Let the live-streaming studio become an entertainment show arena, and China Auto Rental changes the content paradigm.

"The altitude is very high, and our car had a hard time driving up there. Often, when I wanted to overtake, I had already pulled up next to another car, I stepped on the accelerator, but the car didn't move - at this moment, the two cars being side by side like this is a bit ambiguous, and the person next to me doesn't know what I'm trying to do."

"It's like the feeling I have at work. I've tried my best, but it just doesn't move."

On the evening of November 9, Talk Show comedian Zhao Xiaohui shared an experience of her self-driving tour. With her familiar style and friendly tone, she wasn't at the scene of a certain Talk Show competition or doing a solo show on any stage. Instead, she was in the live stream of a brand event.

This is a light-hearted and enjoyable micro-variety live stream. Zhao Xiaohui, another Talk Show comedian Dou Dou, film and television actor Lin Yun, and host Liu Wei, together with the CEO of China Auto Rental Yang Nan, chatted, played games, and drew lots for the audience in the live stream.

The self-driving tour that Zhao Xiaohui talked about is the theme that runs through the entire live stream. The live stream was transformed into a cyber highway and scenic spots. The guests sat on camping chairs, sharing their own interesting stories of self-driving tours, favorite self-driving car models, and generating various interesting ideas for self-driving tours in quiz and other games... Self-driving tours are also what China Auto Rental is about.

Obviously, this is not a traditional live-streaming for selling goods - although various rental packages links are displayed in the live stream, there is no "super low price across the entire network", no "limited quantity, act fast", no "countdown from 3 to 1". During the intervals of the guests' conversations or games, the links are simply displayed in a corner of the live stream, without the need for a rush. The products are just there.

Live streaming is gradually shedding the label of "selling goods" that it has been deeply associated with in recent years, and is gradually becoming an important position for brand communication. During the Double Eleven, an annual special node that gathers a massive amount of traffic with low prices, the popular live-streaming channels of online platforms are colliding with more brands to create different sparks.

When Live Streaming Is No Longer Just About Selling Goods

The e-commerce platform has given birth to the live-streaming channel. As the live-streaming channel has gradually become a highland of purchasing power and even a high-frequency place for people to kill time after meals, live streaming has also begun to become an indispensable marketing tool for all walks of life.

What is more perceptible to the outside world is that this year, the automotive industry has set off a wave of live-streaming. The heads of many car companies have entered the live-streaming rooms. Some went on long-distance trips to test the battery life and energy consumption of their own car models, some tested on the road how mature the intelligent driving function is, some took guests to visit their own factories on the production line, and the simplest ones also had to chat in the live stream to introduce their own products and services to the audience...

The "China Auto Rental Car Owners' Carnival Night" held by China Auto Rental is the industry's first attempt at a live-streaming with Talk Show interaction for promoting and selling goods. But this is not just a live-streaming for selling goods, but a new type of brand marketing method - taking the live-streaming room as the main position, and using interesting content and interaction for the dissemination of products and brands. It is an innovation in the communication channel and content.

Live streaming emerged in e-commerce. In recent years, it has brought a disruptive change to the sales channels of the fast-moving consumer goods industry. However, in the non-fast-moving consumer goods industry and some relatively special categories in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, the conversion rate of live-streaming for selling goods is not high (limited by factors such as a long transaction chain and high unit value), and it is not the mainstream sales channel so far.

But as a gathering place for online traffic, the live-streaming room has always been a communication channel that almost all industries actively embrace. From the online live stream of the company's brand launch event to the supplementary online channels of each business line or offline store, it can be said that the vast majority of industries are no strangers to live streaming.

However, in the company and brand communication, the status of the live-streaming room was not important before. It is only one of the content distribution channels. This is manifested in that, on the one hand, there are few large-scale brand events specifically designed for the live-streaming room scene. On the other hand, the daily live-streaming communication volume is small, the fragmentation degree is high, and the radiation range is small. It can only be regarded as the "leftover" in the company's communication system.

Why is this situation beginning to change now?

First of all, the marginal benefit of traditional marketing is indeed slowing down, and the live-streaming room has high attention and good interactivity. It is now a major traffic source and an industry thigh that has to be hugged;

Secondly, the e-commerce platform has emerged and developed to this day, and its form is also constantly evolving. From the earliest shelf e-commerce to the current content e-commerce, the platform capabilities and user needs are evolving. The live-streaming room has gradually become a medium that can carry more content and information, and is no longer just the earliest "special price supermarket" that exists for a limited time.

In the past few years, well-known anchors or accounts that have emerged in the Douyin e-commerce ecosystem, such as Liu Genghong, Oriental Select, and Make Friends, obviously, low prices are not enough for them to "break through the circle". Solid content and coherent expression are the keys to winning a large number of followers.

That is to say, now, when audiences enter the live-streaming room, they are not just looking for low prices. They are also willing to come into contact with good products and good content and pay for them. This gives brand communication a foothold in the live-streaming room.

What Kind of Good Content is Suitable for the Live Stream?

Nowadays, live streaming has become a bargaining chip for many brands to refresh their brand image and accumulate user resources, and it is also a lever to drive sales growth on various e-commerce platforms.

But there is no doubt that, like any other channel, live streaming also needs to do a good job in content planning, especially for brand communication that does not rely on selling goods at low prices. Only by understanding the audience and the true value of their own products and services can they combine the common points of both sides to truly introduce increments and complete the conversion.

In this live stream of China Auto Rental, the main focus is on the variety show style that people love to see: The guests are Talk Show comedians and film and television actors. The scene is a cartoonized road and camping spots. In terms of form, not only are there common chat interactions, gift giving or lottery draws in the live stream, but also more interactive designs such as playing games.

Brands are well aware of the importance of content. Although the live-streaming room is a highland of traffic, it is not easy to compete for this traffic. The operating costs of the platform are getting higher and higher. Some investors have said that a brand live-streaming room on a certain platform "has no traffic without payment". Not to mention the high price of paid traffic, the effect obtained is also difficult to evaluate.

In the final analysis, we still have to return to the source of the content and use the content to naturally attract traffic.

Combined with this live stream, we can summarize that a content with a high degree of suitability for the live-streaming room mainly needs to have the following characteristics: relaxed and interesting, highly interactive, and able to trigger emotional resonance.

In the content setting of this live stream, the "B2C" idea of the traditional brand launch event is abandoned. Instead of introducing products and services from the top down, it starts from the user's perspective and selects topics that they care about:

Centered around self-driving tours, from the guests' self-driving experiences to recommendations for popular and niche self-driving destinations, the audience is naturally connected to the company's products and services in the scene. Even some "small popular science" content about the selection of self-driving car models is revealed in the game session, which is not stiff, not embarrassing, and just right and timely.

Obviously, inviting Talk Show comedians to participate is also to enhance the fun of the content.

It is worth mentioning that the CEO of China Auto Rental, Yang Nan, also had a conversation with the guests on the same stage in the live stream. Although he is the boss, his overall image is also very friendly. With a young and casual dress and sincere and interesting interaction, his integration into the entire event is very high.

CEO of China Auto Rental Yang Nan

An important feature of the live-streaming room is the high interactivity of users. In a qualified live-streaming brand event, giving gifts to the audience is a basic operation. There are very few brand live streams where you can't even see a lucky bag.

In this event of China Auto Rental, many interactive sessions with the audience were intensively designed. According to statistics, in addition to the regular "small lucky bags" in the entire live stream, the audience interaction lottery was conducted for eight rounds. In addition to the popular rental products, the gifts also covered various practical peripherals for self-driving tours, such as umbrellas, car speakers, and so on.

And if it can trigger emotional resonance, the greater the probability that the audience will be "planted with grass".

This is also the advantage of this Talk Show live stream. For example, Zhao Xiaohui is largely a representative of office workers. She talked about her "shame of asking for leave": It is difficult to directly say "I want to rest". She is afraid that the project can't do without her and she can't ask for leave, and she is also afraid that after asking for leave, the boss will find that the project can also do without her... It tells the sadness and helplessness of office workers.

In conclusion, like all good content, the live-streaming room is just a special channel and carrier. What enterprises and brands really need to change is their thinking. If live streaming is only regarded as publicity, it is impossible to establish a connection with the audience.

Conclusion

Double Eleven was born in 2009. In order to stimulate more consumers to "chop their hands", Taobao designated November 11 as the big promotion day. Brands offer discounts and the platform provides traffic. After years of development, Double Eleven has almost become a synonym for discounts and low prices. Many brands will be actively or passively involved in this "festival".

Discount promotions are simple and straightforward, with immediate results, but they test the comprehensive ability of the brand very much. Can the sales volume brought by low prices bring higher income and profits? Can discounts bring long-term customer flow after a short-term contribution to sales? Compared with the market revenue, is the brand damage caused by price fluctuations within a reasonable range?... The many problems that brands face in promotions are becoming increasingly clear and acute.

The cruel reality is that in some extremely competitive red ocean fields, discounts and promotions can no longer create differentiation, and brands are difficult to increase sales even if they give up profits.

Price is not always the "golden key". For example, the optional consumer goods industry where car rental is located sells an increase and upgrade in experience. Therefore, compared with reducing prices, it is more effective to bring a new lifestyle to people - it is not only important to sell goods, but also to bring the urge to go out and have fun to users.

This is why, at this special node of Double Eleven, China Auto Rental tried to use a live stream this year to invite more users to learn about self-driving tours. The intention of brand communication is very clear: Under the introduction and infection of a group of energetic young people, stimulate the enthusiasm of more audiences to drive out and play.

The brand marketing activities driven by the live stream of the online platform can achieve the dual effects of commercial conversion and brand communication. The live-streaming room is both a sales channel and a brand communication channel, and more forms and innovative strategies will be derived in the future.