On the afternoon of June 19, Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD's brand and public relations department, issued a document saying that a car company was using black public relations methods to belittle, trample and maliciously slander BYD's brand and products. In view of the above and past situations, we will collect effective clues and evidence from the majority of netizens and all walks of life, and after verifying that it is true, we will reward the provider of effective clues and evidence with 200,000 ~ 5 million yuan, and at the same time keep the personal information of the provider strictly confidential.
In the Internet era, car companies have become more and more aware that public opinion can make or break a company, so before the storm intensifies, car companies have begun to take measures. 01 From "Net Blowing" to "Net Black"
This is not the first time that car companies have raised their weapons to protect their reputations in the face of "cyber black".
In May last year, new forces sounded the assembly number of the Ministry of Justice, and Weilai Automobile, Xpeng Motors, and Leapmotor successively opened the official accounts of the Ministry of Justice on social platforms, announcing the launch of the legal department in a high-profile manner, officially opening the curtain of the struggle against "Internet blacks".
According to people familiar with the matter, there are too many "water armies" in the market today, and almost all brands will place advertisements and buy readings or clicks. The auto market, with many brands and fierce competition, is obviously becoming a concentration of "water army".
In April, Li Auto and Xiaopeng Motors encountered such a "water army" war, which can be described as a defeat for both sides. The reason is that Ideal MEGA was attacked by three or four "water armies" when it was listed, mainly for its unique shape, and many photos and videos of spoofs of it were circulated. Subsequently, someone broke the news that Xiaopeng Motors was involved.
After the police intervened in the investigation, a middle-level employee of Xpeng Motors was taken away for investigation.
As soon as this news came out, both families couldn't sit still. Li Xiang, chairman of Li Auto, posted on Moments: "We are already using legal means to deal with those organized illegal and criminal acts in the incident. He Xiaopeng even said in the comments: "Fight back against darkness with light, support!" At the end of last year, we also experienced a huge lesson, for the first time we understood what a shopping mall is like a battlefield, and for the first time we knew the meaning of 'national defense capability'. ”
Xpeng Motors insiders said that since its launch, Xpeng X9 has also been widely attacked by online "water army" malicious attacks, with more than 5,000 related negative reports. He said: "In response to such "water army" attacks, Xpeng Motors has collected evidence and reported the case to the public security organs, which have now accepted it. We will also disclose updated information to the public in a timely manner. Xpeng Motors also announced the receipt of the case.
It can be said that there are no winners in the "water army" war. Not to mention the ideal car that was attacked, Xpeng Motors has even more suffering. Regardless of whether this wave of "water army" attacking Li Auto really comes from Xiaopeng Motors, in the eyes of netizens, it is inseparable from it. "Phi Pi Black" is more unguardable than a simple "water army".
In addition, the earlier public opinion war between SAIC Zhiji L6 and Xiaomi Auto has also attracted a lot of attention. SAIC Zhiji has attracted a lot of attention on the Internet because of the wrong label of Xiaomi SU7 parameters at the press conference. SAIC Zhiji has officially issued a public apology letter for the relevant mistakes, apologizing to Xiaomi Auto. However, then SAIC Zhiji posted on Weibo, saying that he was attacked and smeared by many online "water army", and also cited relevant evidence. For a time, SAIC Zhiji and Xiaomi Auto were also pushed to the forefront, especially Zhiji, and their sales were hit hard.
02 Deformed communication ecology
"Now there are "water armies" in all walks of life, and where there is money to be made, there will be "water army". According to an industry insider who has done the network "water army", "new energy vehicle brands have almost all put the" water army ", even if it is a brand that never advertises, there will be a very strong water army team, and the new energy vehicle brand does not advertise and please do not invite the "water army" has no direct relationship. ”
Judging from the description of the above-mentioned industry insiders, the online "water army" is only the lowest level in this black communication chain, and on the surface, it is seen that the "water army" is manipulating public opinion, but behind the water army may involve more stakeholders may be car companies, public relations companies, self-media, and even shareholders who hold car company stocks, in the final analysis, it is a profitable party.
Nowadays, the competition between car companies is no longer a simple product battle, but also a "water army" battle in the field of public opinion. Entering the era when traffic is king, the rise of the network "water army" secretly improves the industry status of their customers by maliciously smearing others on the surface, and consumers can't distinguish this, and under the coercion of one-sided remarks, even if there are different views, they dare not easily express them, which fuels the arrogance of the network "water army".
In the view of You Tianyu, president of Kailian Capital Research Institute, in the fierce competition situation, the actions of car companies have been deformed, the competition is cruel, and the involution is fierce, and many people have to be forced to be coerced into the track of "water army".
For any enterprise, word-of-mouth is undoubtedly the "lifeblood". Once a problem arises, whether it can be properly solved will directly determine whether the enterprise can survive. In the past, it was common practice for enterprises to actively solve problems, calm users' emotions, and ultimately achieve the goal of calming the incident. But I don't know when it began, car companies are no longer submissive, but began to "just" up, face public opinion, and fight the "water army".
For car companies, the time and economic cost of maintaining their reputation is too high, and it is better to stifle the risk in the cradle from the beginning than to wait for something to happen and then save it. "Car companies don't actually want to make things bigger, but now the ecology of the entire industry has changed, and the product is not as good as the traffic, and it is better to say that they are better than others. In the face of malicious slander, car companies cannot turn a blind eye, but the investigation may have little effect, and we also have a headache. A car company propagandist said helplessly, "From a marketing point of view, everyone will actually invest in communication, but in the past, they were mainly to promote themselves, I don't know when it started, the marketing trend has changed, compared to unilaterally boasting about their new technology and good products, the negative information of peers can better set off their own advantages." ”
From the perspective of news communication, this kind of propaganda is indeed more effective, and Zhao Yishuo, a journalist, said that communication has a very typical "Hovland persuasion theory", which proposes that the identity of the persuader and the persuasion method can influence the public's attitude. Specifically, the "water army" hides among netizens and pretends to be ordinary consumers, which is closer to consumers, and their views are easier to be trusted; On the other hand, "two-sided words" are more convincing than "one-sided words", and many "rational customers" are persuaded in this seemingly objective publicity, and car companies have achieved the publicity effect. 03 is about to erupt in silence
In the context of the extremely developed online public opinion, some voices in the public opinion field have been further amplified, and the relationship between public opinion ecology and enterprise management has become closer. More and more enterprises have to devote more energy to deal with the supervision and attention of public opinion, which is also the side that modern enterprises need to accept. With the emergence of more and more online "water armies", car companies are also facing unprecedented pressure.
In addition to BYD's huge reward order, many car companies have also established online reporting centers.
On June 20, GAC Group issued the "Proposal on Jointly Eliminating Online Violence and Maintaining a Good Public Opinion Environment", calling on all peers to respond to the "Regulations on Information Governance of Online Violence" promulgated by the state, work together to create a good online environment that abides by laws and regulations, is honest and trustworthy, respects and mutual assistance, and resolutely resists online violence such as rumors, smears, and slander others. At the same time, it was announced that from now on, the GAC Group Network Reporting Center will be established to openly collect clues or evidence of online infringement against GAC Group, its management and entrepreneurs from netizens, so as to further safeguard the corporate brand image and legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, the reporting center will give a reward of 100,000~1 million yuan to the whistleblower based on the actual situation, and keep the personal information of all whistleblowers strictly confidential.
Chery Automobile, China FAW, Changan Automobile, NIO and other 13 car companies have expressed their support in their comment areas.
Car companies have been suffering from the "water army" for a long time. In order to jointly maintain a clean and upright online public opinion space and create a fair and just business environment for the automotive industry, in 2023, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) will jointly launch the "Joint Initiative on Resisting the Cyber Troll of the Automotive Industry" with 15 domestic independent brand car companies. These include state-owned automakers Dongfeng, Changan Automobile, BAIC Group, SAIC, Chery Automobile, JAC, and China FAW, private automakers Great Wall Motor, Geely Automobile, and BYD Automobile, as well as new automakers NIO, Xpeng Motors, and Li Auto.
Car companies have reached a consensus not to hire online "water army"; Businesses and agents that resist hiring online "trolls"; resist acts of unfair competition; calling on car users to express their opinions rationally online; For enterprises and corresponding service agents that employ cyber trolls to carry out the above-mentioned malicious acts, the China Automotive Enterprise Chief Brand Officer Joint Committee will assist its members in taking legal measures to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Ms. Song, the head of public relations of an automobile brand, told reporters that car companies with Internet genes have huge differences in business philosophy and thinking from traditional car companies. In the past, if negative news was exposed, car companies first wanted to "suppress" and minimize the negative impact. However, the vigorous development of the Internet and self-media has made the spread and fermentation of negative events faster and faster, and some hot focus events cannot be fully understood and mastered in the first time. For car companies, instead of being passively discussed, it is better to directly express the brand attitude, stop losses in time, let the discussion be terminated before the final fermentation, and grasp the initiative to save the image. The courage of enterprises to defend their rights is also conducive to better clarifying the boundaries of criticism and supervision of enterprises by the media (including self-media).
In Ms. Song's view, at present, the handling of malicious attacks such as "water army" by car companies also follows the Internet thinking, such as: BYD's "reward" clues, which publicly expressed a warning to the "water army" and the forces behind the "water army", and will also play a role in "killing chickens and monkeys" for some "black fans" who are about to move.
Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, said bluntly that in addition to the normative system of other laws, the entire automobile industry urgently needs to establish a reasonable sense of self-discipline. After all, Chinese car companies want to go global, and instead of attacking each other, it is better to keep warm, respect each other, and work together to go further.
Text: Zhang Yahui Editor: Huang Bei Layout: Li Peiyang
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