Industry dynamics

Nio beefs up marketing as funny video goes viral

Publishtime:1970-01-01 08:00:00 Views:26

The animated video showcases the Nio ES8's self-driving capabilities, zero-gravity seat, and elegance on the road.

(Screenshot from an animated video about Nio ES8.)

Nio's (NYSE: NIO) main brand won launch any all-new models this year, which means it probably won't get as much of a buzz as it did last year. However, the company seems to be getting exposure in new ways.

Nio's mobile app yesterday shared a video titled "Being a good agent starts with choosing a good car," which had already gone viral in China's automotive community before it was shared by the company, showcasing some of the ES8's features.

In the 2-minute, 33-second animated video, a rooster in James Bond costume performs several simulations before going on a mission, failing each time due to vehicle issues.

The vehicles it uses for the simulated missions are either very basic, slow to start, or have malfunctions.

 

In one of the attempts, it used a vehicle that had only a car chassis with a refrigerator, TV, and big sofa piled on top, which seemed to mock Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI).

After these failed simulated missions, the rooster was given an emergency mission, at which point it was offered a Nio ES8.

The video gives close-ups of the Nio Phone and the virtual voice assistant Nomi, and shows off the ES8's self-driving capabilities, zero-gravity seat, and elegance on the road.

The video was made by "Shiba Comes" (柴来了 in Chinese, literally, Shiba Inu comes), a 2023 Nio ES8 owner, according to its profile on the Nio App.

He's a car blogger with 120,000 followers on Weibo who regularly posts funny videos involving cars, mainly featuring a rooster and two dogs.

It's unclear if Nio paid for the animated video.

The blogger had previously produced creative animations for Xpeng's (NYSE: XPEV) X9, G6, though an April 2023 video about the G6 was accused of allegedly disrespecting scientist Nikola Tesla, which led to Xpeng coming under fire at the time.

Back to Nio, the company's management has previously said that the main Nio brand will not launch any all-new models in 2024, but the sub-brand codenamed Alps will launch its first model.

Last week, Nio announced that it would begin deliveries of 2024 models in March and start offering discounts on current models.

Nio to begin deliveries of 2024 models in Mar, offers discounts on current ones