Title: The Craze of "Lei's Traffic"
A Xiaomi car launch event has showcased the frenzy of "Lei's traffic" to the entire automotive industry.
With over a dozen hot topics and more than 100 million views, the event sparked heated discussions across the internet, elevating it to the "Spring Festival Gala" of the tech world.
As the founder of Xiaomi Group, Lei Jun understands better than anyone how to capture consumers' attention. Marketing techniques such as fan economy, hunger marketing, and meme culture are inherent to Xiaomi's internet "DNA", with catchphrases like "Even a pig can fly if it stands at the wind's edge" coined by Lei Jun himself.
Whether you like Xiaomi or Lei Jun or not, you cannot ignore Lei Jun's ability to secure 100,000 pre-orders in a single night.
But Lei Jun isn't the only one vying for attention.
In the midst of the booming new energy vehicle market, where attention equals power, on March 26th, Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motors, unexpectedly updated his Weibo account registered for 13 years. His first post read: "Users' voices are always our driving force."
In the comments section, thousands of users engaged in discussions, highlighting product issues and providing development suggestions. As of April 13th, Wei Jianjun has posted 6 Weibo updates, two of which interacted with Lei Jun and Xiaomi cars. In his latest post, he even teased, "In a few days, I will live broadcast the city NOA test, see you in the live broadcast room." This marks his first appearance in a live broadcast room.
To enhance their products' market competitiveness, previously low-key leaders of car companies have taken the first step. However, the real essence of joining social media platforms lies in whether they can effectively utilize platforms and attention to stimulate positive user feedback.
In this regard, younger players in the automotive industry are making more attempts.
On March 14th, Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, made his debut live stream on Douyin (TikTok), attracting countless followers with his humor and down-to-earth expressions. Someone in the comments section joked, "Brother Bin, did you find live streaming and selling products easier than making cars?" On that day, Li Bin's Douyin live stream accumulated over 10 million viewers and had over 100,000 concurrent viewers. As of April 13th, "Li Bin of NIO" on Douyin has surpassed 680,000 followers.
Over the past few years, Li Xiang has almost daily updated the progress of Ideal Cars on Weibo, not only frequently creating memes and commenting on industry products and technologies, but also often discussing and reflecting with netizens. However, due to the MEGA incident, Li Xiang's Weibo has been inactive for over 40 days.
The race for influence on traffic platforms has accelerated, and entrepreneurs with a natural sense of the internet have reaped more traffic dividends. For example, Huawei's Executive Director, CEO of the Consumer Business Group, and President of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, Yu Chengdong, who no longer mentions being "far ahead" in terms of popularity, is still "far ahead".
For car companies, traffic signifies attention, which in turn signifies sales. In the fierce competition to survive and excel, nothing is more important than sales.
Lei Jun: Surfing 5G Anytime, Anywhere
Lei Jun may be the CEO who loves to post on Weibo the most. As of April 13th, Lei Jun has posted over 17,000 Weibo updates, stating that all of them were personally posted by him.
Since announcing the listing of Xiaomi cars, Lei Jun has been using incessant Weibo updates and hot topics to convey a message to the outside world — "He's here, he's here, he's coming with the SU7."
Source: Screenshots from Xiaomi Car Launch Event Live Stream
In the first half-month before the SU7 launch, Lei Jun averaged 5 Weibo posts per day, covering various topics including factories, stores, vehicle exterior and interior, pricing, and even daily countdowns to the launch event. After the SU7 launch, Lei Jun's Weibo update frequency increased even more, with a particularly prolific day on March 28th, when he posted a staggering 10 times.
Not only does he post actively on Weibo, but Lei Jun also engages actively with netizens, initiating discussions on various topics or cleverly responding to questions in the comment section. It gives the impression that he's virtually immersed in Weibo 24/7, always surfing the 5G wave.
Apart from mastering Weibo, Lei Jun's marketing strategy deeply understands consumer psychology, which is all about staying grounded. During the launch event, Lei Jun extensively discussed features like the vehicle's phone holder, hidden hooks, umbrella storage, exterior colors, and sun protection capabilities. He identified marketing blind spots in the industry and exploited them to the fullest.
As an entrepreneur active in public settings, Lei Jun has become a real-life "Xiao Nai" (the male lead character from the Chinese drama "Love O2O") in the eyes of (female) netizens, thanks to his height, education, intelligence, career, and family.
Yu Chengdong: Every word hits the mark
During the HarmonyOS Spring Launch Event on April 11th, Yu Chengdong, seemingly under a "no mentioning the leading position" order, didn't utter a word about being "far ahead" throughout the 1.5-hour live stream. However, the live chat became a chorus of "far ahead" comments.
Nevertheless, Yu Chengdong lived up to his reputation as a "big mouth" and subtly dissed Xiaomi, saying, "At first, I couldn't understand why some cars still need phone holders. But then I realized it's because their in-car navigation systems are not good enough, so they need to rely on phone navigation."
Despite Xiaomi's aggressive stance, Yu Chengdong remained unusually mild this time. Lei Jun only responded with a single Weibo post and launched a poll below it: "Do you support having an original phone holder in cars? Why do you think we made the original phone holder?"
Since Yu Chengdong took over Huawei's car business, the notion of being "far ahead" has shifted from the smartphone arena to the automotive industry.
Although Ren Zhengfei had explicitly stated that Huawei wouldn't manufacture cars in the short term, Yu Chengdong remained steadfast in his commitment to the automotive business, even after the dismal sales of the Seres SF5 Freedom Edition with Huawei's electric drive system. He personally took charge and set ambitious goals for the Wanjie (Ask the World) brand.
It's worth mentioning that on August 29, 2023, the sudden release of the Mate 60 series sparked public excitement, making Huawei and its ecosystem the center of attention.
Half a month later, the new M7 from Wanjie was launched appropriately, and during the launch event, Yu Chengdong mentioned "far ahead" at least five times, while the term appeared over 20 times.
The sales of the Wanjie M7 soared, with daily orders peaking at over 7,000 units, accumulating over 60,000 units in a month. Sales continued to rise, and in the first quarter of this year, Wanjie remained the top-selling new force brand in the domestic market.
It must be said that Yu Chengdong has mastered the secret from traffic to sales.
Li Bin: Sincerity is the killer move
On March 14th, Li Bin attempted his first live stream on the Douyin platform. The entire stream lasted for two and a half hours, with over 100,000 concurrent viewers and over 10 million accumulated viewers. By the next day, the account gained over 180,000 followers, reportedly breaking the daily record for car-related Douyin accounts.
As of April 13th, the "Li Bin of NIO" Douyin account has amassed 680,000 followers.
Li Bin repeatedly emphasized the spontaneity of the live stream, with no prior preparation. However, during this "impromptu" live stream, Li Bin and company executives took turns to educate netizens about NIO's Battery as a Service (BaaS).
Zhou Hongyi even commented in his own video, somewhat sarcastically, that Li Bin gained over 100,000 followers in one night, more efficient than himself, feeling "stimulated."
Later, Li Bin released a video disclosing the revenue from the live stream, totaling 33,088.5 CNY, and stated that he would donate this money to collegiate Formula Racing events. He also mentioned that he would continue to accept tips, and all income received would be donated.
The ripple effect of this live stream continues, and for Li Bin and NIO, gaining followers and even trending on social media are not the goals. What's important is using live streaming as a down-to-earth way to bridge the gap between the brand and its users. Of course, if it can boost car sales, that's even better.
Source: Screenshot from Douyin live broadcast
Li Xiang: The Silent "King of Weibo"
While netizens are still observing the comments section of Lei Jun's Weibo or searching for Li Bin's live broadcast on Douyin, the curiosity about when Li Xiang's silence on Weibo will be broken has intensified.
The once active "KING" of Weibo has not posted for over 40 days.
Alongside the success of Ideal Auto in sales, Li Xiang used to speak candidly on Weibo. Whether it's about brand building, corporate culture, industry status, or competitors' new products, you could always find answers in Li Xiang's Weibo posts.
This style of commenting, treating all regardless of their status equally, has led to extreme evaluations of Li Xiang from the public.
The shift happened suddenly. The unexpected setback in MEGA market performance led to a twist in Ideal's pure electric path, and the once outspoken "Li Duoduo" on Weibo fell silent.
Since March 2nd, Li Xiang has not updated his Weibo. At the end of March, Ideal Auto announced a downward adjustment in first-quarter sales guidance to 76,000 to 78,000 units, a decrease of about 25%.
He Xiaopeng: Brothers Embrace
Compared to the former Weibo king Li Xiang and the emerging Douyin star Li Bin, He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xiaopeng Motors, still lags behind in terms of social media influence, with his posts remaining relatively ordinary.
Having registered on Weibo in 2011, as of April 13th, He Xiaopeng has posted over 1,500 Weibo posts on his personal account. Positioned between Li Xiang with over 11,000 posts and Li Bin with over 400, He Xiaopeng's presence is somewhat middling. Moreover, his Weibo operation resembles that of today's "influencers", with an official tone and a utilitarian nature.
Apart from Weibo, on April 26, 2020, He Xiaopeng announced his official entry into Douyin via video. The next day, he collaborated with the then-popular KOL Zhu Yidan to release short videos to continue promoting the launch of Xiaopeng P7. He also hitched onto trending topics, such as the scarcity of KFC's "Hard to Get Duck" toy "seeking chips"...
Yet, despite his efforts, He Xiaopeng's personal Douyin account currently has only 180,000 followers, a number surpassed by Li Bin in a single day.
Recently, He Xiaopeng's strategy seems to have shifted, actively seeking to align with his peers. On Douyin and Weibo, he has posted videos of him and Li Bin "teaming up", as well as videos helping Lei Jun promote Xiaomi's cars.
Wei Jianjun: First Weibo Post in Thirteen Years
On March 26th, thirteen years after registering, Wei Jianjun suddenly posted his first Weibo, stating, "I'm very excited to be on Weibo and look forward to seeing everyone's shares. Users' voices are always our driving force."
As of April 13th, this post has garnered over 2,200 user comments, yet Wei Jianjun has not engaged in any interaction or even followed anyone.
Source: Weibo screenshot
Following this, Wei Jianjun continued to update 5 more Weibo posts, but still did not interact with netizens, emphasizing a "you say yours, I say mine, nobody listens to anyone" approach. The only action proving he's not just a "zombie account" posting advertisements was when Wei Jianjun replied to Lei Jun's Weibo with a comment containing a thumbs-up + OK emoji. In the comment section below that Weibo, Lei Jun, playing the role of the "guest," was more active than Wei Jianjun, the "host," replying to several netizens with a "clasped hands" emoji.
As a traditional automotive company, Wei Jianjun and Great Wall Motors have embraced social media, but it seems they haven't grasped the essence of it.
On June 13, 2023, Great Wall Motors announced that 18 executives from its subsidiaries would collectively join Weibo for online business.
This move seemed grand with many people involved, but it didn't create much of a stir, with attention and discussion mainly from industry insiders.
For entrepreneurs, personally engaging with social media and communicating with netizens is just the first step. How much time should be spent "soaking" in the online world, and how to truly become a vibrant KOL (Key Opinion Leader), are the questions that automotive executives should deeply consider.
Musk: The Continuously Cultivated "Super Internet Celebrity"
Before Lei Jun, there was only one super internet celebrity in the automotive industry, Tesla CEO Musk.
With every move regarding Model 3, Model Y, or SpaceX rockets, Musk captures the world's attention.
This "far ahead" level of attention stems partly from being the world's first pure electric car company and partly from Musk's continuous cultivation as a "super internet celebrity." In the business realm, Musk has almost built a perfect IP: the tech maverick changing the world. His seemingly candid and humorous nature has garnered him countless fans.
While this directly boosts Tesla's sales, it also brings Musk troubles.
In 2018, Musk's tweet hinted at Tesla going private, even subtly revealing the price, causing a significant short-term surge in the company's stock price. Subsequently, the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) fined Musk and Tesla $20 million each for securities fraud and explicitly defined the scope of content that Musk cannot publish without approval.
In Xiaomi's recent intensive marketing, Xiaomi Motors frequently compares its models to Tesla's and claims victory. Musk, however, doesn't back down, directly entering mockery mode: the best way to judge technology isn't by comparing it to competitors but by comparing it to physical limits.
Next, the competition between Musk and "Lesk" will be the focus of industry and even business attention.
References:
"The Battle of the 'Chinese Musk' in the Public Opinion Storm: Li Xiang VS Lei Jun," Diced Pepper Spicy
"After the 'Silencing' of the Weibo King, How Do Li Bin and Lei Jun Take on This Massive Traffic?" Deep Car Review
"Profile | Yu Chengdong: Nobody Remembers Second Place, Only the First," Scale DeepLab
"How Many Big Shots in the Auto Industry Did Lei Jun Scare in One Night?" Phoenix WEEKLY Finance
