Case Study of Market Segmentation

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Clear positioning Chery QQ interprets “young people’s first car”

Case subject: Chery Automobile Company

Market position: Dominant position in the mini car market

Market significance: With its brand strategy and market segmentation strategy, it has brought China's mini cars into the era of marketing competition.

Market effect: More than 28,000 units were sold in 6 months, setting a single-brand minicar sales record

Case background: Chery Automobile Company, as a local automobile company in China, has successfully launched the Chery " "Qiyun", "Oriental Son" and other cost-effective cars, and relying on the advantages of its own brands and reasonable price advantages to export car products abroad, it has gained considerable popularity across the country.

Microbuses continued to grow at a rapid pace in the early 1990s. However, since the mid-1990s, major cities have canceled "face-to-face" buses and restricted microbuses. Microbuses are still listed in big cities today. "Separate registration" and being discriminated against. At the same time, due to the increasing safety and environmental protection requirements in major cities, rising costs have made the price advantage of mini-cars smaller and smaller. Therefore, major mini-car manufacturers have shifted their focus to sedan production, and the growth rate of mini-car production has declined rapidly. From 2001 to 2003, the annual growth rates of Weike's output were 20.41%, 33.00%, and 5.84% respectively.

In this case, Chery Automobile Company carefully selected mini-cars to enter the market after careful market research; its new product is different from ordinary mini-buses in that it has the size of a mini-bus and the configuration of a sedan. . The QQ mini car was launched in May 2003 and received good market response in June. By December 2003, more than 28,000 units had been sold and it had won multiple awards.

Replay of Chery QQ’s 2003 marketing events

In early April 2003, Chery began to warm up the listing of QQ. At this stage, through soft publicity, Chery’s new product information is disseminated and the media pays attention to QQ. Due to the car's strong personality and optimal price-performance ratio, the media spontaneously set off the first round of hype, attracting widespread attention from consumers.

In mid-to-late April 2003, the Shanghai International Auto Show, which is well-known at home and abroad, opened. It was also informed through the media that Chery QQ would appear at the Shanghai International Auto Show to meet consumers and arouse further consumer attention. . Just when consumers rushed to the Shanghai Auto Show to pay attention to Chery QQ, Chery QQ did not appear at the auto show because it was not ready for production. It only met the media and consumers in the form of promotional materials, which greatly inspired the media and consumers. Public curiosity triggered a second round of imaginative media hype. At this stage, the manufacturer provided a large number of exquisite pictures and materials to the media for hype, guiding consumers' attention to Chery QQ to a climax;

In May 2003, during the pre-launch stage, just when consumers and When the media was full of curiosity about Chery QQ, the company promptly launched an online price prediction for Chery QQ, which not only further aroused consumers' attention to the product, but also allowed consumers to give their ideal price expectations for Chery QQ. More than 200,000 people participated in the online guessing activity. At that time, it was generally believed that the price of QQ should be between 60,000 and 90,000 yuan.

At the end of May 2003, during the pre-marketing stage, the media and the price of Chery QQ were announced - 49,800 yuan, which was more attractive than consumers expected. The price is about the same as that of a minibus with the same specifications, but its exterior and interior features are in line with international sedan configurations. At this time, the media and consumers were excited. The media started the third round of spontaneous discussions about the Chery QQ phenomenon. Chery QQ fever also occurred among consumers. At this time, people's mood was to buy as soon as possible.

At this time, Chery Company announced: QQ is a mini car independently developed by the company. Therefore, consumers do not have to pay extra technology transfer fees when purchasing a car. This has established a good technical image for QQ and provided consumers with reassurance.

In early June 2003, during the launch stage, consumers’ desire to purchase Chery QQ was already there, the media’s attention on Chery QQ had already formed, and Chery QQ’s own production capacity was also available, and it began to supply products nationwide simultaneously. , there is an overwhelming surge of consumers.

At this stage, while supplying goods in large quantities, they also used print media to publish large-scale positioning appeal advertisements to root Chery QQ's young and fashionable product appeals in consumers' minds. In addition to print advertisements, professional car magazines have also been invited to conduct actual car test drives to conduct more in-depth and true reports on the quality of Chery QQ. After it has strong visibility, it will further deepen consumer awareness and promote rational purchasing by consumers;

In mid-to-late June 2003, during the launch stage, Chery QQ simultaneously carried out publicity activities during the launch period in nearly 20 cities across the country, inviting media from all over the country to conduct comprehensive and in-depth reports on Chery QQ, and to maintain awareness of Chery QQ. The phenomenon continued to spread;

In July, August, and September 2003, Chery QQ began its hot-selling phase. The focus of this phase was to continuously publish a full range of product appeal advertisements and target Chery QQ’s target users. Young and fashionable personality, combined with the characteristics of the Internet, together with Sina.com, launched the "Chery QQ" online flash design competition to attract target consumers to participate;

In October 2003, Chery QQ was already a hot seller For more than three months, there has been a relative market share in all parts of the country. At this time, the manufacturer launched the "Chery QQ Winter Warm-hearted Service Campaign" for consumers who have already purchased cars, providing all-round services to users who have already purchased cars, so as to continuously Improve consumers' awareness of Chery QQ products and Chery brand loyalty;

In late November 2003, the manufacturer further organized and carried out a campaign based on the psychological characteristics of Chery QQ consumers' fashion personalities. "QQ Show Personality Decoration Contest". Because "Chery QQ" has always advocated the life philosophy of "affinitive personality", it has gained a deep reputation among the younger generation in today's society. It is easy to see from this car sticker design competition that "Chery QQ" has gradually become a new spokesperson for the younger generation's fashionable life concepts.

Analysis of Chery QQ Marketing Strategy

Cars have increasingly entered mass households. However, due to the imbalance of regional economic development and the gap in people’s income levels, the demand for cars has further subdivided. Since the brand image of mini cars has always been synonymous with low-end in the automobile market, how to grasp the mentality of consumers, highlight the young and fashionable features of mini cars and the high-end configuration of cars, and segment them among numerous consumer groups can be more effective. Target customers effectively and attract customers with new marketing methods and excellent performance-price ratio.

The surprising appearance, interior, configuration and price are the keys to Chery's success in occupying the mini car market segment.

Clear market segmentation, targeting fashionable men and women

Chery QQ’s target customers are young people with low income but knowledge and taste, and they also take into account those with a certain career foundation. Middle-aged people who are young at heart and pursue fashion. Generally, white-collar workers who have graduated from college for two or three years are potential customers of Chery QQ. You can easily own this car with an average monthly income of 2,000 yuan.

Many fashionable men and women took this cute elf home because of QQ’s beauty, high configuration and excellent cost performance, and they have become happy partners with QQ ever since.

The person in charge of Chery Company said that in order to attract young people, in addition to the configurations that a car should have, Chery QQ is also equipped with a unique "I-say" digital listening system, becoming a "talking car". "QQ" can be said to be the most fashionable configuration of a small car at present. According to reports, the "I-say" digital listening device is a vehicle-mounted digital device specially developed by Chery for users. It integrates text reading, MP3 playback, and USB disk storage into a variety of fashionable digital functions, allowing QQ to be closely connected with computers and the Internet. , fully catering to the needs of the younger generation who leave the Internet like a fish out of water.

Unique brand strategy interprets "young people's first car"

The target customer group of "QQ" is interested in new things, full of imagination, advocating individuality, and thinking Be active and pursue fashion. Although they advocate practicality and have low brand loyalty due to financial reasons, they are very concerned about the cost performance, appearance and configuration of cars, and they are a consumer group that is easy to influence each other; from the perspective of overall demand, their use of mini cars The scope requires more. Chery positions the QQ as "the first car for young people", meeting their needs for work, entertainment, leisure and socializing by driving the QQ in terms of performance and price.

Based on the QQ marketing concept, Chery launched a brand strategy that meets the characteristics of the target consumer group:

In terms of product name: QQ means "I found you" in Internet language. , "QQ" breaks through the stereotype of traditional brand names that are either foreign or ancient, and is full of tension and affinity with a sense of the times. At the same time, it is concise, bright, catchy, and full of impact;

In terms of brand personality: "QQ" ” has been given the brand personality of “fashion, value, and self”, injecting the psychological emotions of the consumer group into the brand connotation.

The second is the eye-catching brand language: the judgmental advertising slogans "Youth's first car" and "Show me your true colors"! Such popular fashion language as combined with creative advertising images vividly depicts the psychological feelings of the target consumer groups who pursue themselves and express their individuality, creating an emotional resonance with the target consumer groups.

Integrated marketing communication forms market interaction

As a brand-new brand, “QQ” has invested in three-dimensional integrated communication after completing market segmentation and brand positioning. Interactive activities are the main line, and specific activities include QQ price online guessing, QQ show personality decoration competition, QQ network FIASH competition, etc., which will create momentum for the marketing communication of "QQ" in 2003.

Three-dimensional dissemination of relevant information: Select newspapers, periodicals, TV, Internet, outdoor, magazines, activities, etc. that the target group pays attention to, and quickly convey QQ’s brand image, brand appeal and other information to the target consumer groups and the general public Audience;

The "point" and "surface" combination of various activities: from press conferences and media selection activities, it forms an interaction with the national market and creates a good marketing atmosphere for the market. In all marketing communication activities, especially online competitions, animation and interior decoration competitions, the target consumer groups are involved, and the brand is subtly integrated into the hearts of the consumer groups during the experience, creating an emotional resonance with consumers. , played a good marketing effect.

As a part of Chery's many brand strategies, "QQ" has captured the target users of the mini car market segment. But the key is to use better product quality to support the brand, pay attention to customers' true reflections in marketing and promotion, provide timely feedback and proactively solve problems, which will further highlight the brand's credibility.

According to Jin Yibo, general manager of Chery Automobile Sales Co., Ltd.: "Because of the love of the vast number of users, QQ is now in short supply. As an independent enterprise, when Chery will launch what products depends entirely on the market Demand. For a product that is warmly welcomed by the market, Chery’s mission is to produce more high-quality products so that the majority of users can drive their favorite fashionable and personalized cars QQ.”

In the future, Chery will choose the appropriate time to launch the luxury QQ with power steering, ABS, sunroof and leather seats based on its own judgment of the market.