Work

THE CHALLENGE

In early 2023, Motor Distributors Limited (MDL), one of Ireland’s most established automotive distributors with over seven decades of industry heritage, embarked on a transformative strategy to expand its portfolio into the rapidly accelerating New Energy Vehicle (NEV) sector with the BYD brand. While the Chinese brand was one of the world’s leading manufacturers of NEV’s, it was virtually unknown to Irish consumers and faced the challenge of breaking into a marketplace dominated by familiar and trusted European brands.

THE OPPORTUNITY

With no existing brand equity in Ireland and a lean marketing budget relative to established competitors, BYD held the ultimate strategic advantage: a superior product experience primed for viral word-of-mouth. Under the campaign platform “The Biggest Car Brand You’ve Never Heard About,” MDL appointed THINKHOUSE as BYD's consumer PR and brand advocacy partner.

STRATEGIC APPROACH

Our goal was to quickly establish BYD as a sought-after brand in Ireland by converting potential curiosity into trial, and in turn trusted WOM recommendations.

Buying a car is a high-involvement, high-risk decision. Particularly when considering a NEV - a new but rapidly expanding category - consumers do not rely solely on corporate ad claims; they seek peer validation.

Creator marketing was the obvious way in: 74% of people trust peers as much as scientists when evaluating new innovations, highlighting that personal, lived experience carries far greater weight than brand assertions. Furthermore, research from System1, WPP Media and TikTok proved that creator-led campaigns deliver 23% higher Brand Memory Lift than traditional advertising.

And while we hosted influencer and creator events at the brand launches in Cork and Dublin to drive initial awareness and hype, rising creator marketing costs were no match for our budget.

We needed to drive sustained advocacy in an earned capacity.

THE IDEA: BYD CAR CLUB

Enter the BYD Car Club - an always-on, non-paid creator network built for product trial and earned advocacy.

Grounded in exchange rather than paid endorsement, the advocacy model brought BYD directly into creators' everyday lives. Creators were given access to BYD vehicles to integrate into their routines from school runs to grocery shopping, work commutes to weekend trips. While creators were briefed on BYD features and functionalities, they had the creative freedom to tell their own stories of their BYD experiences, in their own style, driving authenticity and trust. And their unpaid recommendations carried more weight than anything the brand could ever claim for itself.

IMPACT:

The BYD Car Club - a trust-first advocacy engine - helped transform an unfamiliar newcomer into one of Ireland’s fastest-growing automotive brands, and a key player in Ireland’s electric future.

Earned Reach & Trust: Since 2023, 80 Irish creators have organically documented their experiences of driving the expanding BYD portfolio (from one car in 2023 to 8 in 2026) across social media. 300+ pieces of organic creator content generated nearly 5 million organic impressions built entirely on earned trust. Brand awareness: 71% - grown x10 in less than 3 years.

Commercial Growth: Less than three years post-launch, BYD ranks among the Top 10 new car registrations in Ireland across all vehicle types (no. 9 in the first half of 2026) with 2026 sales doubling (+100%) year-over-year.

Category Momentum & Market Leadership: BYD's creator-led strategy continues to drive momentum behind Ireland's electric transition, with Battery Electric Vehicles achieving first-time market leadership in Ireland at 26.12% in the first half of 2026, and the BYD Sealion 7 featuring in the Top 5 best-selling Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) brands in Ireland, (SIMI Official data).