· Why did the Versailles C5 X succeed? Probably this time, the century-old car company chose to use the Chinese way to complete the new life - bidding farewell to the "anti-human" image of the past, no longer clinging to the unique French romance, but using Chinese, to speak more intimate and intimate marketing.
In December 1949, shortly after the founding of New China, Mao Zedong's trip to the Soviet Union visited the Stalin Automobile Factory in Moscow, watching the production line of cars assembled off the production line, Mao Zedong said to the entourage: "We must also have such a big factory."
The new Chinese automobile industry was born in the era of waste and waiting to be revitalized, and for a long time, China's automobile industry developed slowly. In 1982, Deng Xiaoping's phrase "cars can be a joint venture" opened the dawn of joint venture car companies, and joint venture car companies began to shine frequently on the stage of China's automobile industry.
At the beginning of the joint venture era, international car companies chose to joint venture with Chinese enterprises, focusing on China's huge consumer market and relatively low production costs. Foreign parties always control the core technology, and Chinese factories are often only properly involved in the OEM production of parts.
French automaker Citroën has been selling cars in China since 1984. Once upon a time, the way of life represented by French travel was a kind of benchmark existence for the Chinese people. In 1992, Dongfeng Citroen was officially established, and in the past 29 years, it has also experienced its peak moment, with its unique French design and advanced technology of the world's automobiles, it has entered the homes of many ordinary Chinese people.
With the rapid development of the domestic economy, at present, whether it is the integration of domestic and foreign capital or the flow of technology, there have been new changes in the international division of labor.
From the initial appropriate participation of the Chinese side, to the present large automobile group has basically mastered the technology of vehicle research and development.
The joint venture car companies represented by Dongfeng Citroen are facing the left and right attacks of other brands such as German and Japanese brands; on the other hand, they must resist the fierce offensive of the rapidly rising domestic independent automobile brands and new energy vehicles.
As the saying goes, it is difficult for the ship to turn around, and how to win the battle is not easy.
At Dongfeng Citroen Dealer Conference 2020, Citroën Global CEO Vincent COBEE promised: "From now on, it will inject new vitality into the brand and promote the relaunch of the brand in China." ”
On June 7, 2021, a new model called "Versailles C5 X" debuted and came into being, successfully rolling off the production line at the Chengdu plant of Dongfeng Dragon Company.
Bidding farewell to the traditional automobile joint venture model, this is the first time in a century that Citroën has produced the entire global flagship model, all in China. This means that global users will drive a new car with "Chengdu Taste Made in China", and the joint venture cooperation model of China's automobile industry will open a new chapter, and Chinese factories will complete the transformation from "bringing in" to "going out".
It's not hard to make a car, it's hard to make a car that meets international standards. The Chengdu plant of Dongfeng Dragon Automobile was once known as the new generation of global benchmark factory of Stellantis Group, with a high degree of intelligence and mechanization, and a leading green environmental protection advantage, and was known as the first to implement the "Made in China 2025" national strategy and promote the upgrading and transformation of automobile manufacturing technology.
As a new engine for brand restart, versailles C5 X has lived up to everyone's expectations and has become a turnaround for Dongfeng Citroen and even represents a French car.
With the help of this "hot selling" model, Dongfeng Citroen also successfully achieved a "V" reversal in sales, bottoming out and smiling upwards.
On the last day of the last month of 2021, Dongfeng Citroen announced the gratifying results. According to the data, Dongfeng Citroen exceeded the annual sales target, and sales increased by 137% year-on-year. In particular, the Versailles C5 X, which was launched in late September, has delivered a total of 12,114 vehicles in just three months, becoming the annual sales king of the French system in one quarter, and also becoming the most successful model launched by DPCA in the past seven years. The "spillover effect" of the Versailles C5 X and the sustained and rapid growth of Dongfeng Citroen's monthly sales have contributed a strong "Citroën power" to the 100,000-year challenge target of Dongfeng Citroën ahead of schedule.
Why did the Versailles C5 X succeed? Probably this time, the century-old car company chose to use the Chinese way to complete the new life - bid farewell to the "anti-human" image of the past, no longer clinging to the unique French romance, but in Chinese, told a more local story, and carried out a more intimate marketing.
1． Breaking the game: Naming and positioning
On April 12, 2021, Citroën's new model debuted in Shanghai and the world. At the debut site, Dongfeng Citroen announced the Chinese name of the product "Versailles", which opened its prelude to its listing in the Chinese market.
For all the employees of Dongfeng Citroen, this scene has been waiting for a long time.
In 2015, DPCA's sales reached 700,000 units, but in the following five years, they fell into a sluggish situation. If you want to return to the track and recast the glory, it is imperative to fight a backwater battle in 2021.
So when a new product that has poured too much people's expectations and efforts comes out, every Dongfeng Citroen person is too much to decide easily because of too much care. "Versailles" is the name that DPCA has predetermined 20 years ago, registered a trademark, and has been waiting for a product that reflects this name.
But when deciding whether the new model should use the name of the traffic, there were still many internal disagreements, and the marketing team also experienced countless discussions and even quarrels.
According to Dongfeng Citroen employees, most of the "pro-faction" believe that in the current era of domestic Internetization, "intelligent retrieval" and "intelligent recommendation" of the new communication ecology, "Versailles" because of its network hot words, its own traffic, and French culture closely fit, is a good name.
Most of the "opposition" has become particularly cautious because they cherish this new product too much. In the eyes of most employees, this is almost the last hole card to get Dongfeng Citroen back on track at the current stage. At that time, "Versailles" had the meaning of showing off in the Internet language, which inevitably made people worry about the risk of its name.
Just as the so-called life to death can be born, only in the context of changing Fang An, it is necessary to come up with the belief of breaking the cauldron into a boat. The bold strategy proved to be successful.
After the name "Versailles" was launched on the day of its global debut, it immediately gained the popularity of the Internet and the affirmation of the audience.
Since then, Versailles is not only the pearl of Art in France, nor is it only the hot meme of the Internet "Versailles Literature", but also the newly launched flagship product of Dongfeng Citroen.
On the day of the debut, Dongfeng Citroen adopted an online and offline linkage approach, in addition to appearing offline in many cities, the live broadcast room attracted more than 2.6 million people to watch by inviting a number of KOLs and senior media personalities.
When Mao Chuangxin, general manager of Dongfeng Citroën, announced the Chinese name "Versailles", the scene was sensational and there was a warm applause. Many netizens brushed up the comments in the live broadcast room: "This name, too easy to remember it" "Advertising fees do not have to come out"...
Like its Chinese name "Versailles", which contains multiple meanings, this rookie who has become a hit in the new car market is not a well-defined car.
When the Dongfeng Citroen Versailles C5 X slowly drove out at the debut press conference, in addition to the heat brought by the name, its unique design quickly caused a commotion on the scene, and people fell in love with it, but also constantly issued various curious voices - "What is it?" ”
As can be seen in the debut, the biggest highlight of the Versailles C5 X is the fusion of the body posture, with a coupe-style streamlined body, the body side design inspired by the space shuttle, the slender roof line is dynamic and elegant, but at the same time it has the characteristics of both SUV and station wagon. Its chassis has high ground clearance, good passability, large interior space, and a hatchback trunk.
What kind of car is this? It doesn't seem to be a simple generalization.
It is like a "new species", from the name, to the design, to the positioning, it is full of uniqueness, quite "Versailles".
As Citroën's new flagship model, the Versailles C5 X was born with a combination of French design style and Chinese market demand. According to Pierre Leclercq, Citroën's global design director, the C5 X breaks through tradition, inherits the brand gene of "bold innovation", and integrates the elegance and dynamics of the car, the stability and passability of the SUV, and the practicality of the station wagon, which Dongfeng Citroen calls the "new potential car".
The concept of "more than cars" may be a diverse work of art depicted by the romantic and bold French combined with Chinese characteristics.
Its unique advantage is that it can meet different needs, and everyone can find their own needs and find what they like from this model. For young users who pursue trends and pursue individuality, this car undoubtedly has a very big attraction.
In the debut, Citroën Global CEO Vincent COBEE spoke highly of the new car, believing that the Versailles C5 X "is a signal that Citroën is a big brand in China."
Obviously, the breakthrough in naming and positioning has made a good start for this new product.
2 Multiplier: Internet Marketing
The success of the debut has made too many people start to wait for the delivery of this star product. It didn't take long for customers to come to the store to test the car, but the new car had not yet been produced.
The advent of the Internet era has changed the way almost all products are marketed, including cars. Seeing that more and more customers are full of expectations for new cars, and are full of enthusiasm before seeing the real car, versailles C5 X has opened a "blind booking" activity for the first time.
This is probably the first time that this century-old car company has made such an original "taste of the Internet" in sales.
On June 16, versailles C5 X blind booking in Dongfeng Citroen "because of you" mini program officially opened. Customers can choose to pay a deposit of 2999 yuan to order the Versailles C5 X, and enjoy the right of priority to pick up the car according to the order of the order. On the day of the blind booking live broadcast, Dongfeng Citroen sent multiple gifts, which made a large number of Versailles C5 X prospective owners born.
It's hard to imagine cars being able to do "blind booking" as well. This is also dongfeng citroen's first attempt.
Although such an "innovative move" also received a lot of internal questions before the launch, Dongfeng Citroen's marketing department has its own consideration of innovation persistence and determination: "Blind booking can predict the customer's reaction and acceptance of the car in advance, and then make adjustments to the listing." ”
Obviously, the response was good in the end. The atmosphere was hot before it was sold, and 1817 units were received on the first day of the event.
The flexible innovation of the brand also drives consumers to have the courage to try the early and set no limits.
As the world's first order user of the Versailles C5 X said: "I chose Citroën basically with my eyes closed. The feedback of many customers who participated in the "blind booking" was that they had the courage to order in advance before seeing the real car, mostly for two reasons, one was because of the love at first sight for the Versailles C5 X in the debut, and the other was the trust in Dongfeng Citroen.
On August 9, the Versailles C5 X officially opened pre-sale. This is also the first time that Dongfeng Citroen has done pre-sales as a listing, giving customers more marketing plans and business policies. Four levels of configuration were launched to choose from, breaking the impression that the French car was originally in some customer groups of "top-of-the-line and below-all-board versions", and enjoying 12 mainstream B-class cars with high-end configurations.
Not only that, as a global model, the pricing in China has also shown great sincerity, with a price of less than 200,000 yuan, even half lower than the foreign price, highlighting the welfare and sincerity of Dongfeng Citroen in the "Sino-French game" to fight for more Chinese markets.
Such sincerity has touched the market. According to the official data of Dongfeng Citroen, as early as June 7, before the Chengdu factory rolled off the production line, the intended customers of versailles C5 X reached more than 300; after the blind booking was opened on June 16, the order was refreshed every day; before the official listing on September 23, the cumulative number of pre-sale orders exceeded 10,000.
Qu Hongyu, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Citroen Marketing, said at a "Versailles Phenomenon" salon event in South China in November that the "explosive order" of the Versailles C5 X was the best result achieved by the entire company in the past seven years during the launch period. The reason for the emergence of the "Versailles phenomenon" is not unrelated to the marketing rhythm of Dongfeng Citroen breaking the traditional marketing method for the first time and lengthening and splitting the Versailles C5 X.
Versailles C5 X's bold and innovative Internet-based marketing not only returns the Dongfeng Citroen brand to the public vision, breaks the rumors of withdrawing from the Chinese market, but also provides a reference case for the new car marketing of more car companies.
With the help of the new propaganda of the Power of the Internet, it has also attracted the attention of young consumers. In the data released by the Versailles C5 X, young consumers under the age of 35 account for 80%.
In the view of Liu Dehuan, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University, this fully shows that the Versailles C5 X has captured the young consumer trend, and will also help the brand grasp the future circle of China's consumer power.
3 Co-creation: customer-oriented
On September 23, the Versailles C5 X, whose pre-sale orders had already exceeded 10,000, was officially launched under the expectation of everyone.
Few people know that in order to prepare for this day, Dongfeng Citroen began to practice internal skills very early. All preparations are to provide owners with extraordinary listing policies, such as "value preservation" services, as well as a variety of financial purchase strategies, etc.; and the versailles C5 X online listing conference also deliberately chose to be carried out in the owner's manor. This series of marketing games around the Versailles C5 X reflects Dongfeng Citroen's practical customer-centric purpose.
And all this has to be traced back to October 2020, when DPCA held an auto culture festival and released the "Yuan +" plan to bring DPCA back to the track of healthy development. Among them, "products are more Chinese", "marketing is more accurate", "service is more reliable" and "operation is more efficient", which is an important part of the "Yuan +" plan of DPCA.
The design is too avant-garde has always been one of the main reasons why French cars are "unsatisfied" in the Chinese market. With the blessing of the "Yuan +" plan, Dongfeng Citroen is maintaining the unique French design DNA of the parent brand, and the design concept is getting closer and closer to China.
Xu Xiangyang, deputy director of scientific research in the Department of Automotive Engineering of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said that the Citroen brand is a technological innovation enterprise, and the chassis is king is the most typical and successful technological innovation. In the past year, the former polytechnic man has become closer to consumers and close to users. Let us see that enterprises have resource endowments and technology priorities to ensure that they will be able to develop models that meet the needs of marketization, and then plan for the future.
Versailles C5 X is the representative of "product more Chinese". Before and after the listing, Dongfeng Citroen opened a series of user co-creation activities and experiences, so that customers have more opportunities to have close contact with the brand, such as Versailles C5 X in the process of co-creation with customers, in response to customer demands, increased the back of the central headrest and so on...
Advertising guru David Ogilvy believes that brand image does not belong to the product, but to the collection of consumer associations. As the Internet becomes the largest platform for mass media, the gradual saturation of the market and the acceleration of the Red Sea to the advent of the "Marketing 2.0 Era", consumer-oriented, customer-centric will inevitably become a new trend.
Brands should no longer regard customers as "prey", but should be reduced to "rich people", so that customers can frequently and directly contact the brand, interact, and even more deeply understand and participate in all aspects of corporate marketing and even production.
Dongfeng Citroen does just that. In addition to the co-creation of product design, since the pre-sale of versailles C5 X in August this year, Dongfeng Citroen has successively carried out a number of "Versailles Conferences" across the country, hoping to co-create lifestyles with consumers in more diverse ways and unlock more comfortable and comfortable extraordinary lives.
For example, at the "Versailles Conference" Chengdu station, Dongfeng Citroen invited car owners to help the 2021 KOD International Hip-Hop Competition, one of the "Four International Competitions" in the street dance industry that is very influential among young people, and shared the leading gene with users.
At Wuhan Station, coinciding with the Christmas period, Dongfeng Citroen specially arranged for "Santa Claus" to come to the door to deliver Christmas gifts to the owners of the Versailles C5 X - versailles C5 X new car.
On the christmas night of December 25th, the customer-centric Dongfeng Citroen held a "Versailles Conference Pujiang Christmas Eve @ Shanghai" fun party for car owners and fans on the Huangpu River. Interpret the extraordinary life with the Versailles style experience, and convey the concept of comfortable life advocated by the brand.
It is through this series of brand activities such as product co-creation, activity co-creation, lifestyle co-creation, etc., that Versailles C5 X circle powder a large number of new customers of illegal car, so that the outside world has completely changed the perception of French cars, but also changed the state of Dongfeng Citroen.
If the key to the success of brand marketing lies in being close to customers, then the key to Dongfeng Citroen's change of decline and bottoming out is also in a group of dedicated employees. The Long March road is long and obstructive, but for dongfeng Citroen employees, everyone is ready early.
In the sound of firecrackers, the year of one year old is removed, and 2022 is just around the corner. According to a Citroën employee, the company's New Year's wishes coincide, and it is necessary to have a new car data, happy events, "even the year-end blind date is introducing Versailles C5 X" is not strange. The belief of brand breakthrough and fighting this turnaround battle has long been the spiritual totem of the Dongfeng Citroen team.
One move, all alive. Although the automotive industry has entered a severe winter in the past two years, on December 28, DPCA announced that after overcoming the difficulties and obstacles of 2021, DPCA completed the annual challenge target of 100,000 vehicles ahead of schedule!
And it's just getting started. 2022 is the beginning of the dividend year of versailles C5 X, which will be an important symbol of Dongfeng Citroen's return to the track and help the rejuvenation of Dongfeng Citroen.
In the words of Chairman Mao's poem, it is that Xiongguan Mandao is really like iron, and now he steps forward from the beginning. 72 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the joint venture car company has ushered in a new starting point in the stage of China's automobile industry.