BYD Dream Drives
The Challenge - Three extensive features to tell the story of each model and make them relevant to our scaled audiences...
The Challenge
It’s not every day that we are asked to help launch an exciting new car brand into the UK market, but Bauer Automotive was picked by Chinese newcomer BYD to spread the word ahead of its 2024 launch.
The challenge was to introduce BYD and its range of electric cars to a mainstream car-buying audience: a small city EV, a sleek electric saloon and a compact e-SUV, all with breakthrough tech, chic style, innovative digital features and compelling value.
British motorists were unfamiliar with the brand, so it was down to Bauer to tell the story and make the freshly launched models relevant to our users.
The idea
Our creatives conceived a programme of Dream Drives: three extensive features to tell the story of each model and make them relevant to our scaled audiences.
We dispatched specialist storytellers to undertake adventurous drives to locations around the UK. Each journey was tailored for each audience and designed to showcase how electric cars can take you anywhere to realise your dreams.
Three innovative cars, three adventures: the chic BYD Atto 3 was tested by Grazia’s beauty editor on a Cotswold retreat; the BYD Dolphin starred on a Parkers road trip from the Midlands to the Welsh coastline; while the sporty BYD Seal was deployed by CAR magazine’s enthusiasts on a trackday with a twist.
DREAM DRIVE 1
Our flagship women’s lifestyle title Grazia sends its head of beauty Annie Vischer on a quest for some ‘me-time’ in the Cotswolds. She drives the Atto 3 from the congested rush of central London to the more relaxed pace of life in Gloucestershire. The BYD aces city life and beats the ULEZ, but it also excels in the Cotswolds, where Annie indulges her passions for horse-riding, fine dining and a treat or two at Daylesford Organic.
DREAM DRIVE 2
Parkers is one of the UK’s biggest and most trusted car-buying sites and we pair it with the BYD Dolphin for a road trip with a difference. We drive from the city of Birmingham to New Quay in Wales – a beautiful town that inspired Dylan Thomas, where Keira Knightly has filmed and the UK’s best place to go dolphin spotting. It’s a journey that proves the mettle of the BYD and showcases its 220-mile range needn’t hinder a family’s horizons.
DREAM DRIVE 3
Our final dream drive is a star turn in the BYD Seal, the Chinese car maker’s premium electric saloon. With 0-62mph available in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 3.8sec, it’s the perfect candidate to take to a trackday at the high-speed Castle Combe circuit. CAR magazine sends its most experienced road tester to attempt an EV track record, before continuing on a more sedate drive through the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, where the Seal’s 340-mile electric range comes into its own.
Execution
Bauer Media’s execution of Dream Drives is centred around a digital hub that hosts all the content we shoot for each feature – nourished with videos and a quarterly competition giving away £5k every three months.
Each story appears in print in CAR magazine (Seal and Dolphin) and Grazia (Atto 3), with accompanying digital versions within the BYD hub. Traffic drivers via our sizeable 1m+ following on social channels, newsletters and homepage takeovers send high-quality audiences to engage with BYD’s custom-made stories.
This campaign only went live 3 weeks ago, so results are unavailable at this time.