[Li Jiao Shou] Next Stop: Helping Chinese Marketers Understand Consumers Better
Original by Li Jing (Li Jiao Shou)
2016-12-29 11:41:10
At the end of 2016, after careful consideration, I’ve made a decision:
The company I co-founded with my friend BMAN (Li Bowen), Shoujiao Information Technology, will be acquired by Baidu at a valuation nearing 100 million RMB. Our goal is to develop tools that leverage AI and big data to help marketers better understand consumer behavior, spark creativity, and generate actionable strategies.
1. “The Science of Marketing”
As a child, I encountered a riddle:
“What is something you interact with daily, benefit from constantly, yet never truly see?”
Back then, the answer was “air.”
Today, in marketing, I believe the answer is “consumers.”
Every business interacts with consumers (often through products), yet most marketers never truly “see” them.
(For example, a palm mattress ad once boasted, “Give you a five-star sleep experience,” oblivious to the fact that no one associates five-star hotels with hard mattresses.)
In short, consumers’ preferences, triggers for engagement, and purchasing motivations remain elusive.
Over the past two years, I’ve worked to demystify this through frameworks like the “Li Jiao Shou Methods.” Yet challenges persist—theories are sound, but application is difficult, especially without sufficient data.
Months ago, Baidu—a client I’d previously advised—approached me. They recognized that my methodologies could be enhanced by AI and big data, proposing an acquisition to build tools for predicting consumer behavior and inspiring creativity.
After deliberation, my partner BMAN and I accepted Baidu’s offer. We’ll retain independent operations while integrating our frameworks with AI to create practical tools for marketers.
2. “God Does Not Play Dice”
Marketing has lagged in progress compared to fields like technology:
– A programmer from 50 years ago would struggle as a modern intern, yet a marketer from that era could still be celebrated today.
– Engineers land humans on the moon, while marketers debate why consumers buy.
– Tech talent scales with tools like compilers; marketers still scribble insights on paper.
The root issue? Overreliance on sporadic genius over systematic methods.
Einstein once said, “God does not play dice with the universe.” Just as a coin toss isn’t truly random (but determined by physics), consumer behavior follows patterns—we just lack the tools to decode them.
My mission is to merge theory, AI, and data to build tools that illuminate these patterns.
3. “Leaving the Comfort Zone, Again”
Two years ago, I left my routine life to start a public account, sharing rigorous business analyses. A year later, I co-founded Shoujiao to scale my methods.
Now, I face another leap: transitioning from familiar work (training, consulting, writing) to pioneering AI-driven marketing tools.
The catalyst? A vision of democratizing marketing excellence.
Henry Ford didn’t just build cars for elites; he revolutionized production to make them accessible. Similarly, I aim to empower all marketers with tools that transcend intuition.
(For example, rewriting a financial app’s bland ad “7% estimated return” to “7% return—2017 is about skipping bank queues” doubled clicks by invoking future-focused motivation.)
Our formal plan:
– Shoujiao will operate independently under Baidu’s AI support.
– I’ll join Baidu as VP to advance this vision.
– Existing training programs will partner with “Three Lessons” for enhanced delivery.
– My public account remains a personal blog for free, data-backed insights.
4. “One Great Thing”
Steve Jobs once said:
“The only problems worth solving are those that take years to crack.”
This is my moonshot—to transform marketing from art to science.
Acknowledgments
To investors Wang Mengqiu, Su Hang, and Wu Sheng; the Shoujiao team; and all readers who supported “Li Jiao Shou.”
Li Jing
December 29, 2016
