BYD Australia
BYD: Launching a Groundbreaking Automotive Brand
The Brief
Imagine launching a groundbreaking automotive brand in a market where you’re not just unknown but actively doubted.
That was the reality for BYD in Australia. We weren’t just introducing vehicles; we were rewriting a narrative. Facing a landscape dominated by entrenched perceptions, we had to ignite a spark of awareness from absolute zero.
Australians held deep-seated reservations about Chinese automotive quality and safety, especially when it came to conquering our rugged, unforgiving terrain.
The mission?
To shatter those preconceptions around quality and safety, prove BYD’s exceptional engineering, and speak to a nation that thought it knew everything about cars.
It needed a bold strategy to transform sceptics into believers and turn a whisper into a roar!
The Thinking
We didn’t guess; we investigated. Through custom-designed research, we set out to map the Australian consumer’s mind regarding BYD and the burgeoning new energy vehicle market. Our research revealed a clear picture: a core group who were aware of BYD were interested in its tech and value offering, broader awareness was low, and misconceptions about new energy vehicles were rampant.
Our custom research also highlighted a vital point: overcoming concerns about quality and safety was paramount to building consumer confidence. Armed with this knowledge, we decided to flip the traditional vehicle launch model on its head and take a ground-up approach to market by leveraging our small fanbase.
Our aim was to become a trusted household name. To do this we needed to demonstrate that BYD truly understood Australia and its unique terrain.
This approach proved limiting. Third party audiences typically require a longer conversion timeframe, conflicting with our need for rapid sales. Simultaneously, with BYD being new to the market, website visits were still low, so our first party audiences were exhausted quickly.
We needed to expand on this approach, to make sure we were reaching users not only at the top and bottom of the funnel, but also those who had shown, through data, that they were in the market to purchase a new car.
The Work
Auto brands traditionally prioritise noise over substance. We chose a different path. We let our cars do the talking. Not through staged glossy ads, but through kilometres driven, roads conquered, and real-world experiences. We began by building a fleet, not a campaign.
1: The Whisper – Getting Cars on the Road.
Our journey began with a focused approach, targeting tech enthusiasts who had done their research. Turning early adopters, into advocates. Reaching them through targeted programmatic search, social, and display.
We learnt that BYD held a unique appeal for those actively exploring their next vehicle purchase, and that a deeper dive into our offerings would reveal our true value.
In a media first we partnered with Audience360’s to access exclusive Carsales data, including VFACTS segments, allowing us to pinpoint key moments and disrupt the car-buying journey.
Using this data, we reached customers across multiple channels—search, social, display, screens, and OOH. Disrupting the traditional buyer journey, reducing comparisons to competitors and driving them directly to site, to log an enquiry.
The result: getting BYD vehicles on Australian roads efficiently. Etching the brand into a national conversation.
Getting cars on the road to increase visibility was key to building the foundation for future growth.
2 – Breaking the Performance Plateau
Recognising our performance efforts had plateaued, we had to scale our efforts. Strategically harnessing the power of loss aversion, we deployed upper funnel channels to drive unprecedented demand for “The World’s Biggest Test Drive”.
Blitzing HPTOs across Drive, Nine, Carsales, and the vital regional voices supporting our dealers, we ignited a sales frenzy.
The initiative generated brand buzz and addressed the key purchase barrier: experience.
It maximised the number of Australians experiencing our vehicles in a single, impactful event.
The numbers don’t lie: 1400+ test drives booked in a record-breaking day and a record-breaking day for car sales.
3 – Roaring within Aussie Culture
BYD was on Aussie streets, gaining recognition. Recognition alone doesn’t sell cars. We needed to build trust; proving we understood the unique demands of Australian roads. We began to embed ourselves into Aussie cultural moments and the Aussie terrain.
We parked BYD in handpicked iconic OOH sites on major arterials, on the school run and morning commutes, bolstered our presence with our data driven programmatic OOH approach we’d perfected in phase 1. Letting Aussies know that we understand their unique way of life.
Focusing our efforts on iconic TV broadcast moments the NRL State of Origin, the NRL and AFL Grand finals.
We used radio to infiltrate cultural conversation.
This multi-channel approach, fueled by a finely tuned performance strategy, ensured we captured the attention of every new car buyer discovering BYD.
The launch of the SHARK 6 our powerful Plug-In Hybrid Ute in November was the perfect vehicle to cement our commitment to the Australian way of life.
We weren’t just launching a car; we were launching a statement: BYD vehicles, tested and tailored for Australia.
The Australian Open looming, blocked by a competitor from official sponsorship, we saw our opportunity and went guerilla.
Reaching over 4.5M people maximising non-sponsor airtime during the broadcast.
Owning Melbourne: dominating the CBD and Rod Laver surrounds with large format billboards, tram wraps, and bus shelters. Fueling the fire with a laser-focused performance campaign.
The result? Trust solidified, and a new BYD sales record smashed.
Evidence of Outcome
Our unique approach to the category propelled BYD to unprecedented heights, exceeding all our key objectives, achieving historic growth in a stagnant auto market:
Made even more impressive when you look at our spend level vs. Competitors.
Brand Awareness and Consideration metrics
Awareness skyrocketed. We saw a 250% increase in brand awareness YOY, bucking trends in a stagnant category.
Importantly, we were able to build trust, with consideration steadily increasing by 265% in an increasingly competitive category.
Test Drives & Sales
Most importantly, the strategy worked. Delivering historic growth in a market dominated by legacy brands.
In 2024, we saw a total of 44,816 Booked Test Drives, with the largest peak in August for the World’s Biggest Test Drive promotion. Test Drives continue to increase steadily.
BYD made history by being the fastest auto brand to achieve 25K sales (within the first 24 months).
We saw a 362% increase in sales from year 1 to year 2.
The SHARK 6 launch saw our biggest sales month to date (pre-orders included).
Wrap-Up
By focusing on the innovative products and the evolving consumer we were able to solve pain points and build trust to counter false perceptions before the brand had even become fully established in market. Through innovative solutions we accelerated the car purchase journey for our audience and drove quicker and more immediate results in what is traditionally a slowly changing space.
This multi-channel approach with a bespoke marketing funnel allowed us to bypass a lot of the challenges that auto brands traditionally have when entering a new market and hone in on Australia’s changing auto consumer’s wants and needs. We successfully launched the BYD brand into Australia, making it one of the hottest brands in the country and establishing it as a cornerstone of the auto space in the country for the long term.
What can we do for you?
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