The Ride-hailing App That Changed My Life

I am standing at the short-stay car park at Heathrow Airport. It’s 8:40pm and I just got off a 14-hour flight from Shanghai. The only thing I want to do right now is go home, shower and collapse onto my own bed. The car I’ve ordered on a ride-hailing app tells me that the car will arrive in 10 minutes…But that was 10 minutes ago, and it’s still 8 minutes away…It’s then that I realise the true value of what I lost. I miss DiDi. DiDi always comes when it says it will come. DiDi never disappoints.

Visiting China is unlike visiting anywhere else in the world

The first time I went to China was last year for an in-person research project. I knew China had their own tech ecosystem – whether that be the social media platforms they use, or how they pay for things – so I took some cash with me knowing that some of my credit and debit cards may not work, and I wanted to be sure that I could at least pay for a taxi to my hotel. I’m glad I did that because the taxi driver didn't accept any of my cards. In the days ahead I got used to some of China’s essential apps such as WeChat Pay so I wouldn't have to rely on cash, and then DiDi – the equivalent of Uber in China. It’s all in Chinese so I used my broken Chinese reading skills to sign up, got used to the functionality, and next thing I know I’m using it like a local.

But it was not always smooth sailing. Whenever I visit a place, I like to do the local things – ride the metro and eat at the restaurants only long-term residents know about – so some of the places I went to in China aren't set up for visitors. I once went to a restaurant where the only way to order food was through WeChat, but I couldn’t get my WeChat to scan the QR code to place an order, so the waiting staff paid for my food, and I paid them back. This roundabout way of doing things, which I often felt during my visit, was a stark reminder that life in China is centralised within just a few apps, and without them…good luck!

While it can be difficult for visitors to get around, I also saw the massive advantage of buying into the system. I was only using DiDi, and I could already feel the difference it made in my life – I never have to worry about when the car I’ve ordered will come. Imagine if I had also signed up to Meituan.

Meituan is the equivalent of Deliveroo and Amazon combined, x1000 in speed. You can order food and just about anything on it. My research partner left his lumbar support cushion back at the hotel we just checked out of, so he ordered another one to the research facility and it came in less than 30 minutes. I was gobsmacked. How could this be possible?

Chinese brands have the potential to transform my life – DiDi started to already. Your brand can create that same life-changing impact for your audiences

At One Minute to Midnight, we believe that humans don’t exist to consume brands. Instead, brands exist to serve their customers. And in China I felt to my core that brands like DiDi and Meituan exist to serve their customers. I can imagine my life becoming so much easier if I lived in China. The whole experience made me even more passionate about my job, and eager to help brands make people feel the way I did.

We can help your brand change people’s lives in a positive way like DiDi changed mine. We do this by approaching the world from a human-up perspective and placing your brand in the context of your audiences’ world. That way we can help you connect with your audiences in meaningful ways. Get in touch at weallarrived@oneminutetomidnight.life.

Article by Emily Hoong, Senior Research Manager