This summer, the driverless ride-hailing platform "Luobo kuaipao" （Radish Run）has taken social media by storm, sparking a "cyberpunk" craze among internet users. Launched by Baidu in 2021, it has become a key commercial pillar of the Apollo project. It’s no surprise that "Luobo" has become a new internet sensation, but how did it manage to create such a widespread trend? In this article, let’s explore the successful marketing strategies behind Baidu's latest darling, "Luobo kuaipao".

Build Buzz for the Product

"The Impact of Driverless Cars: Will Ride-Hailing Drivers Lose Their Jobs?"—this is a hot search term related to Luobo. The keywords 'driverless,' 'ride-hailing,' and 'jobs' encompass three major areas: technology, daily life, and social conflicts. As a result, almost every internet user has something to say about it.

Clearly, compared to traditional publicity and public relations methods, Luobo has adopted a more aggressive approach to generate buzz—by highlighting social conflicts and hot topics related to the product. This strategy sparks widespread public discussion, drives substantial traffic, and creates a wave of indirect promotion. It effectively turns public issues into a platform for product promotion.

By aligning with current social hot topics and sparking controversy to trigger discussions about the product, companies can achieve a low-cost (due to spontaneous public discourse) and high-return (extensive exposure) promotional effect, despite the inherent risks.

Ride the Trend for Promotion

If the public discourse remains focused on the previous topic—such as the idea that self-driving technology leads to unemployment—this is certainly not the final impression that Luobo wants to leave with the public. At this point, what’s needed more is a proactive initiative in marketing.

By investing in a large volume of posts that focus on the product’s technological strengths and future market prospects, the company shifts public attention and alleviates conflicts. At the same time, this approach takes advantage of a favourable situation to promote its technology and rebuild its public image.

Case Study

To successfully practice this theory, we can also use the latest film: Alien: Romulus as a reference.

Before the movie's release, lots of negative reports flooded the internet, and the movie's "bad sequel" label helped it to gain significant attraction among fans. Although this diminished the film's initial impression, it successfully generated its first wave of publicity, drawing many viewers into the theaters to find out whether it is a bad movie. Thus, the film achieved effective Build Buzz for the Product.

After release, many critics began to comment that it was "not a bad film" and "worth watching," which helped to reshape its image. Additionally, they highlighted the achievements of the previous installments in the Alien series, leading to improved reviews. This trend effectively achieved the Ride the Trend for Promotion, and the film eventually surpassed  Deadpool & Wolverine to become the top box office of the week.

As mentioned above, thanks to a smooth transition between Build Buzz and Ride the Trend, the film's promotional efforts proved highly successful. Which is precisely the reason for Luobo Kuaipao's marketing success.

The product itself

As a high-tech product, Luobo comes with its own set of topical attributes that cannot be ignored. However, to truly unlock the flow of traffic, marketers need to effectively combine the product's features with social hot topics.

Effective product marketing requires not only a deep understanding of the product itself, but also a keen awareness of public opinion and trends. By identifying the common ground between the product and current hot topics, marketers can create a seamless and impactful promotional strategy.

Conclusion

The first round of promotional hype for Luobo is nearing its end, but the controversy surrounding “Luobo traffic accidents” seems to trigger a second wave of publicity. This highlights that, by mastering the tactics of hype and focusing on the product's standout features, to replicate Luobo's successful marketing case is something marketers can anticipate in the future.