Author: Leng Zelin
On December 18th, 2021, NIO Day 2021 was held in Suzhou. Perhaps due to epidemic control reasons, the duration of the event was significantly compressed, resulting in a less rich lineup compared to previous years.
Compared to the “self-deprecating” user comments in the 2019 NIO Day and the user celebration in the 2020 NIO Day, this year’s NIO Day could only focus its main efforts on the release of the new car ET5, and there were fewer user appearances.
For many users, this felt somewhat unsatisfying, but for many people who do not know much about NIO, this press conference finally became easier to assimilate into.
Every year with the opening of NIO Day, an unavoidable topic is “fan economy”.
In the 1980s, there were stars like Alan Tam, George Lam, Danny Chan, and Anita Mui, and the Hong Kong music scene was in full bloom. However, the center of the stage often had to be given to the duo of Leslie Cheung and Alan Tam, shining brightly like the twin stars of the Hong Kong music scene. The “Tam-Cheung rivalry” was sparked by their rivalry for awards, which dominated the Hong Kong music scene in the late 1980s.
However, behind Tam-Cheung’s glory was the opposition of fans, with opposing fan clubs frequently engaging in disputes, verbal battles, and even physical conflicts. In the end, the Tam-Cheung rivalry that spanned the mid-to-late 1980s ended with Tam not accepting any competitive awards and Cheung’s withdrawal from the music industry, resulting in a lose-lose situation.
Cheung and Tam’s voluntary withdrawal did not eradicate this problem, and fan-on-fan harm has never stopped. For example, last year, Yang Zi and Dilraba Dilmurat, who had no prior relationship, were pushed into the spotlight due to the fighting between their respective fan clubs.
In China’s entertainment industry, fans are never in short supply. For their idols, they can privately organize a large number of like-minded friends, cross-border voting, purchase endorsement products, or flood the comment section of the “enemy’s” social media accounts. They are like street performers gathering a group of elders and peers to form a crowd, with those who have money contributing money and those who do not contributing crowd support.
When the number of people in a group is greater, the strength it displays is also greater, and it can even influence the course of history, such as taking over a prison or something like that.
Similarly, in the male-dominated automotive circle, there is also a group of fans, with different brands having names like “special powder”, “new army”, and “pengyou”. Among them, the “Di-fans” (BYD fans) and “Jing-Wei Jun” (NIO fans) are the most famous, representing the old and new forces.The fans of BYD (shortened from “Di fans” as BYD is also known as “比亚迪” in Chinese) emerged since the first model F3 was launched in 2005, while the fans of NIO (known as “京蔚军” as it refers to the fans of NIO and the city of Beijing where NIO is headquartered) appeared with the launch of NIO ES8 in 2017. Although they were born in different periods, they both showed the same “enthusiasm” inwardly and outwardly, thus causing similar controversies.
Searching for keywords “BYD fans” and “NIO owners” on Zhihu, there are always similar questions popping up, such as “Are BYD’s fans involved in pyramid schemes?” and “Why do NIO’s owners act like they have been brainwashed?”.
If the birth of Di fans was the first love between domestic car brands and car owners, now after almost seventeen years, according to folklore, this kind of love can be called a “crystal wedding”. The brand has changed, but the fanaticism remains.
With the popularity of new energy vehicles, there have been many topics that have been extensively discussed by automotive media and car enthusiasts in recent years, such as Jia Yueting, founder of LeEco, struggling for his dreams, and the two-way communication between the founders of the Chinese electric vehicle startup ZhiDou and its users. Furthermore, Internet and smartphone companies have entered the market. Among them, there must be the NIO fan economy.
It is unknown how long NIO fans have been “out of the circle”, but the first large-scale event can be traced back to 2018.
At the end of that year, car reviewer No. 38 posted a Weibo story about the range test involving the NIO ES8, BAIC New Energy EX200/EU400 NEDC, which then triggered a flood of comments saying “I finally know who is instructing you from behind”. Later, it was discovered that these comments were organized by a NIO fan group named “京蔚军”.
No. 38 had a feud with NIO owners, which escalated into a heated war of words. One time, No. 38 even launched a personal attack against NIO owners, which drew a response post from Li Bin, the founder of NIO.
This incident acted as the fuse, not only triggering external discussions about NIO, but also arousing the solidarity of NIO fans.
In early 2019, Wang Tonggen, a Weibo influencer, posted an article titled “NIO ES8, the electric car that burns 35-40 L/100 km”, to ridicule NIO’s “Northeast Journey” with diesel vehicles and the “Xinjiang Journey” of using flatbed trucks to transport NIO’s charging cars. NIO fans also fought back by organizing a “self-defense counterattack”.
Like non-Newtonian fluids, NIO fans became more closely bonded in the face of external pressure, regardless of right or wrong.
However, regardless of right or wrong, a series of events made the group of NIO owners known to the public, while some irrational or narrow-minded behaviors labeled the entire group.
Perhaps due to the development of the Internet, or maybe due to the time that has passed, many people think that NIO fans are the only ones in the automotive world.However, upon reflection, the fans of NIO and BYD are actually quite similar. They both contribute to brand building and actively maintain brand reputation, and when necessary, they will also launch strong attacks.
Early BYD fans have also had several large-scale campaigns.
In 2012, a drunk driving hit-and-run accident occurred in Shenzhen, causing a fire in the vehicle that was hit and killing 3 people inside, which happened to be a BYD E6 pure electric taxi. At that time, the deputy editor-in-chief of the “Automobile Guide” who reported the incident put forward two reasons for the tragedy: one was that the driver was drunk driving recklessly, and the other was that the BYD E6 caught fire too quickly.
The first point is an indisputable fact, but the second point was strongly attacked by BYD fans. Some argued with the automotive editor over technical issues, while others simply vented their anger. Of course, the latter was more prevalent on the internet, leaving the editor feeling helpless.
Similar to the well-known “Big Sister” and “Third Brother” in the NIO community and the founders of the joint statement of earlier, there are also a group of core figures among the BYD fans, and “Captain Blade” is one of the most influential fans in the early days.
In 2014, Musk came to China and personally handed over the keys of the Tesla Model S to the first batch of users. Musk’s emphasis on the Chinese market seemed to make BYD, who bet on new energy, a little anxious. Wang Chuanfu even said at the shareholders’ meeting: “If household consumption starts, BYD can make Tesla at any moment.”
However, BYD did not really attack yet, 360 was the first to “make a move”. In the same year, 360 announced on its Sina Weibo that it had found a way to remotely control the Tesla Model S, and could remotely unlock, honk, control headlights, and sunroof during vehicle driving.
Whether Captain Blade wanted to set up an image for the brand by this, he shouted across to 360 on Weibo on behalf of BYD, inviting 360 security engineers to crack the security system of its latest models. But before 360 could react, Captain Blade quietly deleted the Weibo and clarified that he was not a BYD employee.
They were actively taking on public relations tasks in the outside world, frequently interacting with car companies internally. In addition to the well-known NIO Fan behavior of driving on the highway in the early morning to meet Li Bin and writing songs and helping NIO build cars, the BYD Fans were no less enthusiastic.
At the first BYD Di Fan Conference, a car owner representative named “Ancient Road and Clear Wind” spoke about the star-hunting behavior of the BYD Fans.
One BYD Fan saw the lights on in Wang Chuanfu’s office at ten o’clock at night, so he crouched at the door with a camera for two hours just to take a picture of Wang Chuanfu leaving after work. Another BYD Fan took a photo with the first-floor bathroom in A-zone of BYD headquarters for no other reason than he believed that Wang Chuanfu must have used this bathroom at some point.
As a representative of BYD Fans, “Ancient Road and Clear Wind” also expressed his love for BYD:## Why BYD and NIO?
It’s difficult to explain why fans of BYD and NIO are so loyal. Corporate culture, service, personal charisma, advanced technology, and patriotism can all be the reasons why users like them. We can only find common ground between the development processes of both BYD and NIO.
We all know that NIO Day, NIO House, and user service are well-known. It might be a more advanced and upgraded version of BYD’s reputation.
In 2005, BYD released its first mass-produced car, the F3. Unlike other brands that “cast a wide net and catch many fish,” BYD abandoned the strategy of holding a launch conference in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and instead chose Jinan, a city in the central region of China, as its debut site. It then continued to launch in more than ten second-tier cities across the country, one station by one station.
BYD collected feedback on its products from each city’s users and made timely adjustments to close the gap between itself and the users. As reported by the media, the product launch events of BYD in each city became small-scale exhibitions.
Xia Zhibing, the former general manager of BYD Auto Sales Co., called this “precision marketing.” This allowed the F3 to achieve good results, with sales volume exceeding 35,000 vehicles in the allowed sales area in 8 months after its launch.
However, BYD at that time had not yet developed the concept of cultivating fans actively. It was more about accumulating experience, conquering the market one by one, and improving sales volume. Since domestic cars lacked core technology and experience, such as the engine of the 2005 BYD F3 was from Mitsubishi’s 4G18, and the workmanship was poor, joint venture cars were still more popular.
Some people like joint venture cars or imported cars, while others are willing to support domestic cars, although there are always some shortcomings, they often have a higher cost performance in the same class. At that time, the BYD F3 was also the first three-box sedan under 100,000 yuan to include automatic air conditioning, leather seats, sunroof, navigation, and other configurations. Lei Jun, who later challenged the smartphone market with his cost-effectiveness, was still struggling with Kingsoft’s IPO at that time.
Captain Blade, after becoming an owner of BYD F6, wrote more than 30 improvement suggestions on the forum. Half a year later, he received a reply from BYD staff, “We have done what you said, come to Shenzhen to take a look when you have time.”
Similarly, NIO also has a user named “Third Brother,” who has been providing feedback multiple times. The NIO vehicle development team and Danilo, the boss, personally flew from the Shanghai headquarters to Guangzhou for face-to-face communication.The low-profile attitude of car companies has further aroused the passion of other fans. In an interview on Yiche.com, a Di Fan could proficiently speak out 6DT25 and other BYD transmission codes, and could easily communicate with the BYD technical department on a certain detail.
Di Fans who are not technically savvy brainstormed suggestions and plans for the marketing department, whether BYD uses them or not. However, they secretly cursed them afterwards, thinking that they were more actively involved in the work than those people.
Li Bin, who was a car media professional at the time, certainly saw the enthusiasm of BYD fans and remembered it well.
Li Bin likes to participate in various car owner activities, and even invited car owners to ring the bell at the launch of the new product, while BYD invited more than ten Di Fans to the BYD Technical Analysis Conference in 2013. They were received by Wang Chuanfu, and Di Fans were also given official status.
NIO developed an App for car owners to communicate, and BYD opened the “Di Fan Club” App after the technical conference, which was also the predecessor of the BYD App. While NIO Day is progressing rapidly, under the direction of Wang Chuanfu, BYD held the first “Di Fan Convention” in 2015, where Di Fan expressed their views for as long as half an hour. Now there are scenes of NIO car owners helping to explain the car, just like six years ago at the Shanghai Auto Show on the BYD booth.
In fact, the original intention of the fans of both companies is to fight for the rise of the brand, and there is a natural sense of pride in the rise of domestic brands. Under normal circumstances, they have played a positive role in the development of the brand, but sometimes they may be too impatient and use the wrong methods.
For example, if a spontaneous activity or statement by car owners causes controversy, outsiders often cannot distinguish whether it represents the official or not, which may create a bad impression of the brand. Once the tone and inherent impression of a brand are formed, it is difficult to change in the short term. In addition, there is an “information gap” between the outside world and the car owners. The outside world sees a poor quality and mindless image, while the car owners see that the brand is constantly improving. Therefore, the situation of internal and external separation becomes more serious.
Returning to rationality?
In recent years, with the rise of consumer awareness of domestic products, many once “arrogant” foreign brands have suffered setbacks, such as Canada Goose, H&M and others. Domestic brands are more aware of and approachable to consumers. However, it is not an easy task to play this card well.
An employee of Zeekr told Guanzhixingqiu that his supervisor had clearly expressed to him that NIO was doing very well in user operation and was worth learning from. Thus, we see An Conghui becoming “Congcong”, Zeekr offline stores becoming Zeekr centers and Zeekr spaces.
At a recent user communication meeting at the Hangzhou Zeekr Center, due to delivery issues, several Zeekr users even impatiently interjected at the table, “You have too many explanations for yourselves,” leaving a group of executives to smile hard on the side.
This year should have been a low-key and stable one for NIO, not like the other two car companies that have new cars or facelifts launched. NIO is still relying on its old car models to drive sales this year.No matter how much NIO wants to prevent its fans from going off-brand, their fans keep doing so, like jumping off a high altitude during the vehicle owners’ event NIO Day earlier this year, and later 500 car owners jointly issuing a statement.
Similarly, when Di fans challenged 360 across the Internet, BYD also had to make it clear that it was not their intention.
The essence of the events is that automakers cannot control the direction their fans take. In fact, Di fans have clearly stated that they do not accept official instructions from BYD. NIO’s repeated “butt-wiping” behavior towards fans also shows their difficulty in controlling their owners’ words and actions.
In fact, automakers that started as fans-based will all have to face a tough choice as their user base continues to expand, that is this group will become increasingly difficult to manage.
Internally, on the one hand, there are passionate fans traveling far and wide under the brand name, on the other hand, there are ordinary car buyers who only buy for practicality, and do not want to join the fandom, let alone carry the weight of others’ comments. Even car owners who offer well-intentioned advice are always accused of having ulterior motives. When “framing others” becomes rampant, the painstakingly overturned dealership model loses its meaning.
Externally, as brands expand their product lines and broaden their price ranges, competitive relationships between them become increasingly apparent, and fans of various brands also begin to form opposing groups. Last year, fans of BYD Han and Xpeng P7 had a heated argument over which CPU was better between the 625 and the 820.
Like the Tan Zhang War of the 80s, which indeed created the golden age of Hong Kong music, but failed to control fans’ passion and evolved into fanaticism, ultimately leading to its decline.
Fortunately, this situation is unlikely to happen again. For example, for NIO and BYD, positive changes are happening, and their fans will eventually return to reason. At least for automakers themselves, they can continue to choose to listen to car owners’ opinions and improve their products, but it’s unlikely they will spend more time getting close to car owners than before.
On the second day after this year’s NIO Day, Li Bin said in a media interview that this year he will focus mainly on internal product development, although he will still visit car owners in various locations, but not like every weekend as before.
To some extent, this also cools down the prior users’ frenzy and “fandom”. If NIO wants to sell more cars to ordinary people and make their brand popular, they should focus on the core business areas of technology, R&D, products, services, and channel construction, instead of getting too close to their car owners.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.