Chapter 979 Wayne Enterprises
on Saturday,
Most of the businessmen in the British wizarding world temporarily forgot about the potential danger of the Death Eaters and gathered on a luxurious stage temporarily built in the center of Diagon Alley.
Wayne Enterprises is now a well-known multinational corporation, so the scale of the advertising bidding conference will naturally not be a makeshift one.
Starting from Ollivanders Wand Shop in the south, dozens of long banners stretched all the way to Gringotts across the street in the north.
The banner was red with mysterious golden alchemical formulas painted on it and complex geometric text on the edges.
Some merchants who have a basic understanding of magical runes can recognize that the geometric characters are newly created runes, but they find it difficult to decipher the information contained in the characters.
"What a grand occasion!" Devlin Whitehorn, founder of the Nimbus Broom Company, turned his eyes away from the banner.
His exclamation made the young man next to him curl his lips in disdain.
"Grandpa, our Nimbus sales haven't dropped this year, so why do we have to get the Triwizard Tournament ad?"
Whitehorn stared at his grandson's puzzled face. "Theo, what do you think of the performance of the Firebolt?"
The young man named Theo's eyes lit up. "This is incredible! I dare say it is the best flying broom in the world!"
Whitehorn chuckled and walked slowly in the direction of the banner. "So, where are the flying boots from Wayne Enterprises?"
Theo, who was following him, frowned, "Grandpa, I have doubts about the performance of this thing so far. Although many people claim that it played a key role in the World Cup attack, I still don't believe it will replace the flying broom.
Even if its performance is really that abnormal, I think its cost should be much more expensive than the Firebolt."
Any product related to alchemy in the wizarding world is often priced at a price that is difficult for ordinary wizards to accept.
"Really?" Whitehorn noticed the confusion on Theo's face and knew his true thoughts.
From Gwent to alchemical products, Wayne Enterprises' products are all affordable, with most selling prices not exceeding two weeks' salary for an average wizard.
It’s hard to say about magic home appliances. It mainly depends on whether each brand adopts a common solution.
But even if you choose the highest specification configuration, the cost of a TV equipped with magic projection will not exceed 100 Galleons, which is completely affordable for an ordinary wizard family.
The magic communicator that Wayne Enterprises has not officially announced but has been thoroughly exposed should focus on portability. If Whitehorn is not mistaken, its frame rate should also be quite user-friendly.
So, what about flying boots that appear to perform better and even be safer than broomsticks?
"Here we are."
Whitehorn's voice awakened Theo who was lost in thought.
The grandfather and grandson looked ahead and saw a magnificent open-air venue.
The bustling center of Diagon Alley has turned into a secret forest full of exotic plants.
Under each towering tree is a set of white tables and chairs, with golden words floating on each seat, which list the names of wizarding shops of all sizes, such as "Tofan Clothing Store" and "Honeydukes Candy Store", as well as individuals such as Sirius Black and Mr. Burke.
Theo reached out to touch the gorgeous hiveminosa in front of him. His fingertips stroked the blue bird-shaped petals and passed through the middle of the petals.
"It's actually an illusion created by magic projection!"
He went around to the other side of the houndstooth grass and found that the entire plant was not only three-dimensional, but even the tiny hairs on the roots were incredibly lifelike.
Whitehorn was also a little surprised.
In just a few months, the effects of magic projection have been greatly upgraded.
It is said that all R&D projects of Wayne Enterprises are completed by their boss personally. If the news is accurate, the apprentice of this legendary alchemist is probably far superior to those so-called alchemy masters.
Once their flying boots are officially released, all flying broom companies will face a crisis of life and death.
"Alas, I'm old... old..." Whitehorn sighed sadly.
In 1967, he founded the Nimbus Company.
The creation of Nimbus caused a great sensation in the racing broom market at the time. The first product, Nimbus 1000, used a revolutionary design, with a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour and could make 360-degree turns in the air.
It combined the safety of the Oak Arrow with the ease of use of the Sweep Series and quickly became the first choice of professional Quidditch teams.
Subsequently, various models of Nimbus brooms continued to dominate the market, and eventually caught up with Sideswipe and Comet as latecomers, and were collectively known as the "Big Three" in the broom industry.
The introduction of the Firebolt last year did not actually bring much impact to the broom industry.
Being purely handmade means that this broom can only be used in high-end competitions, and most ordinary competitions will still choose products from the Big Three.
However, the flying boots are completely different.
Although Quidditch is a game played on flying brooms, the brooms need to be held and require a lot of training, so even professional players face a very high risk of falling.
"Grandpa, our location is over there!"
The sadness on Whitehorn's face disappeared instantly at the voice of his grandson Theo.
The broom industry will not disappear, but the entire market will continue to shrink.
With the popularity of the Triwizard Tournament, the decline of Nimbus should be slightly delayed.
Not long after Whitehorn and Theo took their seats, the leaders of Sweep and Comet also entered the scene one after another.
The two men had complicated expressions in their own ways, and they were probably worried about the future of the broom industry.
As time passed, only a few of the platinum tables and chairs in the venue were empty.
At 9:55 am, Lucius, along with Mrs. Zabini and the others, walked into the meeting place aggressively.
The three flying broomstick masters all had bitter faces at the same time.
Even with the Nobili brand, which has extraordinary financial resources, there is no way to get prime-time advertising space.
As a second best option, the “garbage” time before the game is also pretty good.
Lucius and his team's high-profile appearance forced everyone at the venue to take it seriously.
There was no hope for smaller stores like Florin's Ice Cream Shop and Partridge's Crucible Shop.
At 10 o'clock, Vincent, dressed in a suit, walked into the venue with Sirius and old Shafik, chatting and laughing.
As the absolute protagonist of this advertising bidding meeting, everyone was watching Vincent walk step by step to the center of the venue.
One exotic plant after another made way for him, revealing a covered white marble floor.
Four long, straight black lines extend from the floor, forming the letter "W".
Vincent walked to the center of the venue, and the marble floor beneath his feet began to slowly rise.
He glanced at the packed platinum tables and chairs, "Sorry for the long wait. The first advertising bidding meeting of Wayne Enterprises has officially begun."
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