Automotive Business Magazine – Q3 2026 – Digital edition - Flipbook - Page 15
OPINION
EV
→ James Wallingford
is head of innovation at AVANTGARDE
touchscreen or battery tech, but we’ll
do it through the lens of
someone’s
lifestyle.”
Brands can also borrow heritage
and relevance from existing cultural
moments, like sports. Legacy car
manufacturers have been building their
brands through sport for generations;
Toyota was the first official vehicle
sponsor of the Olympic Games and
Hyundai has had an ongoing alliance with
FIFA since 1999.
New players can absolutely do the
same. Again, BYD is taking an early
lead. Within only the past few months,
the brand has announced partnerships
with football clubs Inter Milan and
Manchester City, plus the Glasgow
Commonwealth Games.
But it’s not enough to just show up
as a badge on a shirt. The real work
is in building a wider narrative across
different channels and platforms,
both online and through real world
experiences.
Show them what it feels like to spend
time with your brand.
Think of experiences as a series of
beats that unfold over time, whether
that’s one day or multiple. Fill the space
with different moments and audience
entry points to keep it dynamic and
participatory. We helped Renault run
a nine-day event in London with retro
arcade machines, a racing simulator,
and a car model-themed smoothie bar.
Different experiences every day.
For challenger EVs, again, there is
an opportunity to create innovative
environments that reflect their boundary
pushing thinking and future-defining
tech. But a word of caution: whether it’s
AR, VR or AI, introducing innovative tech
for the sake of it never lands well.
The brand story must guide every
element. This is where many new
entrants still have ground to make up
– moving from showcasing innovation
to embedding it within a broader, more
meaningful brand experience.
Show up in life, not just on screen
Legacy car brands have always invested
in experiences. When you’re selling
something that costs tens of thousands
of pounds, you must create opportunities
for people to get up close and personal
with the product.
We recently launched an Oxford Street
pop-up for Chery to showcase its three
latest electric and hybrid models; the
opportunity is there for other challenger
brands to do the same.
The point, though, isn’t to just put on
a simple product showcase. It’s to build
a brand world that people can step into
and experience holistically.
Build something that lasts
Brand experience isn’t a silver bullet, of
course. It’s one part of a wider system
of communications that should make
a brand feel credible, distinctive, and
relevant to people’s lives.
Because ultimately, the opportunity for
new EV brands is to establish a position
that people recognise and return to.
As the category continues to mature,
that sense of meaning is likely to become
one of the most important levers these
challengers have left.
The first phase of the EV race has been
about entry - speed, price, accessibility. The
next phase will be about endurance.
Q3 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
15
