NIO’S BRAND BUILDING INSIGHT
The only way is Nio
The Chinese EV maker is building its brand by using a wide-reaching, innovative approach that goes far, far beyond cars. James Attwood asks if it will catch on here
Your wallet or smartphone is likely to be stuffed with various loyalty cards and apps, giving you rewards for buying everything from groceries to coffee. But Chinese firm Nio is extending that concept to cars.
Granted, in this connected age, every car firm has an app – but usually they offer sales information or give access to controls or features for your car. Nio’s app, by contrast, is as much about building loyalty as selling cars.
Tesla’s Elon Musk may have bought up Twitter, but Nio has essentially started its own social media network – and it’s apparently working. Nio’s car sales are currently numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but the brand claims that its app has 2.3 million registered users, with around 240,000 active each day. In total, they have shared 20 million posts.