Automotive Business Magazine – Q3 2026 – Digital edition - Flipbook - Page 37
audiences spend time. For example, for
Gen X, GWI data shows that prospective
car buyers over-index for interest in
music and travel, while for female
potential car buyers, cinema, nature and
fashion are strong interests.
Use these as a way to engage them,
framing the story of the vehicle around
how it fits with their lives, and more
broadly, how the brand aligns with their
own values and interests.
Nissan's recent LEAF launch exemplified
this. Rather than leading with the battery
specs, they anchored the story in positive
energy and environmental values.
Principle 3: Use creators to cut
through – with precision
With the right framing around lifestyle
and cultural passion points, the next step
is to ensure it reaches these audiences through the people that they follow, in the
channels where they spend their time.
Do this by partnering with creators and
influencers who can integrate the car
authentically into their existing narratives.
The car becomes an enabler of their
story, not the hero of it.
Avoid celebrity influencers. Instead,
partner with micro-influencers with tight
communities, lifestyle creators, expert
reviewers, and peer storytellers who've
earned trust.
Give creators the freedom to be
authentic, and remember that genuine
critiques are more credible than
manufactured enthusiasm. Design
launches to be social media-ready
with space and resources for creators
to build their own stories around the
vehicle alongside expert panels and
demonstrations.
In practice
Volvo anchors launches in safety as a
values statement, not a technical spec.
This acknowledges that safety is a
legitimate primary concern for women
and older drivers, not a secondary status.
Launches showing real-world safety
scenarios feel relevant to audiences who
otherwise felt automotive marketing was
designed for someone else.
Rolls-Royce used travel and leisure as
the hook to reach prospective UHNWI
buyers directly in the places where
they spent their leisure time, creating a
lifestyle-first experience at Saint-Tropez
on the French Riviera.
Strategic opportunity
The traditional playbook isn't broken. But
that approach alone no longer represents
where growth actually sits.
Women and Gen X control more
spending power than ever before, brands
that recognise this shift and design
launches speaking authentically to these
audiences won't just be more inclusive,
they'll be more effective.
The launch moment is the most
expensive and highest-leverage time to
shape how a car is perceived and who
sees themselves in its story. The question
isn't whether to redesign launches for
overlooked audiences, it's whether you
can afford not to.
Q3 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
37
