On April 21, BlueFocus (Insert Stock Ticker) disclosed its 2023 annual report, revealing a revenue milestone of CN¥52.61 billion (US$7.26 billion), marking an impressive 43.44% growth from the previous year. This achievement positioned BlueFocus as the first domestic marketing firm to surpass CN¥50 billion in revenue. Additionally, the report highlighted a net operating cash flow of CN¥633 million. Simultaneously, BlueFocus unveiled its performance report for the first quarter of 2024, continuing its growth trajectory with a revenue of ¥15.78 billion, representing a substantial year-on-year increase of 61.74%. In his letter to investors, CEO Pan Fei projected, "In 2024, we anticipate our revenue to grow significantly, approaching 10 billion US dollars. AI is set to fundamentally transform the marketing landscape, heralding a new era for BlueFocus. Our internal strategy is crystal clear: we want to reach a ¥100 billion in scale and establish ourselves as leaders in generative AI marketing by combining scale with innovation." Expanding Global Footprint: Fostering a New Trajectory of Growth. During the reporting period, BlueFocus experienced substantial growth in its core operations, particularly in integrated marketing communication, e-commerce, data & technology, and media buy. The revenue from these listed operations surged to ¥11.28 billion, marking a 73.05% increase year-on-year. Additionally, overseas ad delivery also demonstrated growth, generating ¥37.36 billion in revenue — a 41.69% increase from the previous year and accounting for over 70% of total revenue. The gross profit from these activities also saw a significant uptick, with margins expanding by 10%. In 2023, BlueFocus maintained a growth trajectory with its agency services for Meta and Google, maintain double-digit growth rates. The company also made notable advances in e-commerce strategies, which propelled the revenue growth for TikTok for Business agency services by nearly 50%. Furthermore, the initiation of official agency collaborations with Microsoft Advertising and Pinterest in 2023 led to rapid and exponential performance enhancements. Amid the new opportunities presented by economic globalization and the "Belt and Road" initiative, an increasing number of Chinese enterprises are venturing into global markets, identifying them as pivotal to their strategic growth. Since 2015, BlueFocus has expanded its overseas footprints, reaping substantial market dividends. This approach has not only spurred the company’s rapid development but has also created significant scalable effects. Presently, BlueFocus occupies a dominant position in the overseas advertising market share across major media platforms. The company has been instrumental in the global expansion of nearly 70,000 Chinese enterprises, many of which have evolved from modest startups to unicorn status. As China's high-quality development continues to inject momentum into the world economic recovery, BlueFocus is also opening a second growth phase for its overseas business, having implemented "affiliate marketing," "cross-border DTC brand self-incubation," and data and technology platform business built for overseas small and medium-sized media companies. These should achieve both scalable growth and profitability, laying a solid foundation for the sustained growth of the overseas business. As China’s commitment to high-quality development continues to propel the global economic recovery, BlueFocus is leveraging this shift to establish a secondary growth trajectory for its global business. The company has strategically adopted affiliate marketing and cross-border e-commerce operations for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. Additionally, BlueFocus has developed a data and technology platform tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized media companies operating overseas. These initiatives are anticipated to yield scalable growth and enhance profitability, thereby establishing a foundation for the expansion of BlueFocus’ overseas business ventures. xR+AI Innovation Empowerment: Commercialization of Virtual Reality Interactions. In the era of AI, virtual-to-real interaction, represented by the metaverse, is accelerating. In 2023, based on a comprehensive and in-depth development of metaverse, people, goods, and marketplaces, BlueFocus actively integrated cutting-edge technologies such as generative artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain. This push promoted the commercialization of xR+AI in the marketing industry, government, cultural tourism, finance, automotive, and other fields. BlueFocus has made strides with its virtual human IP, Su Xiaomei, leveraging AI to generate a steady stream of innovative content spanning virtual short dramas, urban cultural tourism, and live events. Su Xiaomei earned significant visibility on CCTV's May Fourth Gala Evening, serving as the virtual ambassador for Meishan City and Song Culture to promote Dongpu Culture overseas, and endorsing Shanghai Yu Garden's Lantern Festival in the year of Loong. Additionally, she introduced two short dramas, “Song of the Sky Pacers” and “Treasure Map of the Peking Capital.” Su Xiaomei extended her influence when she was presented at China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair and revealed the Peking Central Axis Project. Her participation in the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference's Metaverse Industry Forum and her consistent ranking within the top ten of the China Metahuman Influence Index underscores her impact. BlueFocus is set to launch its VR cultural tourism experience project — “China Roaming on the Central Axis”, using next-generation spatial computing and virtual reality production technology, combined with LBE's large-space positioning capabilities, allowing users to achieve full-immersion via walk-through, interactive, and freely explorable experiences through VR headsets. Furthermore, BlueFocus' immersive experience brand MakeMake is advancing the use of VR technologies by collaborating with over 180 premier IPs in diverse domains like history, culture, literature, science fiction, and natural sciences. The company is successfully implementing immersive space initiatives in partnership with local governments. In parallel, BlueFocus' BLUEBOX xR Studios is broadening its portfolio beyond xR virtual production to include influencer live-streaming, film and television production, and is branching into digital infrastructure by launching the compact xR device BLUE BOX, which blends digital and physical marketing strategies. Additionally, the AI-driven virtual human live-streaming product, BlueFocus Smart Broadcast, has been deployed across major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Kunshan. This rollout is spearheading innovations in constructing e-commerce live-streaming platforms, exploring AI in new retail sectors, and cultivating regional brand growth. Capitalizing on the burgeoning cultural tourism sector, BlueFocus' metaverse division has, over three years, garnered extensive practical experience and is poised to tap into the broader market, showing promising progress. In 2024, the company is committed to its “technology + content + operations” ethos. It aims to advance the commercial viability of xR+AI technologies, fusing novel production tools, cutting-edge products, and new collaborative approaches. BlueFocus plans to strengthen its digital asset creation, alongside enhancing online and offline content management and distribution capabilities. The objective is to supply groundbreaking application solutions to local governments and enterprises, vigorously drive the fusion of digital innovation and quality, and facilitate the convergence of strategic resources for business partnerships. From ‘All In AI’ to ‘AI First’: Accelerating the Transformation to AI Native Mode Since the implementation of the “All In AI” (AI²) strategy in 2023, BlueFocus has integrated generative AI into its core operations, business models, process enhancements, organizational design, and personnel development. The "human + AI" (Co-Pilot) work model is fully implemented, resulting in a 100% adoption rate across the company and a 50% increase in overall business productivity. In September 2023, BlueFocus introduced the BlueAI 1.0 industry model, created in partnership with major cloud platforms such as Baidu, Zhipu AI, Microsoft China, and Google. This initiative has deepened AI integration, concentrating on areas like global consumer insights, scenario-specific creative generation, social media content creation, intelligent search capabilities, and marketing knowledge databases. These efforts have been instrumental in supporting key client engagements in both domestic and international markets, across integrated marketing, content marketing, and advertising campaigns. In the past year, BlueFocus has executed nearly 300 tangible AI-driven marketing initiatives, with AI-generated revenue surging to ¥108 million. Looking ahead to 2024, the company forecasts this revenue to expand by approximately ¥500 million to ¥1 billion, signifying a tenfold increase. BlueAI is set to undergo further enhancements, transitioning into a multimodal, multi-scenario intelligent agent (AI Agent). Building on the current industry model, it aims to develop enterprise-level marketing assistants to empower market analytics, consumer engagement, and multimedia content generation, thus elevating both organizational and commercial AI capabilities. Pan Fei affirmed the company’s steadfast approach: “Our strategy isn't just 'All In AI'; we are also moving forward with an 'AI First' mindset,” he said. “Our strategic alliance with AI powerhouses and adoption of the finest global AI technologies are not just our strengths but are central to our AI strategy.” In 2024, BlueFocus is poised to operationalize this approach, aiming to cultivate a true AI Native culture. This involves exploring organizational innovation with the formation of exclusively AI-operated teams and re-engineering business processes to revolve around AI. At the same time, the company is set to pioneer AI Native marketing and content, and novel generative marketing methodologies. Observers note that with its current growth rate and having achieved an initial revenue milestone of ¥50 billion, BlueFocus is on track to exceed $10 billion in 2024, potentially setting a precedent as the first marketing company in its region to do so. The forecast for BlueFocus includes scaling up the core business, synergizing AI integration, and optimize the profitability of global business, all of which are expected to propel the company towards higher caliber growth and closer to its ambitious goal of a ¥100 billion revenue target.