Signing Messi and appearing on the Spring Festival Gala, will Jitu's huge marketing expenses go to waste?

Starting in a foreign country, and carving out a niche in the red ocean of domestic express delivery, Jitu's fighting power is unquestionable. As the Argentine team led by Messi won the World Cup, the world cheered for him, and Jitu, which signed Messi, undoubtedly ushered in high-return attention. Messi's influence also strengthened Jitu's confidence in its overseas strategy. So will Jitu's huge marketing expenses be "wasted"? Let's take a look.

From signing Messi before last year's World Cup to becoming the first express delivery company to sponsor the Spring Festival Gala at the beginning of this year, Jitu has brought its marketing efforts of the past year to a climax.

Although in the past logistics and express delivery industry, it is not uncommon to invite endorsements and sponsor entertainment content. After all, the "speed, accuracy and ruthlessness" of sports stars have always been the pursuit of logistics players. For example, China Post has signed Liu Xiang, Deppon Express has found Yi Jianlian, and SF Express has also signed Su Bingtian for endorsement. Even entertainment stars have become the brand test field of express delivery companies. Cainiao signed the then popular young actor Deng Lun, and Shunfeng also found the "King of Heaven" Jay Chou as its brand spokesperson.

However, in less than a year, like Jitu, in this market environment of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, it has won two huge marketing bids. For the logistics industry whose core customer base is still merchants and enterprises, what is this crazy "rabbit" that is concentratedly exposed in terms of mass traffic working hard for?

With a huge sum of money spent on Messi's endorsement and its logo being spread all over the Spring Festival Gala, is Jitu's marketing feast a loss or a profit?

1. After the price war, is the only way to attract attention is to go public?

2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, which makes it natural for Jitu to appear on the Spring Festival Gala: Ma Fanshu read out the slogan "Use Jitu in the Year of the Rabbit, good luck can't be stopped" during the prime time less than 30 minutes after the opening; Wang Baoqiang played a Jitu courier in the sketch "Coming Soon"; the sofa pillow in the sketch "First Encounter at the Photo Studio" was also made in the image of Jitu's mascot Maomao.

When various elements such as Jitu's logo, the rabbit IP pillow, the image of the courier played by the actors, and the delivery cart appeared on and off the stage of the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Rabbit, in skit performances, host broadcasts, and micro-films, this crazy "rabbit" has become the largest party A of the Spring Festival Gala other than the liquor companies.

Since last year, Jitu has launched a series of marketing initiatives. It has sponsored the Henan TV Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, cooperated with Douyin celebrities online, and launched large-scale advertising in bus stops and elevators offline. It has also sponsored an international badminton club.

Jitu titled and sponsored Henan TV Mid-Autumn Festival Gala

In fact, Jitu's choice of the Spring Festival Gala cannot achieve the effect of quickly acquiring customers as in the WeChat red envelope war. So, what is its intention to go against the low-key approach of the logistics industry and start a high-profile campaign?

You know, in the past, "Three Links and One Delivery" basically did not advertise themselves. They only had one marketing weapon, which was "low price".

Because a large number of online shopping basically does not involve choosing a courier company, everyone just wants free shipping for RMB 9.9 and does not have high requirements for timeliness. Therefore, the most influential factor for sellers making decisions is price.

Price is the only marketing tool that does not require any upfront capital investment, and price war is the most essential means in line with the nature of the industry.

Unlike fast-moving consumer goods, where all products are similar, whoever can capture more consumers' minds will gain the largest market share. In the logistics and express delivery industry, no matter how good your advertisements sound, if I use it, I either lose the item or it is delayed. I will definitely learn from my mistakes and vote with my feet next time.

Therefore, logistics and express delivery manufacturers only focus on competing with each other and do not advertise much, and the Chinese e-commerce express delivery market is a bloodbath far away from the public eye.

However, regulators called a halt to the price war in 2021, and Yiwu Post Office imposed penalties on both Jitu and Best Express, which it acquired.

The price war is unsustainable, and Jitu, which has already accumulated enough ammunition through multiple rounds of financing, has to find another way out. Spending money on marketing to further enhance its image in the minds of future investors sounds like a reasonable choice.

Why has this "rabbit" been working so hard since the second half of last year? Combined with previous listing rumors, all this has an answer.

According to relevant media reports, Jitu completed three rounds of financing of US$1.8 billion, US$250 million and US$2.5 billion from April to November 2021, and originally planned to go public in 2022.

However, last year, with the sudden tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, both U.S. and Hong Kong stocks experienced a wave of deep adjustments. The Hang Seng Index fell from more than 30,000 points at the beginning of 2021 to less than 15,000 points in October 2022. The halving of the index was comparable to the 2008 financial crisis.

As inflation eases and the Fed's tightening pace slows, the market becomes excited, with the Hang Seng Index rebounding by more than 50%. However, there is still uncertainty as to whether the US and even the global economy can achieve a "soft landing". This year may be the best window for Jitu to go public in the medium term.

2. Standard Brand Output in the Logistics Industry

The three express delivery companies, YTO Express, STO Express and ZTO Express, which bend over to do dirty and tiring work, do not advertise. If Jitu successfully completes its listing, or during the sprint period of listing, JD Logistics' brand strategy is actually worth Jitu's reference, and its approach also represents the brand output methodology in the largest sense in the logistics industry.

In addition, the Hong Kong stock market where JD Logistics’ shares are located is also the most likely place for Jitu to go public, while SF Express, which is listed on the A-share market, has less reference value.

JD Logistics’ usual publicity is targeted at potential employees, investors, and to enhance its own ESG and technological attributes.

JD Logistics released a promotional video for its new spokesperson in 2020. The five protagonists represent five different positions: warehousing, terminals, customer service, sales, and technology, highlighting the STAR qualities of JD Logistics: Simple, Trusted, Ambitious, and Responsible.

JD Logistics Promotional Video

This is consistent with JD.com's Liu Qiangdong's consistent personality of caring about the welfare of his brothers.

According to media reports, JD.com spent 3.1 billion yuan to acquire a plot of land in Yizhuang, Beijing, in early February this year, and everyone speculated that JD.com was going to build dormitories for its employees. After all, at the end of last year, it announced that it would provide the newly acquired Debang with five social insurances and one housing fund, and provide 10 billion yuan of interest-free housing loans.

In terms of ESG and technology, JD.com released its first ESG report after its listing last year, promoting itself as the first "zero-carbon" logistics park in China; the AGV handling robots in JD.com's automated warehouses have greatly improved sorting accuracy and significantly reduced costs...

ESG and technological elements are at the forefront of the capital market.

The monthly salary of department managers responsible for ESG information disclosure in listed companies in China has reached 150,000 yuan; and after the consumption boom has subsided, with policy encouragement, the value of technological elements has also become a hot concept among various funds.

Whether it is corporate care, social responsibility, or technological trends, these are the keywords of JD Logistics' brand promotion , and are also the brand characteristics that almost all logistics brands demonstrate to the outside world. Without the assistance of a large amount of public traffic such as sports and entertainment, in the end, just like JD Logistics, it insists on output in terms of "speed, warmth" and "technology-driven".

Let's go back to the story that Jitu needs to tell when it goes public. On the one hand, the company needs to tell its corporate philosophy well when it goes public. With the intensified entertainment marketing, what else does Jitu have besides the image of a rabbit? Should it further promote its technological strength and ESG imagination? On the other hand, the company needs to not only have good performance when it goes public, but also tell a good story about the stock market. In short, it needs to please both consumers and investors at the same time.

Jitu started out in Southeast Asia, and for Chinese investors, perhaps the story of its overseas expansion is what they want to hear the most. But in order to tell this story well, Jitu has to gain the support of overseas consumers.

3. Winning the "Messi" battle for overseas business lines

If Jitu's participation in the Spring Festival Gala is more of an effort in investor relations before its listing, then using Messi as its global brand spokesperson is a more direct attempt to impress consumers.

Qatar has just hosted the World Cup, and Messi led Argentina to win the championship. Saudi Arabia also invited Cristiano Ronaldo. Taking advantage of this football craze, Jitu will surely be able to make its presence felt in the Gulf region, including Brazil and Argentina in Latin America. Messi's name must have already been heard in the streets.

The Middle East and Latin America are the two most important regions for Jitu's current internationalization.

It is necessary to let consumers know about Jitu, a strange brand from China. Although Jitu will not give up e-commerce delivery overseas, for this "crazy rabbit" that has secretly benchmarked UPS, it is also an option to do high-profit time-sensitive delivery, and time-sensitive delivery means facing consumers directly.

In fact, using celebrities as endorsements is not unfamiliar to domestic time-sensitive delivery merchants. As mentioned above, SF Express has used Su Bingtian, and Shansong has used Jay Chou. In the field of instant delivery, it is not possible not to seize the minds of users.

In the domestic market, Jitu, whose orders come from Pinduoduo for more than 80%, appears to be very low-end.

However, in Southeast Asia, where it started, especially in the Indonesian market, Jitu's pricing is relatively high and its delivery speed is faster than that of local logistics companies.

For example, in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, Jitu has set up 34 delivery points in its eight administrative districts, with a density comparable to that of first-tier cities in China. Jitu can even provide high-end services such as "Jitu 24-hour delivery", "Jitu fresh food" and "Jitu international logistics".

Jitu Express's global layout

In the current trend of going overseas, it has become a common practice to export the "advanced" business models that Chinese Internet giants have successfully implemented in China to foreign countries, led by TikTok and SheIn. It would not be surprising if Jitu exported its instant delivery model, which is popular in China, at this time.

In terms of e-commerce parcels, it is a good idea for Jitu to join forces with e-commerce companies to go overseas.

In Mexico and Brazil in Latin America, Jitu, which has already completed its network, has embraced SheIn and Shopee. One of them is a fellow Chinese, and the other is an old friend in Southeast Asia.

Don’t forget Jitu’s partner in China, Pinduoduo. The latter’s overseas version, Temu, has topped the App Store many times since it was launched in the United States last September, and it is reported that it has begun internal testing in Canada. I believe that with the acceleration of Pinduoduo’s overseas expansion, the opportunity for the two iron allies in the domestic market to join hands overseas is not far away.

Image source: SensorTower

Unlike previous Chinese overseas logistics companies, Jitu has built its own distribution network and localized warehousing system in each overseas market. In the domestic market, Jitu and its acquisition of Best are mainly franchised, while in overseas markets, Jitu has always adopted a direct sales model. This strong management and control model is more conducive to improving service quality.

Although starting overseas is Jitu's biggest advantage, against the backdrop of a saturated domestic market, logistics companies' going global has also become a "rolling" out , and this is the case in Latin America, the Middle East, and even in Southeast Asia, Jitu's base.

Last November, Cainiao announced that it would make Sao Paulo, Brazil, its Latin American headquarters and released a three-year development plan for Brazil. Dubai, UAE, became the global hub for JD Logistics and Cainiao. Cainiao also opened a special shipping line to Yiwu during the World Cup. SF Express acquired Kerry Logistics in Southeast Asia to accelerate the layout of the second curve...

There is no doubt about Jitu's fighting power. It was able to start in a foreign country and carve out a niche in the red ocean of domestic express delivery, but in this special period before listing, Jitu had to be extremely careful.

Therefore, by betting on "Messi" on the eve of the World Cup, and as the Argentina team led by Messi won the World Cup and Messi lifted the Hercules Cup, Jitu undoubtedly received high-return attention, and Messi's influence will also strengthen Jitu's confidence in its overseas strategy.

Messi, Jitu's global brand ambassador

Before investing heavily in overseas expansion, Jitu's last story was about its leap in the domestic market. Last June, Jitu's boss Li Jie announced that after the integration of Best Express, Jitu's daily order volume had exceeded 40 million, making it the fourth largest express delivery company after ZTO Express, Yunda Express and Yuantong Express.

However, according to a report by LatePost, the 40 million orders were just a flash in the pan. In the second half of last year, Jitu's orders fell to between 35 million and 37 million, and were overtaken by STO.

Perhaps, the huge exposure of brand traffic starting from the second half of last year is also providing timely voice to Jitu's market position.

Given Jitu's business growth and public opinion, it is not surprising that it completed its IPO this year. However, in this year of macroeconomic transition, how much the early investors and entrepreneurial teams can gain depends on luck.

Author: Great Entertainment

Source: Yiyuguancha (ID: yiyuguancha), the telescope and sonar of the pan-entertainment industry.