Chairman's internal remarks and Lame Geely PR

The origin of the incident begins with a WeChat screenshot exposed on the Internet on October 18. The content is about the "Geely Automobile PR Chat Group" hired the Internet trolls to smear the Great Wall Motor's repost notice, stirred up a t heated discussion. Subsequently, Geely Automobile responded: Totally NONSENSE! And we will find out who is to blame!

The Great Wall Motor, which has long been subjected to various malicious attacks and smearing, immediately stated that it must take legal action to defend its rights. At the same time, it called on other car companies to form a China automobile justice alliance together. October 19, Chery and many other car companies responded to the incident, condemning those "Gangsterdom PR" for their unethical behaviors.

With the escalation of the incident online, Geely Automobile Chairman Li Shufu made long remarks on the "Gangsterdom PR" at the group meeting held on Sunday (October 21). Surprisingly, in the early morning of October 22, Yang Xueliang, vice president of Geely Group, responsible for PR affairs, post this so-called "internal remarks" on his private WeChat account, titled the article "Calm down in this complicated world.”, which aroused bigger controversy online. Let's take a look at the controversies of Li Shufu's "internal remarks" by way of comments.

Calm down in this complicated world

2018/10/22 Geely’s Compliance

October 21, Geely's legal, compliance, and PR department work meeting was held at its HQ. The theme of the meeting is mainly about the recent rumors on the Internet and those "Internet Trolls ". Li Shufu, founder and chairman of Geely Automobile, listened to the work report made by three departments and gave his remarks. Mr. Li pointed out that Chinese auto companies must work together to improve products, rather than internal struggles. As long as staffs do things right, the company will not be bad. In such a complicated world, the only thing we can do is to calm down and hard work, do whatever we can to strengthen and upgrade the Chinese automobile industry to constantly increase the share of self-developed brands in the global market.

Original text

Recently, some rumors appeared on the Internet to fabricate the facts. I don’t know what kind of arrangement they fabricated to produce a so-called internal communication WeChat screenshot from the “Geely PR Manager”, and then launched various public opinion attack on us, maliciously smashed the brand image of Geely Automobile. I believe you all already noted that, right? Did you do these? You all have just discussed and answered my question. The answer is NO. “No” is the best. (Comment: How could be a chairman of the company ask his subordinates " Did you do these?" People with a little work experience will say NO. But the question is, isn’t there anyone who responsible for writing remarks draft for the chairman? How can these remarks with such question can be published? Is this intended to make the chairman ugly or is Geely self-deprecating?) Of course, I will also ask the compliance department to check your budget and final accounts and relevant contracts. If someone has done something bad, no matter who you are, any offender will be punished in accordance with the law and company’s regulations.

Although the PR department immediately responded to this incident, announcing that the screenshot was fake, and acclaimed that the rumor would be prosecuted for liabilities in accordance with the law. However, the incident has become more and more hot, and there are more and more onlookers and spoilers. Various sensational titles appear on important pages through various forms and channels, giving the impression that Geely’s development is relying on hired online supporters.

After I discovered these situations, I called Mr. An (An Conghui, President of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and President and CEO of Geely Auto Group), who said that he just knew it and was very angry. Of course, I also learned about the situation from other relevant personnel of the company. When I learnt that our PR department was to issue a statement to respond to the rumors, I was concerned about it. Because doing so will make us a hot spot on the Internet, and it will be unfavorable to the image of China's auto industry. Foreign counterparts will laugh at us. I think that just a statement cannot solve the problem at the root but can lead to a more chaotic situation. This is why I asked you all to meet today. (Comments: Since Mr. Li has expressed concern that "a statement cannot solve the problem at the root but can lead to a more chaotic situation ", then how did the internal remarks of the chairman which is more sensational than the statement can be issued? Is the PR department dares to violate the will of the chairman to let "foreign counterparts laugh at us"?) Of course, we have already reported the case to the police, and I believe that the truth will be clear soon. But I am also confused that if this incident was really done by the Geelys, you can just sue Geely. Why do Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so still make troubles in the media? (Comments: These words show that the Geely chairman has already been convinced that this was not conducted by Geely. In his mind, if it was really conducted by Geely, the other party should have been suing Geely. If you didn't sue, then it was none of Geely’s business. This is not logical! Even if it was done by Geely, only allow the other party to sue but not allow making any statements on the media, is this too overbearing? Is this the true level of presentation skill as a big company’s chairman, or is the PR too lame? In addition, accusing some companies of "making trouble in the media" in the so-called "internal remarks", which may be deliberately told to the outsiders, but not to his own staffs. It gives people the feeling that this "internal remarks" was to be published at the very beginning.)

Hired online supporters can’t make cars, not to mention good brands

I don't think it is strange in this incident. It must be a stupid thing made by the villain. A straight foot is not afraid of a crooked shoe. We must know that no one will always be smooth on the road to success. There will never be a shortage of saboteurs, and the buzz of the spectators who join in the fun. Obstacles are ubiquitous. If a rumor can consume a lot of our energy, then we are too unprofessional and too unconfident. I believe that we cannot be influenced by these little tricks. We must be confident in our work, and not to argue with them on the Internet. We can't care too much about people saying a few bad words about us. (Comments: Legal, Compliance, and PR, three departments held a meeting at the HQ to discuss this incident. Doesn't it mean that you care what people say?)

Geely is a world-class enterprise. We should be more responsible, more acceptable to criticizing. In particular, we should be more self-requirement and self-discipline, and we can turn a blind eye to these little tricks, just ignore them and even show inclusiveness. We must consolidate our corporate ethics while improving management, technology, product quality, service and brand image, and do not participate in the quarrel on the Internet. We can't distract from that fake news. Please keep in mind that hired online supporters can’t make cars, not to mention good brands.

Managing the enterprise in accordance with the law, thinking about the problem in line with the regulations

In the past few decades, we have always emphasized the governance of our company in accordance with the law. We are all through the toughest days relying on the law. In recent years, we have emphasized legal and compliance, which means that we must manage our company in accordance with the law, and we must also handle problems in line with regulations. Therefore, the way we understand the problem must keep pace with the times. We must implement the company management philosophy in accordance with laws and regulations. Every employee should understand its importance. If these ideas are kept in mind by everyone, even if someone wants to mess with us, we are not afraid.

Customer satisfaction is our pursuit.

We are not afraid of those Internet trolls and rumors, nor malicious attacks by our counterparts. As a saying goes, “To be a blacksmith, you need to be tough yourself.” The market does not believe in tears. High-profile is not equal to self-confidence, while low-key does not mean incompetence. Customer satisfaction is our fundamental pursuit. Consumers are not fool. They will be responsible for themselves for they spend their own money to buy a car. No one can be controlled by those Internet trolls. In this information age, a simple phone call can let consumers know whether the car is worth purchasing. (Comments: Since a phone call can solve the problem, then is it necessary for the company to come up with a large amount of money to support the marketing and PR departments? Is this also the self-deprecating of the PR department?)

According to all above, we have to further enhance our capabilities and improve the level of law compliance. In addition, I believe that a company which is farsighted and has passion for success, must come through lots of challenges and pass through several business cycles. Nowadays the global economy does encounter some challenges and the Chinese auto industry is no exception, we must figure out what we need to focus on. We should care about the product itself and concentrate on our own strategy. We are obliged to try our best to do the products and let the users feel the extraordinary of GEELY.

For the publicists and the compliance and legal personnel, efforts should be made in these two aspects to let consumers know the real GEELY and to create a good environment for the development of the company. Since the global economy has been at a low point, there must be some companies that will have a difficult time. When these companies were overwhelmed, they began to take some actions to cause chaos in the market, such as complaining, lying, and even making rumors about their competitors. They are confused about what to do under this situation and have difficulties in fair play. GEELY could totally ignore them because this kind of argument is only a waste of time and nothing good will be left. (Comments: Some words using above could be considered as defamation if GEELY doesn’t have any evidence to prove that. It’s not appropriate for a public statement. I was wondering if the GEELY PR has done their job properly.)

Good virtue carries things

We have advanced ideas and our own pursuit. We have already found the way to success. It’s not surprising that they are unhappy about that. It’s no need for us to care too much and even take a look back at them. We should work hard and try our best. There is no auto enterprise which has succeeded by making up rumors, while there are plenty of successful auto enterprises by playing fair. Good virtue carries things. We ought to be down-to-earth, continue to implement the strategy, further enhance the training of compliance, examine the compliance system and have higher standards.

Stick to the principles in the long term and don’t attack competitor’s products secretly

Whether in the past or now, all of you stick to the principles and insist on resisting “Internet Troll”. This is a brilliant idea. I would like to thank you guys for the persistence under this circumstance. There is a line that we should never cross. If anyone crosses it, he/she will leave this group. Geely’s core value and culture cannot be destroyed. I hope that you will continue to stick to the right value orientation and the working style. There should never be “Internet Troll”in the future as well.  

Our product commentators are responsible for introducing the performance of Geely products, technology, advantages and disadvantages. However in any case, attacking competitors’ products is not OK at all. This is not the first time I mentioned it. It’s the line that Geely will never cross. It’s a rule of our compliance system and the soul of Geely’s culture. Otherwise it’s not going to help ourselves and it may cause misunderstandings and hurt each other. (Comments: After the accusation in the previous article, now we are talking about feelings getting hurt. I wonder what exactly we are dealing with at the moment.)

Chinese auto industry should unite to improve the competitiveness of Chinese vehicles. This is what I am looking forward to. We must bring all the independent brands together to improve the added value of the brands instead of nonstop infights. You are probably going to ask me why we couldn’t fight back. Here is my opinion. If we fight back, it will make the whole thing more meaningless and make it look like playing games with children. While we are all grown-ups, right? We shouldn’t think or behave like a child. We need to take the best of Chinese culture and filter the junk stuff as soon as possible.

The infighters will never help the development of Chinese auto industry and will not be good for Geely Auto as well. If other companies try to sabotage our normal operation and damage our reputation, we should follow the law as long as there is evidence. Why the Internet hype? It’s never going to work. As the saying goes, “One good turn deserves another. And a bad penny always come back.”

There is so much chaos in Chinese auto industry. I am pretty bored to deal with it. We really need to work on it. At present, the Chinese passenger vehicle market share of Chinese brands is only 34%. While the foreign brands take nearly 70% share. There is a long way to go for all the Chinese auto brands. We must bring the brands together to develop the products rather than having infights. If we couldn’t take this little loss, how we are going to face the bigger challenge? Well, here is what I want to say. I wish you all the best. And I believe that China’s judiciary will become fairer and more transparent in the future so that those who made up all those rumors will get punished as they deserve. I hope that “Internet Troll” will disappear soon. In this complicated world, we all should keep calm and carry on, in order to expand and strengthen Chinese auto industry and also to increase the market share of the Chinese brands.

SUMMARY: Due to the “Gangsterdom PR” incident, lots of Geely staffs and even its chairman Li Shufu couldn’t have a peaceful weekend. And this illogical “internal remark” with many mistakes even was published at the very beginning. This incident is expected to be written in the auto industry PR history.

In the automotive industry, one million units is a milestone for the automobile companies and is also an important challenge for the system capability of the company. The enterprise needs to be good at all the aspects, including technology reserves, product planning, parts procurement and dealer system, and even public relations. The PR department should devote themselves to the thorough consideration, designing PR strategies and making various plans in advance. From Geely’s reaction of this “Malicious PR” incident, it’s obvious that Geely was caught unprepared and its public relations ability didn’t match with its 1 million marketing status.