How to launch a new brand in a new town

Build Your Dreams – that’s what BYD stands for, and it’s a mantra that Stratstone Group is following as it pins its latest hopes (and dreams) on the launch of the remarkable Chinese brand in this country.

The electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer has already launched the Atto 3 and Dolphin in the UK, and has big plans for the next vehicle in its ‘Oceanic’ range, the Seal. There are plans too for a hybrid choice, among its otherwise full-electric offerings.

So how is Stratstone helping to launch this new brand in a new country? Rob Miller, Stratstone’s national franchise director, explains how the group has just opened a new Milton Keynes showroom.

How to pick a showroom site

When Stratstone initially linked up with BYD, one of the first things it did was identify cities in which to get the range launch underway. BYD plans to have 100 showrooms operating here by the end of 2024.

“We looked at all potential markets and BYD gave us a steer on where they wanted to be placed within that market, with representation around certain areas of the UK to provide a good ROI,” says Rob Miller.

“There were three key areas that we thought could be established straight away – Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Mayfair, London, which we have recently opened.”

The new Milton Keynes site is a former Stratstone Jaguar showroom which had been empty for several months. Set a mile or two from the city centre on an industrial site with other automotive retailers, it’s a spacious and bright sales centre with customer parking, a large workshop and room for a used car lot.

“We were fortunate in the fact that we already had this location in MK that we could use and turn it around quickly. We wanted to get the location open early this year so that we could be part of the BYD launches.”

What else do you need?

Knowledge is important, says Rob. As part of the wider Pendragon Group, Stratstone has access to a lot of data – information that can tell it how well certain areas perform and which are good markets in which to establish a brand and gain footfall.

“At Stratstone, we generate a lot of online inquiries – the majority of our business comes from people who have had a journey online,” says Rob. “When we opened the store in MK, because there are not many BYD dealers around yet, we got a lot of inquiries straight away from people within a big area.”

How do you teach customers about your new brand?

BYD supplied some of the initial brand representation and marketing in the form of a national TV campaign. That was backed by Stratstone which, as a well-established name in the UK, can create its own local representation and marketing in each area.

“Everyone’s heard of Ford, but BYD? Nobody had heard of it, and it’s only now people are starting to learn what it is,” says Rob. “But the benefit to that is BYD has a long history – it’s a story that has not been told.

“For us to now tell that story, it’s helping us overcome the non-awareness of the brand. We can do things like local marketing activity through digital campaigning. We can do product placement in high traffic locations such as Milton Keynes’ big shopping outlet (Centre:MK), where we have cars set up with personal advisers.”

What are the key features that you need in a new outlet?

For the new MK site, Stratstone worked with BYD to discover what the factory expected: brand signage, the way cars are displayed, and how finance agreements should be presented. Stratstone also has its own ‘customer journey’ basics that it thinks are important.

“The customer wants to buy the car their way,” says Rob. “From the finance inquiry online, to test driving the car, it’s looking after them the whole way. And the website is massively important for us to have our online portfolio and our online journey, to be able to give the customer the best experience from start to finish.”

Is each showroom designed uniquely for the location it’s in?

“We have a platform that we know works in regard to sales and aftersales to get repeat business,” says Rob. “We know we also need some form of used car area to generate traffic, so we have a used car display. We can hit a lot of different customer requirements. That’s the fundamentals – but there are differences in each market to a certain degree.

“In Mayfair, the customer base is different, but we are seeing straight away there are a lot of walk-in inquiries. Compare that with MK, where people are maybe 30 minutes away. They will have been online, so they’re not walk-ins. And we’re supporting that online journey.”

Can you use a new dealership to create a brand identity?

“We have had people ringing us and saying: ‘I have just seen this new car on the motorway – what is it?’”, says Rob. And that growing interest and curiosity, he believes, is part of the journey towards creating a new brand identity for BYD as it enters a new country.

“If you can get them in to experience the car, you’re a good way towards getting them to buy one – or at least, it goes on their radar when they are next looking for a car,” Rob adds.

“When we first opened in MK, we understood that a lot of customers we were seeing at the initial outset were EV enthusiasts, or people who were thinking of moving into the EV world.”

To capitalise on this, Stratstone aligned its launch day event with World Earth Day as a concept and held a ‘WED’ opening event. It was a way of linking BYD and EVs together and helped build the brand identity.

How to budget for a new showroom

For the initial MK opening, Stratstone’s senior leadership team, strategy team and board of directors looked at an investment appraisal based on what they needed to spend and when they would get a return. It’s measured in a ‘do we do it or do we not?’ way, says Rob.

“It’s not a budget as such – it’s looking at a return on investment. BYD is growing, the EV market is growing. What can BYD do? What can Stratstone do?

“We get support from the manufacturer in marketing and product support. And we do local marketing activity campaigns on top of that – we almost dovetail on it, to maximise the opportunity.”

YOUR ACTION PLAN

• Develop customer base
• Grow brand awareness both online and offline
• Explain the proposition
• Promote local interest
• Read the Auto Retail Network New Entrants Report 2023