THE local chief marketing officer of BYD and Denza Kate Hornstein says the brands’ dealers have been given “liberty” to tailor their marketing to their respective customers rather than rigidly adhering solely to a nationwide brand messaging.

Speaking on a panel titled Winning Locally: Making Your Dealership Marketing More Effective at this year’s Australian Automotive Dealer Association Convention and Expo, Ms Hornstein said that BYD and Denza’s dealers have been keen to build excitement and educate their customers.

Kate Hornstein, Chief Marketing Officer – BYD Australia & New Zealand and DENZA Australia & New Zealand

“I think primarily our dealerships are incredibly engaged. We have what we believe is the most exciting brand in the market, and I think we’ve seen extraordinary growth,” she said.

“We’ve had a huge product pipeline, and that keeps all dealers incredibly engaged about what’s coming next and what’s keeping them excited. So broadly, our dealerships have been incredibly engaged, and they want to share that excitement with their customers.

“So we’ve got dealer level social media accounts. We’ve had live streaming opportunities, like where they’re really trying to educate customers and build that excitement that they feel in their local area as well.”

“As with any new brand, we’re still establishing a lot of the guardrails around how we go to market and how we show up, especially in this market. 

“We haven’t been delivered that from our global headquarters, so I think there is variation that occurs in the market when it comes to how our brand is placed and how it looks and how it shows up, and that’s something that we’re working through consistently, and keeping in close communication with those stores that perhaps don’t always get it right. 

“And there’s been a number of experiences, but I think where we are in a really positive position is that there is just genuine excitement about the technology that’s coming out for our brand, and how we transfer that excitement to the customer.”

(L-R): Andrew Baker, CEO and Founder of Sesimi, Kate Hornstein, Chief Marketing Officer of BYD Australia & New Zealand and DENZA Australia & New Zealand; Shaun Garfitt, Head of Marketing at CMV Group and Adrian Richards, Founder and Managing Director of Forth

BYD first arrived in Australia in 2022 with its luxury sister brand Denza launching on local stores late last year. While BYD in particular has already gained quite the local foothold – finding itself towards the top of Australian vehicle sales figures – both brands are relatively new to the market and are still in “brand building mode” according to Ms Hornstein. 

“So we are still in brand building mode. I think we’ve seen enormous leaps forward, but we still believe we have a long way to go to firmly plant our feet on the ground, like a lot of the other legacy brands.” 

However, while there is a “centralised plan” when it comes to BYD and Denza’s marketing according to Ms Hornstein, she also stressed the importance of remaining agile in a constantly shifting automotive and global landscape, which has meant giving dealers the “liberty to tailor messaging” to their specific customers. 

“There is a certain amount of agility that we like to maintain because we’re also quite responsive to what’s happening, not just in the broader automotive market, but also the world. We’ve seen that with rising petrol prices and a kind of an expedited shift towards new energy vehicle solutions.

“And I think what that will mean, from our perspective creatively, is giving the dealers enough liberty to tailor vesting that’s really suited to their customer as well. 

“So, you know, we really want to make sure that we’re continually educating customers, and I think we have a long way to go to educate around the technology that we provide and how it’s different. And we’re trying to do that at a national level, but then where we really need to have that variation is how that then relates to the customer at the PMA (Primary Market Area) level.”

Ms Hornstein identified local sponsorship as a particular success that has come out of BYD and Denzas’ dealer marketing.

“I think (something that does) work is local sponsorships. Getting involved with the community has been a really important part of our strategy as well.”“So the local football club or the local life saving club, or whatever that looks like because that’s what really matters to that community. And if we can show up in a way that puts a spotlight on the technology or is of assistance to that community, then I think that’s where true advocacy and true consideration is built, and I think that’s something that (dealers) do incredibly well. They know their local market incredibly well.”

Ms Hornstein also says that advocacy is an important part of BYD and Denza’s Australian marketing efforts and believes that their “customers are equally as influential as influencers.” 

“Advocacy is incredibly important. So for us, I would only work with people that have true passion for what we’re doing. Paying for someone to say nice things about your brand, we’re not interested in that,” she said.

“We’ve had national partnerships with big sporting organisations who genuinely love the product and tell everyone about it. And I think for us, we look at ambassadorships, or I look at it more as an advocacy play because I think our customers are equally as influential as influencers.” 

“That bottom of the funnel, retention and advocacy piece is something that we’re really passionate about. Reviews, word-of-mouth marketing, all of that kind of stuff, more so than a big kind of KOL (key opinion leader) influencer program.”

In a pool of “different stories” which includes competitors and significant market shifts – such as electrified vehicle demand skyrocketing amid soaring petrol prices caused by the Iran War – Ms Hornstein stressed the importance of selecting what brands react to.

“I think it’s what you react to. We don’t generally react to what our competitors are doing because we’re quite laser focused on what we need to do. And I think for us, whether it be reaction to market conditions, that’s kind of secondary to (the many models we’re launching in succession).”

“The truth is, it’s always a scramble. When we have to react, it’s always a scramble because there’s so many different stories we need to tell, but I think if we take a step up, it’s what you react to, and not everything makes sense. Like if someone’s doing a really strong finance offer, it doesn’t make sense for us to undercut it.

“So it makes more sense for us to react to say, well, if petrol is going up in price, how do we pivot our messaging to really showcase low fuel consumption on our PHEVs, or an EV model that might be something that’s more appealing to customers at this time when they’re struggling with rising fuel prices.” 

“So I think more broadly, one it’s a scramble always, but two, it’s like really kind of asking, ‘what’s the highest payoff opportunity here?’ and just focusing on that because there is just too much to react to,” she said.