On December 15, Wang Lihong announced his divorce
On December 16, Wang Lihong attended infiniti's press conference and became a spokesperson
On December 17, Wang Lihong's wife said that Wang Lihong cheated in marriage, which Wang Lihong denied
On December 18, Infiniti terminated its partnership with Wang Lihong, becoming the shortest spokesperson in history
It can be said that after the Emergence of the Wang Lihong incident, although the parties concerned are vigorously denying it, as an automobile brand party, they do not care about this. No matter what the truth is, they just want to quickly get rid of their relationship with themselves and don't let the spokesperson damage the brand image. From announcing that he is a spokesperson to terminating the contract, a total of 2 days. Wang Lihong was also ridiculed as the shortest spokesman in history.
In fact, celebrity endorsements of overturning things have been common, Wang Lihong, Li Yundi, have been particularly high-quality idols, even these people have overturned, not to mention other idol stars. Therefore, it is a very risky thing for the brand side to let the idol star endorse.
However, with the development of the times, as well as the progress of various means of communication. How big is the role of celebrity endorsements? How good is the effect? It's already a big question mark. Many car brands do not have star endorsements, such as car-making new forces, Tesla, Weilai, ideal, and so on.
So if you don't ask celebrities to endorse, who will endorse it? Looking at the entire car market, there are probably several situations. The first is the brand founder or executive to endorse. Tesla, for example, Elon Musk is its spokesperson. Weilai Automobile, Li Bin is the spokesperson. Ideal car, Li xiang is the spokesperson. There are also many examples of not the automotive industry, Gree air conditioning, Dong Mingzhu is the spokesperson. Xiaomi mobile phone, Lei Jun is the spokesperson. Brand founders or executives to endorse, not only to save money, but also their feelings for the brand, the product is deeper, these entrepreneurs and executives in the follow-up life problems probability is also very low. So a very good choice.
Secondly, the owner's endorsement, Li Xiang once said that more than 50% of the sales of the ideal car are induced through the publicity of existing car owners. So the owner is actually the best spokesperson for the brand. Now the new car-making companies do not have 4S stores, using a flat management method, the brand side directly contact with users, directly deal with the problems encountered by users, so that users really have a sense of being "God". Although the slogan that the user is God has been shouted for many years, there is really very little that traditional car manufacturers can do. It is because many 4S stores have no way to pass on the ideas of the brand side.
The third is the car's own endorsement, which is more vividly reflected in the independent brand. For example, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, Tank 300, Big Dog, just from the name is very topical. However, many joint venture brands have no way to change their names for the Chinese market. But in fact, joint venture brands also have advantages, because many brands have entered the Chinese market early, and many models have long been household names. Xuanyi, Langyi, Bora, Accord, Passat, these well-known names actually do not need any endorsement.
Second-tier luxury brands are at the bottom of sales, and Infiniti really needs to reflect on it
Nissan sells so well in China, but Nissan's high-end brand Infiniti does not. Although Chinese users prefer German luxury cars, Japanese luxury cars Lexus also sell well in China. Therefore, the failure of Infiniti's sales must also find the reason from itself.
In 2014, Infiniti was domestically produced, and Dongfeng Infiniti was jointly established by Dongfeng Motor Company and Nissan Motor Company in a 50:50 share ratio. However, after domestic production, sales were not good, and in 2015, Infiniti sold only 40,000 vehicles in the domestic market (excluding the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan markets). In 2017, Infiniti sold 48,000 units. Infiniti sold 44,000 vehicles in 2018. Sales in 2019 were 35,000 units, and in 2020, sales were 25,000 units, which shows that Infiniti's sales are declining year by year.
Especially at the 3.15 party, Infiniti was named by CCTV, not only the transmission failure is frequent, but also the user is treated differently, if it is a user who is active in rights protection, it will be solved first. Users who are not active in defending their rights ignore it. Moreover, after-sales requires the owner of the rights protection car to sign a confidentiality agreement in the process of solving the problem, which causes the dissatisfaction of the owner and the concern about quality and safety.
Therefore, the problems that Infiniti needs to face at present are really not solved by a spokesperson. On the contrary, I think that infiniti and Wang Lihong's termination of the contract is also a good thing for the Infiniti brand. This also gives Infiniti time to reflect on itself, not to waste money on celebrity endorsements, but to spend money on products and users, the effect may be better.