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Author: Li Sijia

Editor: Cui Liwen

Editor: He Zengrong

"Ah? You are Daniel Wu, then who am I?"

"Stop it, Zu. There are only Jackie Chans outside."

some days ago,SAIC AudiThe official announcement of Daniel Wu as the brand spokesperson, the author saw a number of netizens making fun of Daniel Wu. Although it is common for car companies to find celebrities as spokespersons, Daniel Wu is very charming. Whether it is the handsome appearance of the ageless male god or the famous online memes in the movie "New Police Story", the official announcement of SAIC Audi has attracted considerable attention.

It's not just SAIC Audi. In recent years, it has become the norm for car companies to find celebrities and internet celebrities to be their spokespeople.

In 2020, Hua Chenyu appeared onVolvoThe booth swept the Guangzhou Auto Show; in 2021, Jay Chou endorsed R Auto. Even if he did not appear at the auto show, his peripheral products still attracted many fans to check in on the spot; in 2022, North and South Audi invited Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo to endorse respectively, giving fans of both sides another platform to compete... This year, even the crosstalk actor Yu Qian "Uncle Yu" wasBMWCome here to endorseMINI COOPER......

Obviously, it is understandable that car companies look for spokespersons. Spokespersons, especially celebrity endorsements, can bring traffic to car companies, thereby increasing the attention and recognition of brands and models, just like finding a set of clothes that reflect your status, a pair of shoes that fit you, or a fashion item that can help you move towards better development in the future.

However, finding a spokesperson is also a technical job. If you can find the right one, it will naturally help the brand to improve and gain user recognition. If you find an unsuitable one or even one that easily "collapses" or "turns over", it may not only become a laughing stock in the industry and a negative example in the marketing world, it may even affect the brand's image in the minds of consumers and become an obstacle to brand development.

"94.5 points, Gu Ailing reversed and won the championship!"

On February 8, 2022, the "genius girl" Gu Ailing completed a comeback in the freestyle skiing big air final at the Winter Olympics with a 1620-degree spin that had never been completed by a woman. This victory-securing result also won China the third gold medal.

For a time, Gu Ailing almost occupied the front page headlines of all news apps in the form of screen-sweeping. More than 40 of the 50 hot searches on Weibo were related to her, and all of the top 10 hot searches were included in her.

Behind the traffic is the rising commercial value. At that time, Gu Ailing's net worth had risen to nearly 2 million US dollars. Weibo specifically counted that she had more than 20 brand endorsements, including the car brand Cadillac.

As early as September 2021, Cadillac signed an endorsement contract with Gu Ailing, becoming the brand spokesperson for Cadillac.CT4、CT5、CT6, to the SUV seriesXT4、XT5、XT6, and even new energy vehiclesLYRIQThey are all endorsed by Gu Ailing.

As Gu Ailing's popularity grew, Cadillac's own marketing team began to build momentum, with official WeChat accounts and WeChat Moments filled with copywriting, making other brands' public relations teams envious. During that time, many industry insiders believed that "Cadillac won by spending little money to achieve great things."

Yes, if this contract was signed after Gu Ailing won the gold medal, the price would probably be several times or even dozens of times higher, and the main point is that it is better to sign a good contract than an expensive one; and if it was not Gu Ailing who signed the contract, Cadillac would not have taken advantage of the marketing opportunity and successfully benefited from the traffic of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

From identifying the right spokesperson, to taking advantage of the popularity of the Winter Olympics, and using Gu Ailing's victory to further establish the brand's reputation, it not only deepened consumers' understanding of the Cadillac brand, but also maintained the stickiness of Cadillac users. This multi-dimensional winning chance is naturally a "great win."

Another endorsement that impressed me the most was that Volvo chose Luo Xiang, a legal education expert with a wide audience, as its spokesperson.

At that time, Luo Xiang successfully gained popularity with his professional knowledge, humorous style and down-to-earth examples, attracting 2 million fans in 10 days. CCTV spent 16 minutes introducing him, and his influence was no less than that of Dong Yuhui later. Through the professional legal knowledge and Internet influence of "Outlaw Zhang San", Volvo's brand image was successfully linked to "safety", forming a good brand image.

This perfect embedding of the brand image is quite successful in my opinion. If you emphasize comfort, you can find a spokesperson who is a business elite to endorse the brand; if you emphasize sports, you can find an athlete group to endorse the brand... In short, a spokesperson who fits the brand image is an important factor in marketing success.

However, for car companies, not every choice is successful, especially with the rise of the Internet era, there are many cases of "collapse" of spokespersons, especially entertainment stars, and the probability of "turnover" is getting higher and higher. And with the negative impact of the spokesperson, the brand he endorses will also be criticized for no reason and with a confused look.

“This is the fastest termination I’ve ever seen.”

In December 2021, DongfengInfiniti QX60Pre-sale in Guangzhou, Wang Leehom asInfinitiThe brand spokesperson came to the scene to support the event. But after more than 30 hours, the endorsement came to an end.

The reason was that Wang Leehom announced that he was divorced, but just one day after the QX60 was released, his ex-wife Lee Jinglei exposed many of Wang Leehom's misdeeds. Influenced by this, Infiniti announced the termination of its contract with Wang Leehom to avoid being "affected by innocent people", making Wang Leehom a "disposable car spokesperson" with a one-day endorsement period for new cars.

Infiniti was already experiencing a difficult development at the time, and it needed more market attention to leverage potential consumption. This typical marketing method had good intentions, but it ended up with bad results. Negative news about traffic stars could have an unexpected negative impact on the brand at any time. After all, in the Internet age, no one dares to take risks.

In fact, not long before this incident,PorscheChina also terminated the contract with Kris Wu due to negative events;Rolls-RoyceBecause of the controversial internet celebrity endorsement promotion, the relevant video was eventually taken offline... In other words, when car companies choose celebrities as endorsements, the risks involved need to be borne by the car companies themselves.ChevroletDefinitely ranked number one.

In 2014, actor Ko Chen-tung, who became popular with the movie "You Are the Apple of My Eye", becameChevrolet TraxAs the spokesperson for the Chinese region, with Ko Chen-tung's detention for drug use, Chevrolet Trax's advertising campaign was affected. Of course, Chevrolet did not choose to bear this "sadness" alone, but immediately filed a claim against Ko Chen-tung, standing on the opposite side of the spokesperson.

Although hiring a spokesperson can have both positive and negative effects, judging from sales, celebrity endorsements have little to do with product sales.

There is no doubt about Jay Chou's status, but the sales of the R car he endorses have never increased; when Lu Han was at the peak of his popularity, he endorsed the Volkswagen Beetle, but it did not bring about a significant sales increase; actor Wang Kai endorses the DS brand, but the sales of DS continue to decline, and now even the brand has become "overshadowed" in the Chinese market.

Obviously, a good spokesperson helps a brand, while a bad spokesperson brings resistance to a brand. But in the final analysis, the spokesperson's advertising information only increases the exposure of the product, which is only the success or failure of the marketing level. As for whether it can effectively drive sales growth, there is no clear conversion rate at present.

After all, cars are major consumer goods, and consumers will not support idols the same way fans buy cheap peripherals. After conducting a small sample survey, I found that more than one friend told me, "I love my idol very much, I support him, but I will not buy a car of that brand just for his endorsement."

Because this group of fans are also potential car buyers, when buying a car, they are still dominated by product quality, brand power and after-sales service, and marketing represented by celebrity endorsements can only play a supporting role.

In this way, Li Xiang, who is not interested in hiring celebrities to endorse his cars, seems to be more straightforward. He believes that "car owners are the best spokespersons." Li Xiang's words are very beautiful, which makes those who don't spend money to hire celebrities to endorse their cars feelIdeal Auto, and entered the hearts of consumers in a more "smart" way.

Previously, some netizens dug out that Hu GeWulingFor endorsement, the reference price for appearance fee is more than 1 million yuan, and the endorsement fee (portrait photo authorization quotation for two years) is 26 million yuan/two years. Although the truth of the news has yet to be discovered, it is also very telling that it is really expensive to hire a celebrity for endorsement.

However, with so much money, not only can it not boost sales, it can't even get traffic this year. If you don't believe me, look at this year's Beijing Auto Show. There were many celebrities on the stage, but everyone still went to see Jun'er and the Red Dress Leader.