The consequences of excessive marketing are now visible.

The promised 30-minute journey took two hours to complete?

On June 30, there was severe congestion on the day of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge's opening, and traffic only gradually eased in the early morning. According to statistics from the operating department, in just the first hour after opening, the traffic flow on the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge exceeded 7,000 vehicles.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge is 24 kilometers long and adopts a two-way eight-lane design, which can reduce the journey time from Shenzhen to Zhongshan from two hours to... well, two and a half hours.

What angered netizens the most was not the delay in their journey but the cause of the traffic jam. This time, new energy automakers were once again pushed to the forefront due to their marketing.

Automakers ride the wave of popularity, angering the public

On March 31 this year, the historical high record set by the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge was just 18,400 vehicles for a single day, which is nothing compared to the 7,000 vehicles in the first hour of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge.

The huge traffic volume was one of the main reasons for the congestion on the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, but if the vehicles traveled in an orderly manner, it would not have caused a traffic jam until the early morning.

The core factor of the traffic jam was that many people drove into the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge just to take photos. A netizen exposed a photo showing the owner of a new energy vehicle of a certain brand moving a small stool with a backrest, sitting on the emergency lane drinking milk tea and admiring the sunset. There were also several cars parked in front of the car on the emergency lane.

Other netizens said that two cars of a certain brand were directly parked in the middle lane to take photos. Taking photos is normal, but affecting the normal passage of vehicles is a violation of traffic rules, resulting in a six-point deduction and a fine of 200 yuan.

Even more absurdly, in addition to individual car owners, some automakers organized a fleet to board the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge to ride the wave of popularity. This fleet not only occupied two lanes, but also traveled slowly, and other lanes also had vehicles slowing down to photograph the fleet, resulting in almost only one lane being able to travel normally.

The marketing of automakers seems to have had the opposite effect. On various platforms, I saw many netizens complaining about these fleets, believing that they were the main culprit causing the traffic jam on the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, and had fierce arguments with supporters of automakers.

Some netizens have even extended the battle to the entire electric vehicle industry, claiming that fanaticism has surpassed even the smartphone industry, leaving even star chasers feeling inferior.

In fact, the netizens discussing the traffic jam on the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge on the internet basically did not drive into the bridge on June 30. The reason for their intense reactions is either dissatisfaction with new energy vehicles or being stimulated by the marketing of new energy vehicles.

Automaker fleets may have an impact on traffic, but this fleet was one of the first vehicles to enter the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, and it was around three o'clock when vehicles were traveling normally. While it may have slowed down the overall speed, it would not have caused severe congestion. The main cause of the traffic jam was individual car owners who parked their cars randomly, both on the driving lane and the emergency lane.

It is only because of the excessive marketing of automakers that some netizens feel disgusted, and they blame some new energy automakers for the problem. Netizens need to calm down and objectively view the division of responsibilities, and automakers should also consider whether their current marketing plans need to be changed.

The initial consequences of the "fanaticism" in the automotive industry

In the domestic automotive industry in 2024, traffic may really be more important than the product itself.

On March 28, Xiaomi SU7 went on sale, and within 24 hours of its launch, it had reached 88,898 orders. It's not that Xiaomi SU7 is a bad product, but it is Xiaomi's first car product, and we don't have much knowledge about Xiaomi's car-making capabilities or a clear understanding of this car. Under such circumstances, Xiaomi SU7 was able to sell well, and consumers undoubtedly value the influence of Xiaomi Group and Lei Jun personally.

Subsequently, Red Bishop Zhou Hongyi emerged as a leader in the automotive industry, rising to the top when attending the Beijing Auto Show and the Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Auto Show, surrounded by a "human wall" formed by car media. Even second- and third-tier celebrities rarely encounter such scenes.

After the Beijing Auto Show, Zhu Huarong, Chairman of Changan Automobile, said that they wanted to create their own "Yu Dazui" and "Leibusi." Even Jia Yueting, who is based in the United States, has seen the importance of creating a personal IP and even boasted about live streaming to earn money and make cars.

In the past, automakers needed to sponsor film and television, entertainment programs, advertise, or invite celebrity endorsements to increase their popularity. Now, automakers use creating a personal IP as their core marketing strategy, which can both increase brand awareness and reduce marketing costs.

During an interview, Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei's Intelligent Vehicle Solutions BU, admitted that the team said that the traffic he brought could not be bought with billions. During this year's HDC, Yu Chengdong met with Wang Gaofei, CEO of Weibo, and specifically entered the venue through a small door with less foot traffic, but was still surrounded by media teachers. Yu Chengdong was "forced to work" and interacted and signed autographs with the media teachers. I communicated with Huawei insiders, and they also said they were surprised by Yu Chengdong's popularity. The on-site heat at the time exceeded expectations, leaving them somewhat at a loss.

In the mobile phone era, although Yu Chengdong had a high reputation in the technology and digital circle, ordinary people rarely knew about him. It was only when brands like Askey and Zhiworld arrived and HarmonyOS Intelligent Travel took shape that Yu Chengdong truly became a top figure in the automotive industry.

In the past, what surpassed the product itself was brand value, such as the high-end image of BBA. In the era of new energy vehicles, automakers have restarted, and brand influence has declined, while the traffic brought by personal IPs has become more important. Even the influence of traffic is gradually surpassing the product itself.

In addition to creating personal IPs, automakers are also creating an image of car owners as elite groups, enhancing consumer identity, and creating a fanaticism consumption model. Once the brand is packaged, car owners and fans can be cultivated into unpaid "water armies".

When consumers report problems with the product, they are angrily scolded by netizens for "not hindering the brand's impact on high-end products." This is not an isolated case in both the mobile phone and automotive industries. In the past, when mobile phones were cheap, there were indeed cases of buying high-end phones to show superiority, but anyone could afford a high-end phone if they bit their teeth, so users' voices about products were generally objective and fair. However, with cars costing tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan, if someone can't afford it, they really can't afford it, which easily leads to the formation of consumer classes.

Car owners need to prove that their choice is correct, and netizens who can't afford it also need to cheer for their dream cars, making it easier to form fanaticism than mobile phones. The question is, is the increasing fanaticism really a good thing for the entire automotive industry?

Popularity cannot last forever, product strength is more important

Marketing is a double-edged sword. From the perspective of consumers, automakers make it easier for ordinary people to come into contact with automotive products and have a preliminary understanding of them through personal IP and corporate image building. However, excessive and exaggerated marketing may lead to consumers' experience not matching the promotion, resulting in dissatisfaction with the product.

For example, a certain new force brand often uses intelligent driving as its core competitiveness and frequently promotes its intelligent driving capabilities. Recently, one of the brand's products, AEB, failed to activate, and the vehicle rear-ended the car in front while driving at high speed, resulting in serious consequences. The offending car did not support advanced intelligent driving and exceeded the working range of AEB, so the responsibility did not lie with the automaker. However, the automaker was ridiculed by netizens due to previous excessive promotion.

From the perspective of automakers, the consequence of excessive marketing is that it is prone to backlash. If it is just normal marketing based on the car's functions, netizens can still accept it, but under the "marketing competition," automakers' marketing plans are becoming more and more extravagant, and even adopt the method of provocation marketing.

The opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge and the traffic jam until the early morning had little to do with the fleet, but the fleet became the target of public criticism. The reason is that many netizens disgusted this kind of marketing that rides the wave of popularity.

Previously, the founder of a new carmaking force promoted that their products could relieve hypertension, improve immunity, eliminate habitual diarrhea, and extend the life of entrepreneurs by 30 years. After this statement went viral, it was condemned by netizens. Ultimately, the automaker denied the rumors, saying that the health functions of the car were merely the founder's personal feelings and not universally applicable.

Once the trend of exaggerated promotion takes shape, automakers are likely to engage in unethical false promotion for marketing purposes. Zhu Huarong, Chairman of Changan Automobile, once said, "This industry is indeed very competitive, to the point that many important figures speak irresponsibly, releasing products and advertisements without bottom line. They claim that cars worth tens of thousands are comparable to those worth millions."

Of course, relevant departments are also formulating rules to prohibit the use of certain words and false promotion. Earlier this year, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Minhang District, Shanghai, fined a new force brand 200,000 yuan for "false promotion or misleading commercial promotion." However, automakers have their own strategies and can always come up with some promotional phrases, as relevant departments cannot ban the entire Xinhua Dictionary.

The new energy automotive industry is still in a golden development period, so most automakers have not yet tasted the bitter consequences of excessive marketing. However, as industry competition intensifies, extravagant promotion and backlash will only increase.

Currently, the entire new energy automotive industry appears extremely impetuous. New forces are eager to turn losses into profits, while established automakers also hope to complete their electric transformation as soon as possible, but they overlook the importance of calm down and precipitate the product.

Ultimately, the automotive industry relies on product strength. In the past, Japanese car brands dominated global brand marketing, with no rivals in the mid- to low-end market. Nowadays, Mitsubishi has withdrawn from the Chinese market, and factories of Nissan, Toyota, and Honda have also reported production halts, all proving that while marketing can temporarily boost sales, products are always the foundation for maintaining sales.