For e-commerce platforms, Singles' Day should have been a sales feast and a battle to consolidate brand image. However, to everyone's surprise, JD.com found itself at the center of a public opinion storm this year due to strong resistance from some users over the choice of a spokesperson during this promotional extravaganza.

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Some netizens summarized the whole incident of JD.com's Singles' Day as follows:

Yang Li stabbed JiMei in the back and became the spokesperson for Dongzi.

Dongzi betrayed his brother by inviting Yang Li as the spokesperson.

The brother turned against Dongzi and canceled his Plus membership.

Dongzi opposed Yang Li and deleted her spokesperson post.

JiMei attacked Dongzi and uninstalled the JD.com app.

Part.1

A marketing decision that "ignores" the male consumer group

On October 14, JD.com held a press conference for "JD.com 11.11: Cheap and Good", with comedian Yang Li participating in the event's launch ceremony. On the same day, JD.com's official Weibo account announced that Yang Li would be the spokesperson for JD.com Pharmacy, and Yang Li also posted a promotional tweet for JD.com 11.11.

It was initially perceived as a routine commercial endorsement, but JD.com customers seemed particularly dissatisfied with Yang Li as the spokesperson.

As we all know, Yang Li's popularity is inseparable from her remark, "Men are so ordinary, yet so confident," which has become a common phrase among women when joking about men.

JD.com's choice of Yang Li as a spokesperson was interpreted by some male users as a "declaration of war" against them.

"JD.com is openly provoking us!" "Join the brotherhood, be a confident man!" "Do confident men have the right to use JD.com?" "Already uninstalled, remember to cancel my PLUS membership"...

In particular, JD.com's loyal male fans expressed strong opposition, and the boycott escalated, even affecting JD Finance. On October 18, some netizens reported a run on JD Finance, and others claimed that they failed to withdraw funds from JD Finance.

Although JD Finance's official Weibo account quickly responded with "This is purely collateral damage" and "Resist rumors, starting with me," users' negative sentiment towards JD.com did not dissipate.

JD.com has since deleted the promotional poster featuring Yang Li for JD Pharmacy and issued a public apology. Yang Li has also deleted her tweets related to JD.com's 11.11 promotion, but the public opinion crisis triggered by JD.com's choice of spokesperson continues.

Part.2

Under intense public opinion pressure, JD.com "undergoes ordeal"

As the spokesperson incident escalated, JD.com not only faced the challenge of appeasing user sentiment but also encountered a brand image crisis. Some netizens joked, "Other e-commerce platforms: I have no idea what's going on, but I saw JD.com stab itself twice as soon as it entered the scene."

It is understood that male users account for nearly 60% of JD.com's user base, and as an important component of the company's revenue, their spending power cannot be ignored. However, Yang Li's endorsement choice undoubtedly ignores the sentiments of male consumers and can even be considered a significant marketing blunder.

On social media platforms such as Zhihu and Weibo, users continue to question why JD.com's management chose a controversial public figure as a spokesperson, especially during a crucial period like Singles' Day. Money talks, and JD.com made the adult choice of "ALL" between "offense," "rashness," and "risk-taking."

While Yang Li's endorsement as a comedian may seem like an accidental public relations crisis, the underlying issues within JD.com's internal management are more intriguing.

As a company with annual sales of tens of billions of dollars, JD.com should be aware that any mistake made by its decision-makers can have a significant negative impact on the company. This is especially true for matters highly relevant to brand image, such as spokesperson endorsements. This incident exposes at least three problems in JD.com's decision-making chain and corporate governance:

1. Disconnection between the choice of spokesperson and the target user group

Yang Li's popularity and commercial value are undeniable, but before partnering with JD.com, she had endorsed brands such as Intel, Xpeng, Shede, and Heilan Home, which primarily target male users, and almost all of these endorsements faced backlash and skepticism from male netizens.

JD.com itself is also a major player in male consumption, and the spokesperson should match the brand image and user needs. However, Yang Li's previous controversial statements clearly conflicted with JD.com's male consumer base. When making this decision, JD.com's management overlooked market segmentation and consumer psychology, resulting in a disconnect with target users.

2. Lack of thoughtful decision-making and neglect of brand risk

As a comedian, Yang Li has gained significant traction in recent years, and this allure of traffic economy may have been a significant consideration for JD.com in choosing her as a spokesperson. However, choosing a spokesperson for a brand is not merely about pursuing traffic. In the decision-making process, if company management focuses solely on short-term exposure and neglects long-term brand image maintenance and delicate consumer psychology, it can easily lead to crises like this endorsement incident.

3. Insufficient awareness and anticipation of public relations risks

In today's modern business environment, every decision made by a company can attract widespread public opinion, especially with the highly developed social media landscape. As a publicly traded company, JD.com should have a mature public relations team and risk anticipation mechanism as basic operations. However, from this endorsement crisis, it can be seen that JD.com's public relations team did not adequately anticipate and prevent the risks associated with Yang Li's endorsement.

Yang Li's statements have already sparked numerous social controversies, and JD.com should have anticipated the potential negative reactions before choosing her as a spokesperson. Even if the decision was ultimately made to continue with Yang Li as the spokesperson, JD.com should have had a comprehensive crisis public relations plan to address potential public opinion storms. However, judging from the current development of the incident, JD.com was clearly underprepared in crisis management, leading to a rapid escalation of the situation and even affecting the company's overall image and Singles' Day market performance.

Furthermore, when faced with users canceling memberships, closing accounts, withdrawing funds from JD Finance, and uninstalling the app, JD.com made the second mistake by issuing an apology statement that inadvertently pushed female users away as well.

Part.3

Closing Remarks

As e-commerce platforms gear up for Singles' Day promotions, JD.com's performance has been far from satisfactory. Externally, it faces strong competition from rivals like Taobao and Pinduoduo; internally, the company has faced frequent management upheavals since founder Liu Qiangdong stepped down as CEO, posing challenges to internal management. The spokesperson controversy is more like a window pane that has been shattered, raising questions about JD.com's prudence and judgment in making major market decisions.

At this juncture, JD.com needs to take more decisive actions and smarter strategies to demonstrate its ability to respond to challenges and rebuild trust with the market, investors, and consumers.