Red Star Capital Bureau reported on October 14th that Yang Dacheng, Vice President of Jike (ZK. US), recently posted a video on social media of eating hot pot on Jike MIX, which has attracted a lot of attention from netizens.
On October 13th, Yang Dacheng once again released a video response, stating that eating hot pot in the car can be seen as a "new camping experience". In response to the problem of odor in the car, the vehicle has been equipped with an efficient fresh air system. He said that unexpected incidents have sparked widespread discussion, thanked the public for their suggestions, and refused to disclose more technical details.
This is not the first time that car companies have activated marketing. Previously, Liu Tao, co CEO of Zhiji Motors, had made dumplings in the back seat of the car, and the poster at the beginning of this year also featured hotpot in Zhiji LS7. Chang Jing, founder of Jishi Automobile, proposed the idea of a car toilet. Skyworth founder Huang Hongsheng has frequently sparked controversy over health oriented marketing.
Industry insiders pointed out to Red Star Capital that in the highly competitive automotive industry, sales and traffic are closely related. Nowadays, "refrigerators, televisions, and sofas" have become standard equipment for smart cars, and some car companies choose to activate manufacturing hotspots in marketing to attract traffic.
Enjoy hot pot in the car with Jike MIX
Netizen: Pseudo demand
In the video, Yang Dacheng and his team are 180& deg; Rotating the front seats, facing the back row, there was also a pot bottom, a plate of tripe, a crispy meat, a plate of vegetables, and four dipping sauce dishes placed on the expandable table. Yang Dacheng also emphasized that the air conditioning in the car has a good effect and feels very cool. He also said he could play mahjong in the car.
Yang Dacheng Weibo
Yang Dacheng wrote in the caption of this video on Weibo: "As a product, we still need to listen to the users' most authentic voices. In the product definition stage, co creating Extreme Krypton MIX with users is still very effective
For this promotional video, many netizens expressed that eating hotpot and playing mahjong are fake demands for cars, and believed that Jike's marketing direction is wrong. I have driven over 200000 kilometers and have never had the desire to eat hotpot or play mahjong in the car at any time. "" The whole hotpot is really unnecessary, only the fumes and steam from the hotpot. The car is disposable. "" How can I remove the hotpot smell from a car? What about sudden braking
Screenshot from Tiktok
It is worth mentioning that the hot pot in the promotional video was not lit and there was no mist steaming on the pot. Netizens pointed out that Jike is just putting on a show, without setting up a scene to showcase its product capabilities.
Red Star Capital noticed that at the Beijing Auto Show in April this year, the Jike MIX made its global debut. As an MPV model, its large space is one of its major selling points. To demonstrate the spacious cabin space and multifunctionality, the promotion at that time mentioned that "it can instantly transform into a restaurant" and "hot pot can be eaten in the car".
Yang Dacheng is also the product manager of Krypton MIX. His Tiktok account "Test Driver Yang Dacheng" has released videos since June this year, half of which are promotional content of Krypton MIX.
The Jike MIX will be officially launched at the end of October, and there will be dozens of models intensively launched by the end of the year. To stand out from this "sea of cars", Yang Dacheng announced on September 23: "We're going to Chongqing next week... let's eat hotpot in the car together." Since then, he has released 20 videos related to the Jike MIX in Chongqing, including the car driving on mountain roads, Panlong Overpass, and the old city area, making U-turns on narrow mountain roads, enjoying the scenery through sliding doors, fishing in the car, and eating hotpot in the car.
Extreme Krypton MIX Car Fishing
Car dumpling making, car toilet, longevity and health care
Car companies adopt a biased marketing approach
In the winter of 2023, Zhiji Automobile launched a live streaming event. In order to showcase the rear magnetic ecology of the Zhiji LS6, Zhiji Automobile's co CEO Liu Tao wrapped dumplings in the car and posted pictures and text on Weibo.
The marketing tactics of "blocking the highway on New Year's Eve while watching the Spring Festival Gala on the big TV in the car and making dumplings with ingredients from the refrigerator" and "SAIC executives and marketers, getting up every day to kowtow to R&D is not excessive" have been widely questioned, and Liu Tao ultimately deleted the relevant images and text.
At the beginning of this year, Zhiji Motors released another poster of eating hotpot in the car. A female model sitting in the back seat with chopsticks in hand, with a nine grid hotpot in front of her, with the caption "This car is your gimmick", has once again been questioned by netizens for "marketing for the sake of the scene".
In May of this year, Chang Jing, founder of Jishi Motors, claimed that "car toilets are coming soon". It is reported that this measure is a flexible emergency solution and a new initiative that truly meets the needs of consumers for car use. More than four months later, Chang Jing released a video showing that the car toilet is actually a small toilet ring in the Nakajima storage box, which can be used with a plastic bag, and can also contain deodorization and water absorption gel. Many people point out that this is not about innovative design at all, but more like a manufacturing marketing topic.
Currently, there is only one model available for sale, the Jishi 01, which will only be launched in August 2023. The average sales volume for the first eight months of this year was only 407 units. The promotion focuses on "one bedroom, one living room, and one kitchen", with a car rear kitchen system, providing three levels of drinking water, a simple kitchen operation desk, and a dedicated kitchen appliance workspace. This year, a fishing kit was also released, and accessories such as car showers will be developed.
Skyworth's Huang Hongsheng has repeatedly promoted Skyworth's health benefits in public, but has been frequently questioned for false advertising. He once said that the lifespan of Skyworth cars has been extended by 30 years, and every car owner can enjoy a hundred year life. During this year's Beijing Auto Show, he stated that Skyworth electric vehicles can alleviate high blood pressure, enhance immunity, and eliminate habitual diarrhea.
At the 20th Summer Annual Meeting of Yabuli Entrepreneurs in 2024, Huang Hongsheng said, "From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the interior space of the car is very small and the gas is balanced. I take a one hour nap in Skyworth car every noon, and all sub-health problems disappear
Skyworth Automotive was founded in 2019, formerly known as Tianmei Automotive. In 2023, Skyworth's total sales were 18600 vehicles, and in 2022 it was 21900 vehicles. The company has not disclosed this year's sales. According to third-party platform data, in the first nine months of this year, the cumulative sales of Skyworth EV6 and Skyworth HT-i models in China were less than 10000 units. According to the Daily Economic News, Huang Hongsheng stated on September 25th that as of now, Skyworth has sold over 30000 new cars domestically and internationally.
Although scenes such as eating hot pot in the car and using the car toilet may be confusing, they can leave a deep impression on consumers, "said Liu Hao, an automotive industry analyst, to Red Star Capital
He pointed out that creating hot spot marketing is only a temporary strategy, and marketing should still be guided by consumer needs, launching products that truly meet consumer scenarios.
