Jul 30, 2021|
JD Unveils Largest ChinaJoy Show and Upgrade of JD E-sports
by Vivian Yang
JD.com launched its biggest ever 3,000-square-meter exhibition at the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference, a.k.a ChinaJoy2021, which is taking place from July 30 to August 2 in Shanghai.
The exhibit is designed to showcase the latest gaming industry trends, what motivates China’s Gen-Z consumers, as well as the tremendous marketing opportunities arising from these developments, according to JD’s planning team for ChinaJoy.
As China’s most well-known shopping platform particularly in the area of electronics products, JD will spotlight a number of new gaming products on site to bring a fresh experience for visitors. Beyond that, brands and products ranging from fashion and cosmetics to home appliances and furniture have also joined the bandwagon to introduce their co-branded offerings or tailored-made products in JD’s exhibit and via JD’s online platform.
China’s e-sports market is expected to reach RMB 270 billion yuan by 2022, and will be an official event for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. In response, JD is ramping up efforts to tap the potential of this market and associated partners to incubate a wider industry ecosystem.
During this year’s ChinaJoy, JD announced that it will update its JD Esports plan, which was launched at ChinaJoy 2020 in collaboration with device makers like Lenovo, gaming leaders like Tencent and livestreaming platforms like Huya, to develop a one-stop e-sports service platform encompassing hardware, software, content and events.
As Gen-Z is driving much of the growth in this market, JD is also increasing its marketing outreach to younger consumers. A lineup of live shows, games and interactions with e-sport influencers will be rolled out during the three-day event to appeal to young visitors with interest in anime culture.
Furthermore, JD’s efforts in cultivating the market have also included two gaming teams in recent years, both of which have gained wide popularity among young gamers and wider audiences: JD E-sports (JDE) for Peacekeeper Elite League (PEL) and JDG (JD Gaming) Intel e-Sports Club for League of Legends (LoL). The latter is one of the top performing teams in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). Plus, JD has organized the nationwide annual e-sports tournament JD Cup since 2014, in an effort to grow awareness of JD as a one-stop platform for everything related to e-sport, from gadgets, content to entertainment.
Major Zhu, head of integrated marketing of JD Retail, said during the expo that JD will continue to deepen its investment in e-sports. Basing on the company’s strength in supply chain and big data, it can leverage its deep understanding in e-sports to bring partners together, presenting more high-quality products, services and entertainments for the growing e-sports fan base, and contributing to the development of China’s e-sports industry.
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Behind the Scenes of JD’s Drone Rescue Efforts in Henan
by Yuchuan Wang
Since Jul. 22, JD’s self-developed logistics drone has been delivering emergency supplies in Xinxiang, a flood-stricken city in Henan province.
Chaokang Liu, a drone engineer from JD’s logistics innovation lab, JD-X, received the company’s call for an urgent trip to Henan.
Liu did not hesitate to make the decision to go, as his parents were survivors of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which killed at least 242,000 people, and he wanted to give back to others.
Liu immediately packed his luggage and a last-mile delivery drone, which can lift 25 kilograms of goods, for the trip to Henan. He rode in a JD Logistics truck and traveled 10 hours from Xi’an, Shaanxi province, where his team is based.
As soon as he arrived, Liu received the request that 30 workers in Xinxiang were stranded in a factory park and were short of food. But successfully delivering the food to those workers would prove difficult.
After three hours of searching, Liu finally found a place from which the drone could take off. However, he had never used this drone at night time, as it is a newly developed model. Moreover, communications in Xinxiang were greatly affected by the flood, and he was afraid that the drone could not manage location tracking accurately. The food might not arrive at the rooftop and fall into the flood.
He decided to give a try anyway. “If you can save 30 people, it’s worth it, even if the drone crashes,” said Liu.
The drone took off—and soon after successfully landed on top of a truck in the factory, where the group of trapped workers were able to access the food supplies.
With Liu and JD’s drone, the group of workers finally got their meal for the day. Soon after that, they were rescued and transported to safety.
Liu said, “It’s my duty to rescue more people, and I’ll keep going on this journey with my drone.”
JD Opens First SEVEN FRESH Supermarket in Wuhan
