Dialogue with Gree Electric Appliances CMO Zhu Lei: In the AI era of marketing, only "truth" remains unbreakable, and the value of "truth" is irreplaceable

Ask AI · How does Gree break brand stereotypes through real testing?

Meiri Reporter: Chen Pengli Meiri Editor: Yang Yi

“All martial arts under heaven, only truth cannot be broken.” On May 8th, at the “2026 10th China Listed Company Brand Value List Launch Conference” hosted by Meiri Economic News, Gree Electric’s CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Zhu Lei summarized the marketing philosophy of the AI era in his speech. He believes that the more immersed a company is in the AI era, the more irreplaceable the value of “truth” becomes.

From a 72-hour extreme high-temperature live broadcast under the Flaming Mountain in Turpan, to on-site filtration of Yellow River water near Hukou Waterfall for drinking, to Heilongjiang Fuyuan’s “100-hour live extreme cold survival challenge”… Over the course of more than a year, Zhu Lei personally went to the front lines, actively participating in live broadcasts, using a series of “personal evaluations” to break the fixed perception that “Gree = air conditioners.” These highly impactful marketing methods, in his view, are creative ideas that AI cannot conceive of as “truthful.”

The concept of “truth” runs through Gree’s entire chain from marketing to products. On May 8th, during an exclusive interview with the “Meiri Economic News” reporter, Zhu Lei further explained Gree’s definition of “True AI” home appliances, which is that AI in home appliances should not only serve as a “voice switch” function; truly AI-powered appliances should make consumers save money, save effort, and have peace of mind.

In the AI era, the value of “truth” becomes increasingly irreplaceable

“If your brand hasn’t come alive in the real world but has come alive in the AI world, what are you? A scammer. If your brand is doing well and is very popular in the real world, then it will definitely survive and thrive in the AI world too.” On May 8th, at the “2026 10th China Listed Company Brand Value List Launch Conference,” Zhu Lei appeared and delivered a keynote speech.

The “2026 10th China Listed Company Brand Value List Launch Conference,” themed “Digital Intelligence Coexistence · Boundless Brands,” was organized by Meiri Economic News, with academic support from Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, and supported by the Suzhou Listed Companies Association and GCL Group.

In this speech, Zhu Lei shared his thoughts on brand marketing in the AI era. He said that marketing requires innovation and change; to stay competitive, companies must do what AI cannot think of or do, otherwise they will lose their “differentiation” in competition.

Before attending this conference, Zhu Lei had just spent his “May Day” holiday in Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, Pu’er City, Yunnan. However, this trip was not for leisure but to promote Gree washing machine real testing live broadcasts. Coinciding with the local annual “face blackening” folk festival, where people smear soot on their faces and clothes for good luck—the darker, the luckier—Zhu Lei was fully covered in black charcoal on camera, then personally stuffed a soot-stained shirt into a Gree washing machine. After more than 40 minutes, the clothes were as white as new.

Zhu Lei said that for Gree, the biggest obstacle now is to change the stereotype in consumers’ minds that “Gree = air conditioners.” To this end, last year Gree Electric launched the “Dong Mingzhu Healthy Home” strategy. To date, “Dong Mingzhu Healthy Home” has established over 1,000 stores nationwide.

To show a more diverse Gree to the market, Zhu Lei and his team have carried out countless brand promotion activities over the past year or two. For example, last July during the Great Heat season, Zhu Lei “threw” himself into a small cabin under the Flaming Mountain in Turpan, Xinjiang, relying solely on a Gree air conditioner, and spent 72 hours live streaming online to verify the strong cooling performance of Gree air conditioners under extreme heat.

Later, he took a Gree water purifier to Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River, live streaming the filtration of Yellow River water and drinking it freely, which led to a 40% year-on-year increase in Gree water purifier sales. In winter 2025, he traveled to Fuyuan, China’s easternmost point, building a small house on a frozen lake at below -40°C, using Gree air conditioners for heating and staying overnight, demonstrating its powerful heating capability.

This series of “authentic” personal tests are creative ideas that AI cannot plan, directly showcasing the product’s hard strength and allowing consumers to see a genuine Gree that keeps breaking through itself. These brand marketing efforts are all based on Gree’s “truth” quality, “truth” craftsmanship, and “truth” materials.

He also shared an unknown detail on site: the circuit board of Gree air conditioner remote controls still uses “沉金工艺” (immersion gold process). This layer of gold, only 0.1 microns thick, increases the cost of each remote by about 0.6 yuan. Compared to competitors’ solutions, Gree spends nearly 40 million yuan more annually on this. It is through these unseen consumer investments that Gree has built a solid foundation of quality.

Zhu Lei concluded, “The more the AI era arrives, the more irreplaceable the value of ‘truth’ becomes.”

Discussion on “True AI” in Home Appliances: Shouldn’t Just Be About Switch Functions

On May 8th, at the conference, Zhu Lei was interviewed by the “Meiri Economic News” reporter.

In the AI era, AI home appliances are a must-answer topic for the industry. Almost all home appliances are trying to associate with AI. However, Zhu Lei sees many of these as just gimmicks. In the interview, he clearly stated that Gree’s definition of “True AI” is centered on delivering real value to consumers—“more savings, more convenience, and peace of mind.” “Often, when people talk about AI home appliances, the main functions AI plays are ‘voice switches’—turning lights on and off, opening or closing the air conditioner, opening curtains, etc.” But in Zhu Lei’s view, enabling users to turn on lights or air conditioners via voice commands, or check what’s inside the fridge via a mobile app, may seem intelligent but actually deviates from real user needs. Some so-called AI functions turn “saving effort” into “more trouble.” “When I want to cook, is it easier to open the fridge directly to see what’s inside, or to first open the app and check? Of course, opening the fridge directly is simpler.”

He then mentioned that true intelligence should be “imperceptible,” adjusting everything without the user feeling its presence. Zhu Lei used Gree’s upcoming “AI Calm King” product as an example to illustrate Gree’s AI whole-house appliance path—“AI Calm King” is not just a temperature control device but a “whole-house energy center.” It has a built-in self-developed AI power chip and Gree’s second-generation AI dynamic energy-saving technology, achieving over 23.6% energy savings during single-machine operation. Moreover, this air conditioner can serve as the “energy manager” for the entire house, managing and adjusting other appliances in real-time, and regulating indoor air quality.

Zhu Lei emphasized that the ultimate value of AI in home appliances should return to the fundamental needs of “energy saving” and “health.” Whether it’s saving electricity bills through AI dynamic energy-saving technology or achieving deep freezing at -42°C to preserve food nutrients, these are the real values that Gree believes “True AI” should bring to consumers.

Gree’s consumer electronics gross margin remained strong in 2025

At the end of April this year, Gree Electric announced its 2025 and Q1 2026 “results” to the outside world. Despite a significant rise in raw material prices in 2025, Gree’s consumer electronics segment achieved a year-on-year increase in gross margin, which is rare in the industry.

Zhu Lei told the reporter that the company’s refined management, continuous automation improvements, and strong brand value together form the “moat” that allowed Gree to maintain a good development trend despite upstream raw material cost pressures in 2025.

Among these, refined management is crucial, and increasing automation levels is key to reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Zhu Lei explained that Gree’s Jinwan intelligent factory was rated as one of the first batch of “pilot-level intelligent factories” by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2025, and is the only one in Guangdong Province. The overall automation rate of the factory has increased to 86%, with a 200% increase in production efficiency. This advanced manufacturing capability-driven cost reduction provides Gree with greater market space.

Zhu Lei also mentioned that Gree’s long-term commitment to quality has built a strong brand, enabling consumers to resist low-price temptations in a highly “involution” market and choose high-quality Gree products.

Now, with summer 2026 approaching, Gree is fully prepared for the upcoming season. Zhu Lei revealed that last year, the northeastern region of China experienced a “rush to install air conditioners” wave. This year is expected to be similar, with some regions suddenly experiencing extreme heat. For Gree, its over 20k offline stores and self-operated installation service network across the country form a flexible response and mutual support network, which will be a “weapon” for Gree to fight the air conditioning peak season. (Contributed by Meiri reporter Shudong Ni)

Meiri Economic News