Sincere and Real： Visible Landmap User Night, and the Invisible Backstory

Saturday, August 19, 2023, is just an ordinary weekend for most people, but it is a special day for Lantu owners.

Mr. Ge, the owner of Landmap FREE, was a civil servant in Nantong, Jiangsu. Originally, he had to work overtime on weekends, but he took leave early and made a special trip to Wuhan to participate in the 2023 Landmap User Night. The next morning at 5 am, he left Wuhan and hurried back to Nantong to work overtime because he still had a task to do.

I asked him: "Why do you have to come to this event? It’s so frustrating to be in such a hurry."

He said: "Because I pay more attention to Lantu. After buying the Lantu FREE car, I have a lot of feelings for Lantu. The FREE car is not just a simple means of transportation, it also made me friends with Lantu."

For him, participating in this activity was equivalent to "going home". And Lan Tu did give him the feeling of "going home". After checking into the hotel, he immediately wrote a post to express his feelings:

Mr. Fan, the owner of Lantu FREE from Chengdu, arrived in Wuhan a day earlier. To his surprise, when he got off the plane, he found that it was Lantu CEO Lu Fang who came to pick him up.

Afterwards, he sent a special Weibo: "Thank you again for picking me up! I have become the most shining and conspicuous bag in today’s Lan Friends group! What is a user enterprise? At this moment, Lan Tu perfectly interprets this word, I love Lan Tu!"

On the evening of August 19, Lantu Automobile once again held a user night event, contracted a gymnasium, and invited star Li Hacken to help out. More than 5,000 people attended the meeting, and the guests and hosts were happy. Among the 5,000 people, most of them were Lantu car owners and their families.

Throughout the event, the user is always placed in the C position.

The three Lantu users who took the stage to give speeches told their stories of using the car affectionately and generously, and also expressed their feelings for Lantu cars:

"Sincere is the base color of the Landscape."

"You can always trust the national team."

Without a doubt, this is a very high recognition.

You Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Dongfeng Company and the chairperson of Lantu Automobile, said that the confidence of Lantu is the user. Winning the recognition of users is naturally the goal of Lantu Automobile. You Zheng specifically mentioned in his speech:

That night, I was also at the scene and experienced the event firsthand. I was moved by both Landmap users and Landmap cars.

I have always believed that the most advanced relationship between users and manufacturers is to have feelings for each other, but few manufacturers can do this well. However, to my surprise, Lantu did it.

Although he came and went in a hurry, Mr. Ge spoke highly of this event, "This is a two-way journey between users and manufacturers." As a user, he is very satisfied.

So how did this two-way drive happen, and how did it happen?

01

Unprecedented car experience

The story of Mr. Ge and Lantu will begin at the end of 2021.

That day, he was sitting in the car waiting for his daughter to get out of class. By chance, he swiped his mobile phone and came across Lantu FREE. The car was entirely based on his aesthetics, and he felt love at first sight.

He loved to learn in his spare time, liked Luo Zhenyu, and was a user of Iget. Lan Tu had some cooperation with Iget at that time. Because of the trust, Mr. Ge "love my dog, love me" naturally also had more trust in Lan Tu, although he had never heard of this name before.

He spent two days studying all the information about Lantu and carefully compared the cars of the same type and price, convinced that Lantu FREE was the Dream Car in his heart.

But at that time, Lantu did not have a store in Nantong, so Mr. Ge contacted the sales of Lantu Suzhou and said that he wanted to know about it. Although Nantong and Suzhou were only separated by a river, the distance between the two was about 100 kilometers. To Mr. Ge’s surprise, the sales of Suzhou actually opened Lantu FREE to Nantong and let him do a door-to-door test drive.

After the test drive, Mr. Ge was even more convinced that this car was his best choice in terms of appearance, handling, and safety. But he had a concern: now that Lantu has no store in Nantong, what should be done for maintenance and repair in the future?

The sales in Suzhou said: "Don’t worry about this, I will solve any problems for you in the future. For example, it is inconvenient for you to pick up the car in Suzhou, I can drive over to pick you up."

Mr. Ge made a decisive decision and picked up the car ten days later. On the day of picking up the car, the sales staff in Suzhou really drove to Nantong to pick him up, which made him feel very warm.

This time, Lantu left a very good impression on Mr. Ge.

Before buying Lantu FREE, Mr. Ge had bought a Ford Focus, a Chevrolet Copachi, and a Cadillac XT5. Every time he picked up the car and went through the formalities, he felt trapped. For example, a good interest-free loan would cost thousands of dollars in financial service fees, a license fee of thousands of yuan, and even a decoration fee.

But when Tilantu was FREE, he was delighted to find that the interest-free loan turned out to be really interest-free, and there was no handling fee at all. Moreover, there was no routine for getting a license, and the salesperson told him that there were two options, one was to pay 300 yuan to enjoy the agency service, and the other was to prepare all the information for the salesperson, and it was also very convenient for the owner to get a license by himself. Mr. Ge chose the second option, and the salesperson really prepared all the information for him, and he quickly got the license plate ready.

This is Mr. Ge’s first time buying a domestic car, and he didn’t expect the experience to be so good: "I didn’t spend a penny more. There are no routines in the car purchase process. It is very transparent and the process is very standardized.

After picking up the car, he gradually lived a completely different life with the car.

He registered an account called "Lantu Come to Nantong" and has been active in the community of Lantu APP since then. Using the community and WeChat community as links, Mr. Ge has met many Lantu riders from all over the world.

In Mr. Ge’s opinion, most of the people who choose Landscape are people who don’t care much about the outside and care more about the inside. Everyone is the same kind of person, and even if they don’t meet each other, they will feel like-minded and more like-minded.

He specifically mentioned a Guangzhou Lan friend with a community ID called "Lay Scholar Who Touches the Wall". They met at an event in Lan Tu, and the two chatted very well. In addition to chatting about Lan Tu, they often exchanged other topics privately.

Once, a friend of Mr. Ge went to Guangzhou to play and wanted to rent a Landscape FREE for a few days, but he couldn’t. He asked the "layman who hit the wall" for help, and the matter was quickly completed.

When Mr. Ge wanted to buy electronic products, he would send him a WeChat message to consult him. He responded to every request and did a lot of "popular science" for Mr. Ge.

Mr. Ge said that the help between riders is mutual, and if any riders have needs, he will definitely do his best.

Some time ago, Lanyou from Nanjing Car Friends Association was going to Nantong to do a self-driving tour. Mr. Ge gave them a lot of suggestions and practical help for their play strategies, price concessions, and contingency plans.

He said: "When you come to us, you can come to me. I will treat riders like friends and do my best to be a landlord. If you don’t find me, you will be rusty."

And when Mr. Ge goes to Nanjing on a business trip, he will also invite some of Nanjing’s Lan friends to get together, chat about cars, and talk about Lan Tu. Everyone becomes attached to cars, and the relationship is pure. There are always endless topics to talk about.

For Mr. Ge, this experience is unprecedented and feels good. He said: "Because I am a civil servant, I usually have a small social circle, but since I bought Lantu FREE, the circle is much larger than before, and I have found a group of friends who share my interests."

02

Lantu people who don’t get paid

From the first day of picking up the car, there were often people around Mr. Ge’s car. Due to being watched every now and then, he gradually summed up a set of quick introduction to Landmap FREE:

First, introduce the power and chassis, with a focus on air suspension. Most people will praise it when they hear it.

Secondly, let’s talk about the characteristics, the extended-range hybrid has no battery life anxiety, the triple-lift large screen has a great sense of ceremony, the panoramic canopy is full of advanced feeling, and the environmentally friendly interior is extremely intimate;

Finally, the Landmap FREE features first-class handling and interior, making it the king of range extension.

After picking up the car, Mr. Ge was quite satisfied with all aspects of the vehicle. In addition to being a "robot water army" in the Landmap APP community, in real life, he often recommended Landmap’s car to his friends, so that he was nicknamed "Landmap people who don’t get paid".

Under the influence of Mr. Ge, a friend bought two Landscape cars, one Landscape FREE and one Landscape Chaser. The friend said to him, "I recognize you as a person, and the things you recommend are definitely fine."

In Mr. Ge’s eyes, Lantu is truly a reliable brand.

"They actually build good cars for users and give good things to everyone, without being slick or cutting corners. They are also very sincere, and they will tell you what they can do truthfully, and will not give you promises that they cannot do. Should we make friends with such sincere friends?"

However, at the same time, Lan Tu’s honesty also made him slightly worried. "Because you are too honest, you may be bullied or suffer a loss. There are many products available in the market now.

Due to such concerns, on March 17, 2022, Mr. Ge wrote an open letter to Lu Fang on the Landmap APP.

He first told Lu Fang that because he valued the excellence of the Landscape team and the customer-oriented attitude, he was very willing to grow with Landscape. Then, he began to point out some problems he had observed, hoping that Landscape could solve them as soon as possible. Finally, he also gave Lu three tricks, hoping to help Landscape find the development path and regain the traffic password.

This letter, written by Mr. Ge in nearly 2,000 words, was earnest and pertinent, winning the approval of many Lantu owners and attracting the attention of the executive team, including Lu.

However, when Mr. Ge wrote this letter, although under the banner of "To Lu Fang", he did not actually expect Lu Fang to reply to the letter. He just hoped that these suggestions could be seen by the Lantu planning department.

When a week later, on the weekend, he received a call from Lu Fang’s secretary and learned that Lu Fang had replied to him, he was surprised and moved at the same time.

After obtaining the consent of Lu Fang himself, he also sent Lu Fang’s reply to the community of the Landmap APP:

Lu Fang’s earnest reply also won the recognition of many other Lan friends. Some car owners left a message below: "Mr. Lu can personally reply to this letter, which proves that Lan Tu is customer-centric. Lan Tu’s emphasis on customers is also from the heart."

Today, it has been nearly a year and a half, but when Mr. Ge talked to me, he still praised Lu Fang:

"Although Mr. Lu may not have a busy schedule, his schedule is definitely very full. He is willing to take the time to understand the voice of the user and do some equal communication with me. From this point of view, I think he did not put aside the feelings of the car owner. From the perspective of the head of the enterprise, this is not easy to do. He has achieved something that other entrepreneurs cannot do."

What makes Mr. Ge even more happy is that, judging from the follow-up marketing actions of Lantu Automobile, Mr. Ge believes that his opinions have been heard, and he feels very relieved.

Not long after Lu Fang replied, the first Landu store in Nantong was officially put into operation. As a "Landu person who doesn’t get paid", Mr. Ge immediately brought his own dry food to work.

"I attended the first planning meeting of the first store in Nantong. I remember it was a Tuesday morning, very early, and I arrived at their store at 7 o’clock. At that time, their sales didn’t know much about Lantu’s cars, so I shared the advantages and disadvantages of Lantu FREE from the user’s perspective, as well as the advantages and disadvantages compared with competing products, and also gave them some specific suggestions for their marketing later."

Now, Lan Tu has a total of 4 stores in Nantong, each of which is closely connected with Mr. Ge, and he is very willing to do something for Lan Tu.

"They don’t take money, because I don’t do this for money, I just hope that the Lantu brand can be better!"

It was precisely because he had such deep feelings for Lan Tu that he was always enthusiastic about Lan Tu’s activities. Not long ago, the staff of Lan Tu invited him to participate in this user night, and he immediately gave a positive answer: "As long as I have time, I will definitely participate!"

The truth was that even if he didn’t have time, he had to ask for leave to come to the appointment. On the afternoon of August 19, he met riders from all over the outfield and felt very cordial and happy.

He also told me that there are actually many "unpaid Lantu people" like him.

"Some Lan friends care more about Lan Tu’s activities than their own work. Look at Hu Bin from Nanjing, who came two days in advance to do all kinds of preparations. When we met, he told me that he was so busy the day before that he got two sets of clothes wet."

03

The "24-character user concept" of user-oriented technology companies

The story between Mr. Ge and Landmap is more touching than the event of Landmap User Night itself. The key is that there are many Landmap owners like Mr. Ge. I have interviewed several of them myself, but I can’t present their stories one by one due to the limited space.

This reminds me of Hemingway’s famous iceberg theory: "The reason why the iceberg movement is majestic is because it is only one-eighth on the water". The grand Lantu user night is like the tip of the iceberg floating on the water. And below the water, out of sight, it also has a large and solid foundation. Without a good product and a good car experience to support it, there is no way for users and brands to develop feelings. Such user activities are rootless trees.

Without a doubt, at this point, Landmap was a success. Looking at the whole industry, there were not many companies that could make users and manufacturers go both ways. Landmap’s performance in this regard could definitely be regarded as an excellent student.

The origin of the two-way rush should be the genes and underlying logic of a brand. So, what are the genes and underlying logic of Lantu? This is a question I really want to explore.

On the second day of the Landmap User Night, Lu Fang gave the answer.

According to Lu Fang, Lantu’s career officially began in January 2019, but what impressed him the most was July 29, 2020, the day the Lantu brand was released.

At that time, it coincided with the end of the first round of epidemic in Wuhan, and the people of Wuhan just took a breath, but they encountered water in the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River, which submerged the Hankou River Beach, Wuchang River Beach, and Hanyang River Beach. The release of the Lantu brand was carried out at such a difficult time.

Chairperson Zhu Yanfeng at the time released the 24-character user concept of Lantu –"Value for money, have faith in the price, buy without regret, use without worry, empower life, harvest friendship".

Lu Fang said that it took them a long time to come up with these 24 words, which are the basic concept of Lantu’s direct connection to users:

"The value for money and the price is credible", which talks about product-level issues;

"Buy without regret, use without worry", talking about the problem of purchase and service, but actually the problem of channels;

"Empowering life and harvesting friendship" is an ecological thing.

However, it was easier said than done. Lantu was born in a traditional manufacturing industry, and it was not a toC by nature. To be a user-based technology enterprise, they had no experience in how to do it and how to get along with users.

In the three years since the establishment of Lantu, they have insisted on practicing "co-creation, sharing, and growing together" with users. Lu Fang hopes that starting from himself, everyone at Lantu will make friends with users, listen to users’ opinions, and carry out product iterations, service upgrades, and marketing improvements.

Not long ago, in response to the appeal of Landmap owners, Landmap also set up a user co-creation committee to invite customer engagement in Landmap’s important decisions.

At this Landscape User Night, Lu Fang said that there were two words that particularly moved him.

The first sentence was said by Hu Bin, the owner of both Landscape FREE and Dreamer, "Sincere is the base color of Landscape". Sincere is what Lu Fang especially wants users to feel, and users take the initiative to mention it, indicating that they do feel it.

Another sentence was said by Brother Beard, the owner of Lantu FREE, "It was Lantu that made me from a bystander of the development of the automobile industry to an experiencer and witness", which shows that user co-creation is also very popular among users.

In the past three years, Landmap has completed basic construction at the product, channel, and ecological levels. The next step is to build a more stable and harmonious relationship with users.

"We want to build a very harmonious and close user relationship, build a user-based technology company, and create an ecosystem where users can create, share, and grow together," Mr. Lu said.

There was no doubt that the Lantu User Night was one of the ways that Lantu had strengthened its relationship with its users. Lantu had already held two sessions, and they had done a good job, so they would continue to do so. However, in addition to the poetry, after the highlights, and returning to daily life, everyone at Lantu still needed to maintain their sincerity and enthusiasm towards users. Only in this way would there be a two-way Lantu User Night.

(End of this article)