long enough, she decided that maybe she really should seek out Vivian’s advice on this after all.

And not just because Vivian was the person who could help her best.

“I really had fun on my date with Nick last night,” Kim finally said. A smile touched her lips just at the thought of it.

Vivian smirked. “I know you, made that very clear,” she giggled. “But what’s this gotta do with me?”

When Kim had told her that she needed a favor in exchange for working out how Vivian’s date would go, the heiress was happy to oblige. Mostly out of curiosity. What would someone like Kim, who expressed how much she disliked Vivian’s style of doing things on a regular basis, ask of her now?

Kim’s expression was serious, as usual when dealing with Vivian. But there was something else the heiress saw in those eyes, too.

Burning desire.

“I want another one just like it,” Kim said bluntly. “And not just next week! I want to go on as many dates to Dream Alley as I can!”

“Well, from what you’ve said, I can certainly understand why,” Vivian nodded. “It sounds amazing, getting to do whatever you want. But unfortunately, I’m a little short on cash at the moment,” she pointed out.

How she was planning to pay for her own extravagant Dream Alley date coming up in just a few days she’d conveniently avoided bringing up.

“I’m not asking for a handout,” Kim said, shaking her head. “I’m looking for advice.”

“On?”

“For most of the girls in Nick’s harem, the main source of BP we can get is during the Popularity Poll,” Kim pointed out. “But I’m not ranking as high as I used to. Plus, with four new girls in the harem, the distribution of points is going to be spread even thinner… not to mention, it won’t happen until the end of the round anyway.”

Vivian shrugged. She wasn’t worried. The Bounty Board had helped out a lot in that regard already, after all.

“But I can get BP through my job,” Kim explained. “By selling lingerie, I can earn half the cost of each piece on commission. It’s the main way I’ve been able to accrue as much BP as I have so far.”

“Oh… I think I see where you’re going with this…” Vivian smirked, nodding slyly.

“I’m going to be putting more thought into my job,” Kim continued, “because right now, I only have 3100 BP. That’s a lot, but not necessarily enough to buy another date to Dream Alley. But if I really buckle down and work hard pushing product, I might be able to make some more. But things have started to slow down, and people aren’t buying as many clothes as they used to.”

“That could definitely be a problem,” Vivian agreed. “After all, Nick can purchase clothes for anybody since he has unlimited credit.”

“Right,” Kim groused, rolling her eyes. “And I don’t get any BP if he uses the master discount.”

“So what you’re looking for is my help in a business sense, then,” Vivian said, steepling her fingers and leaning forward, her eyes shining with entrepreneurial anticipation. “I’ve gotta say, that’s definitely not the direction I expected this conversation to go, Kim.”

“I’m sure it isn’t,” Kim sighed in exasperation. “But you’re right. Right now, I need to make money. And if anybody here knows about that, it’s you.”

“Are you sure? I thought I was some spoiled rich brat who inherited all her wealth?” Vivian teased, throwing Kim’s words back in her face.

“Yeah? And?” Kim bluntly shrugged off Vivian’s attempt to shame her. “Even if that’s the case, it’s obvious you know your way around the fashion industry. You built your own brand, after all. The issue I have is that your family’s wealth got you your foot in the door.”

Vivian scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Kim sighed. “Vivian, you’re good at this. I admit it, okay? You know your way with fashion, and you know how to make money selling clothes. And that’s what I need right now. Advice on how I can make people want to buy the stuff that we’ve got.”

“Hmm… yes, that does sound perplexing…” Vivian was already trying to figure out the logistics behind Kim’s issue here. “Well, you’re aware of the main problem you’re facing, right?”

“Yeah, nobody wants to buy clothes, I already said that,” Kim replied.

Vivian rolled her eyes and wagged her finger from side to side. “No, no, no, you’re looking at it from the wrong perspective! You’re thinking like a cashier, not like a saleswoman.”

“Huh? What’s that mean?” Kim stared blankly at her.

“Do you have any experience in sales?” Vivian asked curiously. “Not just standing behind the cash register but actually working on pushing your product?”

“I have more experience than you do,” Kim bluntly replied, narrowing her eyes.

Vivian laughed. “Oh, you… No, you really don’t. You know what it means to be a fashion mogul? It means my job is literally sales. Sales, sales, sales. I’m trying to push my brand. I’m trying to convince all the men and women out there that my product is what they’re looking for. Make it so men don’t want any finely tailored suit, they want my finely tailored suit. Women don’t want to buy that designer handbag, they want to buy this designer handbag.”

“Yeah, I get that part, you aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know,” Kim said, starting to get a little irritated.

Vivian just sighed. “No, Kim, you really don’t. You’re dressing it up too brightly!”

She snickered at her own little joke, while Kim continued to remain unamused.

“…Look, when you get right down to it, without the fancy ads and the marketing strategies and product lines, all sales work is one simple thing. A method of getting someone to spend their money on the product. Yes?”

“Obviously yeah,” Kim nodded. It was refreshing to see Vivian come clean and admit that it really was just about the money.

“Now, when I’m trying to match against Gucci or Versace or one of those other fashion lines, I’m trying to convince the average customer-”

“Right, like you sell to ‘average’ people,” Kim interrupted.

Vivian narrowed her eyes. “Not helpful. Anyway. I’m trying to convince my customers that my product is what they should be buying, not theirs. You, you’re dealing with a slightly more complex issue, but an easier one in a lot of ways.”

“What do you mean?” Kim asked.

“Sales is just persuasion!” Vivian declared. “You’re trying to convince the girls in Nick’s harem that spending their money on your product is more valuable than spending their money on something else instead. Only instead of money, it’s BP. That’s the simple truth of economics-”

“I’m an econ major, I know how economics works,” Kim said. Vivian had really gone through this whole spiel just to tell her something she already knew? “The problem is, it’s difficult to make supply and demand work in my favor because of outside forces. We have an unlimited supply, but the demand is minimal. In fact, it’s almost zero.”

“Good point,” Vivian admitted. “Because Nick can buy the girls whatever they want, the demand to make a sale through you might as well be spit. Especially if you take up such a surly and confrontational tone with prospective customers.”

Kim’s eye twitched. “Get to the point, please?”

“I’m getting there.” Vivian’s eyes twinkled. “I still haven’t told you what the main problem with your business model is yet.”

“Huh? We just talked about it, because of Nick’s master discount-”

“That’s an inconvenience,” Vivian cut her off, raising her hand. “Not a main problem. With a little marketing magic, we can get rid of that pesky detail easily enough.”

“Okay, then what do you think the ‘main problem’ is?” Kim asked warily.

Vivian’s answer was short, succinct, and blunt.

“Customer outreach.”

And yet, Kim was still confused.

“…Huh?”

“Customer outreach,” Vivian repeated like it was obvious. “You don’t have any.”

“Uh…”

“All your sales are through walk-ins,” Vivian pointed out. “The women come to you because they have something they need to buy. Come on, Kim, this is so basic! What’s your market here? Ten girls max? Less, due to clothing transformation restrictions? If you were a real shop you’d have gone out of business already.”

“It’s fine, we have Harem Hotel subsidies,” Kim said, the words tasting bitter on her lips. “Because that’s how the economy works these days.”

Vivian chuckled at her “joke”.

“The point is, these girls don’t come to your shop to browse! They almost always come because they have something in mind they want to buy, right?” Vivian returned to the topic.

“Uh… yeah, you’re not wrong there,” Kim acknowledged.

“See? That’s bad. That’s not going to get you anywhere. You’ve got zero branding! No adds, no marketing campaign, no nothing! If you want to increase your sales, you’ve gotta go to customers where they live, and get them thinking about your product even when they don’t want to buy something.”

“I think I get it,” Kim nodded. “Like when you’re working in a shop, and you direct the customers towards big ticket items and try to convince them that they want stuff they haven’t even considered before, when they only came in to purchase necessities.”

Vivian tapped her nose. “Exactly! You need to convince them that this thing they didn’t want to buy is something that they actually DO want to buy!”

“Okay, but what am I supposed to do about that?” Kim questioned. “Just shove underwear in their faces on my off hours? That’s just going to irritate them.”

Vivian shook her head. “No, that’s too direct. Would you want to buy lingerie just because someone shoved a bra into your face?”

“…Well, if I was a teenage boy…”

“Hah! You’re funny, Kim! I had no idea you were so funny!” Vivian chortled. “…But you get the point.”

“Yeah, because it was my point,” Kim replied. “So tell me already, what are your thoughts for how to market the shop to people?”

She could understand Vivian’s perspective. It made sense, too. If someone came to the boutique because they had something they wanted to buy, the chances were pretty high that they would ask Nick to accompany them because they wanted the free discount.

Rose had done that several times already, much to her chagrin.

Kim was basically **** to compete with the fact that everybody wanted to keep their own BP to use it for other things, rather than to spend it on something as innocuous as clothes. And when you had Nick providing infinite wealth to all the girls for clothing purchases, along with the option for a fashion show to ALSO get the stuff for free…

Could Kim even overcome that massive disadvantage?

Vivian seemed to think so.

“What you need is a way to get the lingerie into people’s minds when they’re in a position that they wouldn’t be thinking about buying it,” Vivian said. “You’ve gotta spur more impulsive purchases. Especially when Nick isn’t around! If you show someone an outfit that they’ve just GOTTA have, right now, and Nick isn’t around to get it for free? They’re not going to like it, but they’ll practically feel **** to open their purses! Fear of missing out, Kim, that’s the market strategy of the modern world!”

Kim felt a little sick to her stomach.

“This sounds really sleazy,” she said, shaking her head.

“It’s a bit sleazy. But it’s the best way to make good sales! And that’s what you’re aiming for, right? Besides, it’s not like you’re exploiting anybody. They’re your friends! They’ll understand you’re just trying to make some BP any way you can!”

Vivian seemed to have a pretty optimistic perspective about the reception of this little plan. Kim wished she could feel the same way.

“…You still haven’t told me, what IS this plan of yours?” Kim asked, her heart sinking in her chest. She had a bad feeling that whatever it was, she would probably go along with it. “How are you gonna get people thinking about buying that stuff?”

Vivian leaned forward with an eager gleam in her eye.

“Simple. You need a model!”

“…Huh?” Kim took a second to process that.

“A model,” Vivian repeated. “Someone to go around modeling the clothes for sale in the boutique! Someone who can go around strutting herself in revealing lingerie, and draw the attention of everyone in the harem. And when they see something they like, they’ll want to buy it! It’s a start, at least, and it keeps the boutique in the forefront of their minds, which is the goal of advertising.”

“I-I guess that could work,” Kim acknowledged. It wouldn’t overcome the issue of Nick buying clothes for free right away, but it would probably lead to some more sales long-term.

Just one problem though.

“Wait, you’re not talking about me, are you?” Kim shook her head. “You want me to go around wearing lingerie?! Because that’s not gonna work!”

Kim could walk around in her underwear, sure, but the boutique sold more than just that.

“What if I’m trying to market certain outfits?” The tomboy continued. “I can only wear a schoolgirl uniform. I can’t advertise other things with my body. …Unless you use your New Style transformation,” she realized.

If Vivian pitched in with her transformation, then maybe that could work.

Vivian shook her head. “Sorry, can’t do it. Sylvia took that one from me, remember? I’m out for the rest of the round.”

“Oh, yeah… we could ask her to help, though…” Kim wasn’t sure she wanted this many people involved, that was the issue.

“I don’t think that would work out,” Vivian agreed. “Plus, it would seem kind of **** if you were marketing your own stuff, you know?”

“Says the model who wears her own brands at fashion shows?”

“When I do it, it’s classy and stylish. When you do it, it’s ****.”

“I am ****!”

“Exactly. No, you need to get someone else to be the model for you,” Vivian stated. “It will up your profile, and give the impression that this is a serious business move on your part. It’s always better to get a professional’s help when it comes to something like this, even if you could do it yourself.”

Kim didn’t like where this was going.

“Wait… Vivian, are you saying that YOU want to be my model!?”

Oh, no, no fucking way. Kim wasn’t about to let her-

“Are you kidding? You couldn’t afford me!” Vivian snorted, rolling her eyes.

…Okay, maybe not.

And yet, Kim didn’t exactly feel relieved that Vivian didn’t want to model for her, even though was something she didn’t want in the first place.

“I was thinking, maybe you could get your little stalker to do it, instead?” Vivian suggested. “After all, she’s been listening in this whole time.”

Kim blinked. “Huh?”

Vivian pointed over her shoulder. Kim turned, and saw a flash of black duck into the bushes beside the café veranda.

“Wait, what?!”

“Come on out!” Vivian called. “We were just talking!”

And then to Kim’s shock, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin emerged from the bushes, looking rather surprised. She clearly hadn’t expected Vivian to spot her.

She did this for a living, after all.

“I’ve got so many eyes on me, I’m used to it,” Vivian explained as the assassin approached, her mouth morphing into a frustrated “O” shape. “I know when I’m being watched. So what do you think? Wanna lend a hand, and help Kim out of a jam?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s ears twitched, and her lips pulled up into an eager smile. She nodded her head excitedly.

Kim tried to return the smile, she really did. But with Vivian AND Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin now getting involved with this?

This marketing strategy was starting to seem like a lot more trouble than it was worth.