Analysis of Online car-hailing Advertising Content
--Take Didi, T3 and Hellobike as examples
Persuasion and social influence (1001)
Iris Li 1730014037
Introduction
-Background of Car-hailing Apps
The common types of online car-hailing include special cars（专车）, express cars（顺
风车）,and fast ride（快车）. The first online ride-hailing platform was born in the
United States. Driven by problems such as low timeliness, relatively high cost, and poor
punctuality of traditional public transportation, Uber founder Garrett Camp designed
an online car-hailing business model in 2009 to help users solve these problems. The
online car-hailing industry has emerged.
According to the statistics of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC),
in June 2020, the number of online car-hailing users in my country was 340 million.
Affected by the epidemic, it decreased by 64.15 million from mid-2019. However,
before the epidemic, the overall user scale of online car-hailing continued to increase.
In June 2019, the number of online car-hailing users reached 404 million, an increase
of about 16 million compared with the data in mid-2018. (2020 年中国网约车行业发
展现状分析 市场规模已突破 3000 亿元，2020)
It has been 10 years since the development of China's online car-hailing in 2010. There
are currently as many as 191 licensed platforms on the market, but Didi is still in the
leading position. In May 2020, the monthly active number of Didi platform reached
54.39 million, 51.93 million higher than the second. (中国网约车市场 APP 榜单: "求
稳、谋远、思变"，中国网约车行业玩家频繁出招，以适应疫情新常态 ,2020)It can
be seen that the domestic online car-hailing market is showing a situation of "one super
strong, more stronger".
- Brand and advertising content
T3:
T3 Travel is a domestic emerging smart travel ecological platform. It is a
technologically innovative enterprise established by the three major central enterprise
automobile groups of FAW, Dongfeng, and Chang'an in conjunction with well-known
companies in the Internet, finance, and retail industries. It specializes in car leasing,
new energy vehicle charging and other services. With the vision of "becoming a reliable
travel service company" and the mission of "Technology Leading Pleasure Travel", the
company focuses on becoming a technologically innovative enterprise that can provide
customers and the government with "safe, convenient and high-quality" travel services.
“出行，本该安全”
In recent years, as "她思维" has been discussed by more and more people, many
creative content with female themes and perspectives has repeatedly received attention.
It is a good starting point to use women's travel safety and potential public opinion bias
to trigger a rethinking of the entire travel safety of the society.
Locking down the pain points of "gender", "prejudice" and "safety hazards", T3 keenly
found a social issue that can arouse group resonance as an entry point-"Does gender
make women encounter danger when taking a taxi?"
Therefore，T3 invited Yang Li, Zhou Dongyu and other 100 professional women to
join in the TVC and poster promotion. Yang Li, as the hottest talk show artist at present,
has created a high degree of topicality in the hearts of the public with her sharp
offensive jokes. As the host, she guided these women of different professions to share
their experiences in the car. Different professions determine female guests' work and
rest, dress and makeup, choice of travel mode, etc., so they will face different
difficulties when taking a taxi. Whether it is an emergency doctor, a flight attendant, a
fitness coach, a DJ, a Coser, or a large-size model, travel safety is always the most
sensitive issue among them.
（https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4583109727813696）
In this world that is unfair to women, T3 hopes to use such a shocking way to tell
women that they can become the guardian and make everyone more comfortable on
their way home.
滴滴（Didi）：
The "DiDi Travel" app has changed the traditional taxi-hailing mode and established a
modern travel mode for users that is leading in the era of the mobile Internet. Compared
with traditional call-hailing and roadside taxis, the birth of Didi has changed the pattern
of the traditional taxi-hailing market, subverting the concept of roadside blocking, using
the characteristics of the mobile Internet to integrate online and offline. From the initial
stage of taxi-hailing to the use of online payment for the fare when getting off the taxi,
draw an o2o closed loop where the passenger and the driver are closely connected to
maximize the passenger's taxi experience, change the traditional taxi driver and other
passenger methods, and let the driver master according to the passenger's destination
"Accepting orders" saves the communication cost between the driver and the
passengers, reduces the empty driving rate, and maximizes the saving of resources and
time for both drivers and passengers.
“Start your Holiday with Didi”
When most local brands are busy doing activities with Chinese people under the
Christmas marketing environment, Didi has set its sights on foreigners in China. Didi
provides bilingual taxi-hailing services in both Chinese and English to help foreign
friends on their holiday journey home.
The way to participate in the event is very simple. The user completes the registration
on the event page and completes the ride-hailing itinerary in the English interface of
Didi Travel during the 2017.12.15-12.17 event period. They will have the opportunity
to participate in the lottery and exquisite Chinese-style gifts provided by Didi Travel.
Didi also selected core expat media and overseas social platforms for precise placement.
During the event, spread through multiple foreign media platforms such as Timeout,
That’s, Smartshanghai, and Facebook & Instagram, and use online high-quality and
direct content to guide users to participate in the event. In this event, Didi accurately
understood the plight of foreigners in China and provided considerate solutions, laying
a certain foundation for Didi's overseas market expansion.
哈啰出行（Helloglabal）：
Helloglobal is a professional mobile travel platform dedicated to providing users with
convenient, efficient and comfortable travel tools and services. It adheres to the mission
of "Technology Promotes the Evolution of Travel" and "Green, Low-Carbon, Easy
Travel". It aims to provide users with travel services covering short, medium and long
distances, and strives to relieve urban traffic pressure. Facilitate the construction of
smart transportation and smart cities. Helloglobal started from the bicycle business and
has gradually developed into a multi-functional travel platform including taxi and ridehailing business.
“美好出行新选择”
As the Spring Festival is approaching, people are starting to run around on various
things and have various troubles. The wandering people can't go home because they
can't get the tickets to go home. The owner of the car was sad because the gas fee on
the way home was getting more and more expensive. The young girl wants to move,
but cannot get a taxi because traditional taxis do not accept pets. The young man was
criticized by his boss because he missed the bus and couldn't get back to his job
immediately.
（https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1kK4y1C74B?from=search&seid=18835296359
13244655）
Helloglobal can solve all the problems. Car owners can receive orders from people who
cannot go home because they can't get a ticket, and at the same time alleviate their
pressure on gas bills. Girls who are reluctant to leave their pets and can't get in the car
can get on the ride to the car owners. Workers who are in a hurry to end a year’s work
can arrive at the work place on time on the last day of the working day.
This exclusive TVC created by Helloglobal ride-hailing business provides insight into
people's travel needs at the end of the year. It uses emotional marketing to show the
audience the selling points of "convenient, fast, and cost-saving" express cars, creating
a warm and responsible image of car owners.
Analysis from persuasion pespective
“出行，本该安全” by T3-（Source &Audience &Message）
Source: In this campaign of T3, the celebrities selected are the ones who best represent
the female group. Zhou Dongyu is a special existence. Li Dong, Chief Marketing
Officer of T3 Mobility, said: “We value her personality, candour and thoughts, and
hope that through cooperation with Zhou Dongyu, we will speak out for the safety of
the car-hailing industry and bring safe and reliable travel to users, especially female
users.” Yang Li, another cooperating artist, exposed the social plight of contemporary
women with satirical passages in the talk show. She is also the person who best meets
the needs of T3’s “voicing” activities. Even though they are not proficient in the car-
hailing business, they still stand in the interests of women. Their own trustworthiness
can help raise the credibility of the brand.
Audience：The other 100 professional women covered most of the audience. Their
similar experiences will make many women feel close and love this advertisement. T3
is considered for these professional women, but also for most women in society.
Therefore, audience with similar experiences will also tend to choose T3 when traveling.
Message：This commercial uses narrative. The duration is not short, but it can arouse
the audience's interest and keep watching.
“Start your Holiday with Didi” by 滴滴-（Source & Message）
Source：Didi’s campaign uses social media to spread. Every participant on social media
can be seen as a KOL. They face the challenges of life in a foreign country like more
people. They have also experienced the difficulties caused by language. They will post
the gifts they received from the event to the Internet, which can encourage more people
who have the same difficulties as them to choose Didi and celebrate Christmas together.
Message：“Start your holiday with Didi” and “With the best cultural Gift now” all
shows Didi's cordial attitude and what is beneficial to them to foreign friends. Choosing
Didi means choosing a wonderful holiday and the best gift from China.
“美好出行新选择” by 哈啰出行-（Audience &Message）
Audience: The actors in this TVC are all typical characters in urban life. There are
couples who are living with small businesses, girls who live alone with pets, and whitecollar workers. Similar to T3's approach, these character images can also help the
audience find the similarities between themselves and the characters, and make them
feel good about Helloglobal’s business.
Message：The commercial also uses a narrative format to tell the stories of four groups
of protagonists. When there is no Helloglobal, they face their own difficulties. With
Helloglobal’s help, they all got what they wanted and achieved their goals.
As a business closely related to people’s daily life, online car-hailing advertisements
are keen to gain insight into the travel status of target consumers and use advertisements
to package their own business to solve the problems revealed by consumers’ status, for
example, safety for women riding cars, taxis use for foreigners in China, difficulty
returning home during the Spring Festival. These are social issues that are happening
in real life and are receiving high attention from society.
The difference between these brand marketing methods lies in the types of audiences
they want to attract and the methods they use to enhance favorability and trust. Some
of them directly use the credibility of celebrity endorsement to enhance consumers'
goodwill and trust in the platform, and then they are successfully persuaded to use such
services. Some have set up popular actor roles to let consumers feel the similarity
between themselves and the storyline, and then feel close to the brand. Some of their
target consumers are professional women, some are migrant workers, and some are
foreigners in China.
Evaluation
T3 maybe the best in the marketing of these three brands.
Since Didi’s ride-hailing incident, the government has strengthened its supervision of
online ride-hailing. In the context of such a large environment, T3 chose to use
"security" as a key message to spread the right decision. The selected spokesperson also
meets the expectations of the female community. This helps shape the tone and style of
the entire T3 brand. However, because T3 is a start-up brand, the public's perception
of it is not very comprehensive. In the video, T3 did not reveal a clear brand LOGO.
Whether this implicit information allows viewers to quickly connect the video to T3 is
an uncertain fact. In addition, T3 may have more statictics information to help convey
the concept of "safety". How does T3 ensure the safety of passengers, how high its
safety performance, etc., these clear messages can help the audience to more accurately
recognize the advantages of T3. (Taibin, 2020)
These three advertisements were released in different periods. Didi's first release. Both
T3 and Helloglobal were released after the Didi express cars incident. It can be seen
that Didi focused on the expansion of its consumer groups in the early days. After the
occurrence of related security incidents, brands have begun to pay attention to the
improvement of their own service standards and standards. As we mentioned earlier,
this is the result of national policies. (Yijia, 2020)T3 directly hits the social pain points
and brings women's car safety into the marketing strategy. Hello, on the other hand,
tried to restart the ride-hailing business, weakening the pornographic social attributes
of ride-hailing, aiming to create a "shared, convenient and fast" business image and a
"reliable, warm and win-win" image of car owners. This just proves that at different
stages of industry development, brands need to make adjustments to their own strategic
directions according to different market conditions and flexibly adapt to changes in the
market environment.
Reference
2020 年中国网约车行业发展现状分析 市场规模已突破 3000 亿元. (n.d.).
Retrieved January 08, 2021, from
https://bg.qianzhan.com/trends/detail/506/200904-a520f41d.html
中国网约车市场 APP 榜单: "求稳、谋远、思变"，中国网约车行业玩家频繁出
招，以适应疫情新常态. (n.d.). Retrieved January 08, 2021, from
https://www.analysys.cn/article/detail/20019834
TaibinFei. (2020). “互联网+”时代中国网约车发展困境及对策研究. 科技
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YijiaLu. (2020). 网约车平台声誉风险浅析. 合作经济与科技.