Author/ Author of "Finance and Economics" Weekly Qin Xiaochong
Edited / Mao Shiyang
Mercedes-Benz "self-casting net"
On December 27, Mercedes-Benz in the brand product promotion poster, the model "squinting" and other elements were questioned by netizens, and then #Mercedes-Benz advertising model makeup caused controversy # quickly appeared on Weibo hot search.
The source of the matter is that at noon on December 25, Mercedes-Benz posted an advertisement on its official Weibo account, featuring a man and a woman and two models, roughly about the advertisement of its new generation CLS four-door coupe.
Photo/Screenshot of Weibo
However, the model's use of the "squinting" style has caused a lot of controversy. In addition, this video also appeared in the WeChat circle of friends and was accompanied by copywriting: pioneer, not self-evident, the new generation of CLS dazzling debut.
After the controversy, as of now, the relevant videos in mercedes-benz Weibo and WeChat accounts have been deleted.
In the eyes of many people, the Mercedes-Benz advertising incident belongs to the "crime against the wind".
In fact, as early as the time of Mercedes-Benz's advertising, the domestic controversy about "squinting eyes" had reached its peak.
Previously, because the "lion boy" character modeling is "squinting eyes" caused a lot of controversy, the three squirrels advertisement was accused of "ugly" Chinese. Not only that, in the "Dior and Art" exhibition last month, a photo of an Asian model taken by Chinese photographer Chen Man 9 years ago was also criticized by netizens.
After the Mercedes-Benz incident, some netizens commented: "In my life, I have never seen so many squints in real life." ”
After the emergence of online public opinion, Chen Man apologized and Dior immediately deleted the work's official online and offline related content; the three squirrels also issued a statement saying, "The model on this page is a Chinese, and its makeup is based on its personal characteristics, without deliberate ugliness." For the discomfort caused by netizens, the three squirrels are deeply sorry, and have replaced the page for the first time, and have arranged to check other product pages of the company to prevent similar situations. ”
Netizens' resistance to "squinting" has reached its peak and does not seem to have been noticed by Mercedes-Benz.
"Mercedes-Benz has recently been in an intensive launch period. This should be prepared for a long time, regarding the makeup of Mercedes-Benz models, I personally feel that Mercedes-Benz has always been a similar type of model, but just in time for the squinting emotions to reach the peak. An industry source familiar with Mercedes-Benz told Caijing Weekly.
In response to the intensifying controversy, on December 28, the People's Daily published a commentary article "How to look at the controversy surrounding the "squinting"", saying that the controversy of squinting should be considered from multiple angles: in terms of products, enterprises should fully respect the audience to win the market; in terms of aesthetics, healthy aesthetic taste, cultivation, and strong aesthetic self-confidence should be cultivated; from the perspective of communication, it is necessary to adhere to the effect orientation, but avoid "buttoning the hat".
Putting aside the controversy of "squinting" itself, why Mercedes-Benz reacted so slowly in this matter is a topic of concern to the outside world.
Photo/Visual China
From electric priority to full electric
Mercedes-Benz is by no means a "new student" in the Chinese market. At present, China is the world's largest consumer market for Mercedes-Benz.
In the past few years, with the help of the dividends of China's luxury car market, Mercedes-Benz has entered a period of rapid growth in China, with new sales for many consecutive years and becoming the champion of domestic luxury car sales.
According to the data, the global sales of Mercedes-Benz in 2020 was 2,164,187 units, of which sales in China hit a record high of 774,000 units, an increase of 12% year-on-year, which is the only single market for Mercedes-Benz to grow positively in 2020.
However, challenges are emerging. According to the data of the Association, from January to November this year, Mercedes-Benz sold about 510,000 vehicles in China, down 8.1% year-on-year, lagging behind rivals such as Audi and BMW.
Behind this, Mercedes-Benz reacted slowly, not just advertising and public opinion.
"Everything speaks to the fact that China will also be a supermarket next year, and Daimler's market share in the sales of electric vehicles in China is still very small, competing in China with many Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers such as Xiaopeng Motors, Ideal Automobile and Nio, as well as The American electric vehicle giant Tesla." Tang Shikai, head of Daimler Greater China, said in November that the slow response to electrification has become the biggest threat to Mercedes-Benz's future.
In fact, due to the lack of cores and the strong pursuit of new forces to build cars, Mercedes-Benz's sales in China have declined significantly.
In addition, due to the new forces such as Weilai, Ideal, Gaohe and other new forces car manufacturing companies product prices have already exceeded 300,000 yuan, and 400,000 and above has also become the hardest hit area of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle sales downturn. In the first 11 months of this year, Mercedes-Benz's cumulative sales in the Chinese market reached 50.8 vehicles, but the sales of new energy were only 11,132 vehicles, and the sales volume was even less than the results of Weilai, Xiaopeng and Ideal in one month.
In the new track, the elephant turns, the slow pace, the uncompetitive products, so that many people for the traditional luxury car can be smoothly transformed into a sweat.
First of all, in addition to the lack of cores, the electric models currently on sale by Mercedes-Benz are typical "oil to electricity" products. EQC, in particular, is in a sluggish overall sales position. In the first 11 months of this year, the cumulative sales of EQC were only 5411 vehicles, the terminal concession price exceeded 186,800 yuan, the price fell to 310,000 yuan, and the overall sales of other products such as EQA and EQB were not optimistic.
In addition, in 2019, Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz) net profit fell to 2.7 billion euros, the largest decline of 64.5% in a decade; due to events such as diesel emission gates and Takata airbag recalls, Daimler Group was fined nearly 5 billion euros, or about 38 billion yuan.
Since the second half of 2019, the Daimler Group has embarked on "slimming down" and taking measures to cut costs and increase cash flow. Although funds continue to increase investment in new areas such as electric vehicles and the Internet of Vehicles, the tight funds have not opened up the situation for Mercedes-Benz's new energy vehicle products.
In 2021, mercedes-benz transformation ushered in a major node. This year, Mercedes-Benz announced from "electric first" to "full electric". According to the plan, the goal is to provide pure electric models for all market segments in 2022, and in 2025, the sales volume of pure electric and plug-in hybrid models will reach 50%, and each model will launch a pure electric version, and it is planned to achieve full electrification and only sell pure electric models in 2030.
"From the strategy of putting electric first to fully electric, Mercedes-Benz is the most radical transformation among traditional luxury car companies." The above-mentioned industry insiders said, "The concentrated performance is that Mercedes-Benz launches flagship products and reduces traditional drive investment." ”
At the beginning of December, Mercedes-Benz handed over the development and manufacture of the next generation of compact and medium-sized transmissions to Magna in order to reduce future internal investment in traditional drive components.
On December 17, Mercedes-Benz launched the first EVA pure electric platform luxury flagship model EQS, priced at 1.0796-151.86 million yuan, becoming the current electric vehicle price ceiling. The new car is expected to be officially delivered in early 2022, with a range of 720 km, 831 km and 849 km. This is the highest endurance level of mainstream luxury pure electric vehicles at present, becoming the world's first D-class luxury electric sedan.
Mercedes-Benz has high expectations for the EQS inside. "Daimler's sales in China will remain strong next year, and given the low competition in the premium car segment, he believes Mercedes-Benz can expand its share of the Chinese electric vehicle market." Tang Shikai said.
Shortly after the launch of EQS, Daimler and BYD's 2010 joint venture brand Denza Automobile shares changed significantly. The Denza brand is a luxury pure electric brand created by the joint venture established by the two parties in 2010, but it has not made a name for itself in China for many years due to poor sales and losses.
On December 24, BYD and Daimler each increased their capital to Denza by 1 billion yuan in the ratio of 50:50, and Daimler transferred 40% of its equity to BYD, and after the completion of the equity transfer, BYD will hold 90% of Denza's shares, while Daimler's shareholding ratio will drop to 10%.
In response to this operation, some analysts said that when the electric vehicle business in China is on the right track, the Mercedes-Benz EQ pure electric series has achieved local production and sales, and Daimler no longer needs to use joint ventures to seek the growth of the electric vehicle market.
"First increase the capital, and then withdraw 40% of the shares, although this operation shows Daimler's 'gentlemanly demeanor', and finally throw up momentum, or in order to focus more on Mercedes-Benz's own electric brand." said the above-mentioned person.
At this time, Mercedes-Benz, which "left" Denza and went all out to electrify, is in need of a new brand image to achieve transformation, and Mercedes-Benz needs China, the largest market, more than ever. The public opinion storm caused by this advertisement is not a good start.
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