PROJECT RENAULT
BUILD UP BRAND AWARENESS FOR RENAULT IN CHINA MARKET
Client: Renault Company
Producing Year: 2018
Project Duration: 4 Months
Number of Team Member: 4 (Chinese X American)
法国雷诺汽车是一家拥有120年历史的国际性汽车生产厂商，目前雷诺汽车与中国东风汽车合作以东风雷诺为合资品牌形式在中国市场拓展业务。相较雷诺在欧洲市场喜人的销售业绩，中国市场的业绩表现平平。探究其原因，雷诺公司委托项目组对中国汽车消费市场进行调研并提供创新的品牌策略建议，以提高中国消费者对该品牌的认知。
该项目为期四个半月，主要分为市场调研阶段和制定方案阶段。在市场调研阶段中，通过STEEP框架收集目前中国汽车消费市场现状及未来的相关数据信息。相比一般定量的市场调研，项目组更偏向结合定性的设计方法论，通过问卷及访谈的形式深入了解中国消费者的主观认知。结合收集的信息，项目组利用策略轮，BAV等图表工具对目前客户经营现状进行可视化演绎。同时也有助于对客户目前策略进行反思，寻找机会点以提升。基于第一阶段对客户经营现状的分析，以及对目标消费者的定位，项目组在阶段二中确立雷诺的新品牌形象。项目组很荣幸获得向客户亚洲区市场总监Guillaume Sicard、亚洲区设计总监Raphael Linari、及雷诺全球设计总监Anthony Lo展示设计方案的机会。评委对项目成果均表示赞赏。
Renault is one of the most innovative French brands with 120 years of car building experience. They have been involved in racing, especially in Formula One (40 years, 12 team championships) and are selling cars in global markets. After the big product and design revival that began in 2012, their sales have reached a new record of 3.5 million cars worldwide in 2016 and best of all.
Renault has been importing cars to China for 9 years but only started to build cars locally with Dongfeng, their Joint Venture partner since 2 years. Sales have doubled every year since 2015 but the brand are still a minority player in the market. They are using the same communication strategy as in Europe and present their product in China, the response from Chinese consumer especially the young generation seem not be interested in their product.
With this context, the project team provides solution of which capture the hearts and souls of new generation Chinese customers that help Renault to rebuild the brand awareness in China market.
RESEARCH PLAN
Based on the “Double Diamonds” framework from the Design Thinking theory, this phase focuses on the first diamond, which help the team generated the research approach:
Define Design Questions
Desk Research
Field Observation
In-depth Interview
Online Survey
Lifestyle Probe
Stakeholder Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Needs Analysis
Journey Mapping
Mind Mapping
DESIGN
QUESTIONS
“How to build awareness for Renault in China?’'
[a] WHO? to the new generation of customers (25-35 years old) in China.
[b] WHAT? To the brand awareness of Renault.
[c] WHY? in order to improve awareness of Renault brand through social media and maybe other channels, beside car shows.
[d] HOW? through a relevant offer of connected products or service.
DATA
COLLECTION
During the Research Phase, the team distributed an online survey out with basic questions about lifestyle and participants' car preferences to young consumer. For the in-depth interview, the project team interviewed a total of 16 individuals including Renault car owners, experts, and other young consumers. Moreover, our team visited Renault 4s stores in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. During the field research, the team observed and asked questions to experience the user’s journey.
SURVEY DESIGN
To figure out the consumption behavior and psychology of Chinese young consumer, the survey was designed base on the car consumption journey map. In this way, the survey can help us have a better understanding for the problem in each step of the purchasing journey comprehensively.
Awareness
car consumption journey map
Research
Decision Making
Purcashing
Using
Maintenance
For the detail of the questionnaire, please click the link for further reference.
DATA ANALYSIS
PROBLEM STATEMENT
After research, the team found that the brand image of Renault is unclear. The Renault brand had inconsistent messages that they stood for in the past. Furthermore, consumers were unsure what the brand was about. The current marketing strategy does not reflect the value and personality of Renault. Based on the in-depth research, the general opinion on Renault is very subjective. The results were very polarized where people either completely disliked Renault or really enjoyed Renault’s car. This may seem like a bad overview perspective on Renault but it is also an opportunity for Renault to allow consumers to appreciate Renault’s style in cars.
INSIGHTS & OPPORTUNITIES
Based on the analysis result, the team was able to develop one final insight, Hedonism. To elaborate more on the conclusions, it is easy for the young generation to have the Horns and Halo Effect towards cars where one tends to solidify one brand’s features and styles based on one aspect of the brand. This would shape the whole overview of the brand from these few experiences. Our team found that it was easy for the young generation to have this perspective because of insufficient information on cars. Not only do the young Chinese generation want a variety of options but they also want uniqueness. Our research showed that many of the young Chinese generation will do in-depth research and seek for much information but to only making the final decision emotionally. When the young generation plan to make a purchase, they not only think about themselves but also think about how they will be perceived and recognized based on this purchase. The young Chinese generation is always trying to pursue better and looking for things to do in order to feel like they are moving up in society. Finally, our team concluded that the young Chinese generation is about Hedonism where they look for pleasure and happiness as their goal in human society. From this, the team was able to identify opportunities for Renault to communicate to the young generation.
IDEATION
PROCESS
Our persona represents a group of a people who are hedonism pursuers. These people look for activities to balance their busy working life. These people look for choice flexibility, peer recognition, and relaxation. Common frustrations are being forced or feeling pressure in doing something. These kinds of people do not like tradition marketing. Another common frustration is not being preoccupied and not having anything to do. These young people focus on interactive experiences, comfort, and good equipment.
The young generation populates to 226 million people with the age range of 20-29. Almost half the population of the young Chinese generation are aimed to pursue work-life balance. They use art, music, and literature to represent their self identity and values. Furthermore, they are more willing to invest time and money to develop their interests. One common interest is exploring cultural activities.
Therefore, during the ideation process, the project team brainstormed associations with the word hedonism. This included what people do or think about when it came down to the meaning of hedonism. This process helped our team create a framework. Later, the team grouped and categorized these associations based on the similarity that they possessed with one another. Following, the team was able to separate the associations into two groups with distinct differences between the two. The first group, labeled “pleasure comes first” meant that these kind of activities, involved people prioritizing pleasure first. The second group, labeled “balanced life” meant that these kind of people aimed for a work-life balance. Under pleasure comes first, these people typically become satisfied through low-barrier (easily accessible) leisure activities, meanwhile people who pursue a balanced life are typically only satisfied through high-barrier leisure activities. Other characteristics that “pleasure comes first” kind of individuals involves short-term, physical, personal, and dynamic (always changing) satisfaction. Additional characteristics for individuals that pursue a balanced life other than high-barrier includes long term, mental, public, and static satisfaction.
Moreover, the team looked at features that Renault possessed that showed Renault’s strengths. This includes emotional design, DNA motorsport, design philosophy, technical strength in chassis. diversity of product line, long history, French-ness, unique styling, artistic feeling, and advanced conceptual design. Our group later found that the associations that were the team brainstormed earlier, overlapped with many of Renault’s features.
DESIGN STATEMENT
Looking at the overlap between the young Chinese generation and Renault, the team looked for a strength of Renault and a common component that the young generation really enjoyed based on Hedonism. From this, the team was able to construct a brand personality, concept, and goal for Renault.
The team created a short-term and long-term based communication strategy that would set up Renault’s brand personality. This will mainly focus on the hedonistic lifestyle of the young Chinese generation. The team composed a plan with corresponding activities at three stages that Renault can follow in order to achieve this brand personality communication.
Our team have decided to give an artistic and design feeling for Renault’s brand personality. The team developed the core value to fill the young generation’s life with art and design for the young Chinese generation with the goal of shortening the communication gap to increase brand awareness gradually.
DESIGN
CONCEPT
OVEVIEW
As the concept overview of the solution is a long-term based communication strategy. Based on the subject-matter of hedonism and art & design, the communication strategy includes the period of setting up brand personality, building up brand identity, and maintaining consumer loyalty. The team focus on the period of setting up brand personality and building up brand identity to develop corresponding solution schemes.
The duration of the strategy plan will remain five years, which will be from 2019 to 2023. During the early period of the plan, the personality of Renault will be built up as an artistic feeling and good taste of design. This will match up with the project’s target consumer’s characteristic. In this case, the solution will be developed to attract consumer’s attention as much as possible that will allow people to know the Renault brand. The result of the early step plan is expected to achieve to be an icon of the positive hedonism lifestyle among young consumer’s recognition that will attempt to help Renault get rid of negative stereotype which is influenced by the industries.
For next step, those solution schemes for building up brand identity focus on educating consumer through providing the opportunity for experiencing the product and transferring value and concept. The purpose of this period is to allow consumer to like Renault which will build up its unique and positive stereotype.
VALUE CREATION
To find out the value opportunity between Renault and other third parties, a new stakeholder map is generated based on the new communication strategy. The stakeholder map includes four main parties, which includes consumers, competitors, cooperators, and the government. As the solution is a communication strategy, the role of the cooperator should be more essential that will help Renault to achieve the goal. Therefore, the cooperation is broken down into external artist and designer which match up with building up a personality as artistic feeling and good taste of design. Also, the car rental service platform is a potential cooperator that allows the consumer experience Renault’s product achieve the purpose of nurturing the brand identity.
The list of level of value includes user, organization, and society. The team attempts to find out if there are any value opportunities when a linkage is set up between those relevant parties. In user level, Renault can cooperate with the car rental service platform that not only provides opportunities of experience for the consumer, but also provide additional service through the use of the platform. In organization level, Renault can set up a self-owned space that invites local and French artists and designer to enter and hold different exhibitions and workshop events through the cooperation. For the society level of value, Renault should set up a CSR which will support the design education in the local community.
SOLUTION SCHEME
The solution plan is divided into three stages. And those value opportunities are developed in each corresponding stage.
As the goal stage one is to allow people get to know about the brand and its personality, a series of online and offline marketing promotion should be involved in this stage before further action launch. Even though Renault has been conducting marketing promotion and advertisement in China several years ago, the marketing strategy in the solution plan is developed for focusing on the target consumer more precisely. For the online marketing channel, apart from the traditional way, social media such as WeChat and Tik Tok are selected to be the new channels for promotion. On the other hand, for the offline channel, the pop-up event will be held in a public place that will attract people’s attention.
Stage two will be launched after stage one begins for three to six months. After gaining enough attention from the public, Renault can start to provide a car rental and travel guide service to the user. The cooperators of stage two can be China Auto Rental company and Lonely Planet, which will take charge in providing broad platform support and professional content support respectively. In this way, Renault not only enhances its service and function that allow young people to experience, but also be able to acquire its cooperators existing young user that will develop as a potential consumer.
Renault can know about the response from the market through conducting the action of stage one and two. After the result meets up with the expected performance target, Renault can start to set up its lifestyle space in some of the tier one cities in China. The lifestyle space will cooperate with some local or French artist and designer to hold various kinds of art & design exhibition and workshop. In addition, a transportation training camp will be held to improve the design education of local community periodically. Through transferring the concept and value can achieve the strategy’s goal which build up a kind of unique identity for Renault eventually.
DESIGN SKETCH
This is the preparation of car rental service as well as an eye catching pop-up event. Renault launches this co-creation activities based on the life flower of Renault. For example, Renault launches a LOVE theme activity and encourages the public to express their own understanding about love by illustration. Then Renault collects and selects high-quality illustration and organizes pop-up event to show them. When visitors enjoy the exhibition, they are also encouraged to vote their favorite one. And Renault is going to produce art car based on the voting result and these art cars are available to be rent. On the other hand, if the user feedback is positive, Renault can consider to develop them into limitation version to be sold.
Renault A&D Space
The long-term strategy is to build Renault’s A&D space. This space is different from a 4S store. The design thoughts about this space are to allow people feel welcomed and feel free to step in whenever they please compared with common 4S stores. It will be located in the center or downtown of the city. This concept space is using offline methods to deliver Renault’s hedonism lifestyle and design ability. Its mission is to become a place for people to come especially for those who enjoy art & design. This space will have three components; art car gallery, accessory store and showroom.
Gallery
This art car gallery will not show common cars. All works display in this gallery are works cooperated with local or French designers shown in stage 2. Some of the works cannot be driven and some even do not have the real components of a car. For example, it can use special materials or elements to combine a feeling of the car. These artworks can allow people to see cars they have never seen or imagined before. Some are designed based on Renault’s concept. Some are to deliver Renault’s design ability. But both of them will attract people’s eyes. The strategy here is to make the art car gallery not only display cars but to also be more close to art & design feeling.
Car Accessory Store
The car accessory store is designed as Renault’s beneficial place. Its mission is to allow people to not only watch the car display, but also have something to buy. Since Renault has already provided some car accessory service for the car rental service, people who rent Renault car want to buy this car accessory in Renault’s space. These accessories are carefully designed and selected by Renault. The pattern or appearance will be designed based on Renault’s corporation with local or French designers to show uniqueness and Renault’s fashion. Moreover, all these car accessories can be supported for other car brands.
Showroom
The car showroom will display Renault concept car and currently sold cars in Chinese market. Some cars sold in other countries can also be displayed here to test the market. The design process of Renault can be shown in detail by VR or other kinds of interesting medias. This showroom will not only show cars, but also have the function to introduce Renault’s inspiriting, designing, and manufacturing process.
For the workshop, it can be held seasonally in the form of conversation, forum or for new car launching events in this space to emphasize Renault’s professional design ability.
Transportation Design Training Camp
Renault’s art & design space can also be used for design training camp. Renault can not only invite car design students for this kind of internship experience but also invite local design students for the opportunity to learn more about car design and its components and be engaged into the design thinking. After the lectures, students can design cars based on Renault’s current concepts. These design works will be selected and displayed in the container of Fangsuo bookstore shown in stage one. Some of the design works can even provide inspiration for Renault’s next concept. This strategy will help Renault get more inspiration from local students and also help Renault find excellent designers. It can be a special CSR, which stands out for local fresh design power. It is a win-win relationship event.
VIDEO INTRODUCTION
