The auto industry’s rapid transition to electrification presents many unique challenges to legacy carmakers. Brands whose reputations and customer experience have largely rested on mechanical components – engines, transmissions, suspensions – are having to embrace a reality where pure mechanics will no longer be a differentiator. When every car is instantaneously powerful, insanely smooth, and incredibly quiet, new products will succeed based on the seamlessness of their user interface, the quality of their customer experience, and the strength of their brand.
With over 35 years of experience in the art of branding, Brad Usherwood, Founder & Head of Strategy/Creative and Robert Lewocz, Managing Director have spearheaded a variety of ground-breaking campaigns within the automotive industry for esteemed brands such as Porsche, Subaru, GM, Honda and BMW. We have the knowledge and a proven track record that ensures that your EV brand not only stands out but thrives in the Canadian landscape.
Guiding you through the challenges.
The challenges faced by existing brands have also created opportunity for EV startups. Without existing dealer networks to make happy, brands like Lucid, Rivian, Polestar, and Fisker can not only innovate inside their cars with advanced software; they can also create their retail spaces and processes from the ground up, exerting greater control over every aspect of the customer experience – while also gathering and retaining more data to optimize that experience over time. Research from Edmunds.com and other industry bodies shows that electric car buyers are far more likely to switch brands than gasoline buyers, and the rules of what’s “premium” are being re-written as well. In the electric era, brands with little or no history are able to go toe-to-toe with established brands.
Launching and sustaining these brands, especially in Canada, comes with its own set of challenges. The fallacy would be to treat Canada as simply an extension of the U.S., a fifty-first state, if you will. While most Canadians live within 200 kilometres of the American border, and while many of us speak the same language, Canada is a very different automotive market – something every car brand, and especially every premium car brand, has come to understand. For one thing, the economics of buying a car in Canada are simply different. Not only does the average Canadian earn less than the average American, but we pay much higher taxes; the best-selling cars in our country are typically a price and size class below the best-sellers in the U.S. The realities of Canadian weather means we demand more vehicles with standard all-wheel drive. For makers of electric vehicles, the landscape of financial incentives is also very different. Federal incentives are lower than they are in the U.S., with commensurately lower price and income caps; on the other hand, B.C. and Quebec offer generous incentives to certain buyers of EVs, creating a highly regionalized sales picture.
While Canada poses premium EV makers with challenges, there is plenty of opportunity to be had. Our country is typically a very strong market for the top-end models, particularly the performance-oriented ones, from premium brands. Canada typically ranks within the top markets in the world, on a per-capita basis, for Porsche GT, Mercedes AMG, and BMW M models; the Greater Toronto Area is a hotbed for Ferrari and McLaren sales; and the ultra-luxury segment, with cars eclipsing seven-figures, is also very strong.
Conquering the landscape.
The wealth is here in Canada but unlike the U.S., it flies under the radar. High-end customers tend to keep a low profile – sensitive to the reaction their vehicles, and what those vehicles say about their economic status, may cause with colleagues, employees and neighbours. As such, tactics that might work well in the U.S. don’t necessarily work here. Our desire to drive a high-end automobile is more introverted than extroverted, driven by special touchpoints in the marketing funnel and customer experience rather than the ego-driven desire to be seen, admired, and envied. A different kind of communication approach is necessary to reach high-net worth Canadians that is more individualized, more subtle, and more private than the tactics that might work in the States – not least because our privacy laws make buying lists of rich prospects difficult if not impossible. Finding connections to the right individuals – and the right communities – will require local knowledge, and developing partnerships with the right brands and businesses to find quality prospects efficiently and effectively. The work doesn’t stop once you’ve connected with the right audience. Because of our different attitudes, Canadians need to be talked to differently than Americans, even if, for the most part, they speak the same language. (French-speaking Canadians require an even more tailored approach, as the media and cultural landscape, particularly in Quebec, has its own nuances).
While that may mean more effort, the upside is that Canada offers car brands rich storytelling opportunities with our wide-open spaces, unbelievable landscapes, and the incredible diversity of our cities. There simply is no better, or more authentic, landscape than Canada to prove the range, performance, capability, ruggedness, and attraction of a new vehicle, our stunning vistas providing an amazing backdrop for visual content while simultaneously being a stern technical test. Those same locations, many of which are proximal to unique and stunning properties, also provide an exceptional setting for driving experiences where the right prospects can experience the remarkable capability and performance of a new EV for themselves. Like our landscape, launching a new EV brand in Canada is both a huge challenge as well as an exciting opportunity. With the right agency partner as a guide, it’s a chance to re-write the traditional automotive marketing rule book and create something truly special.
The future of electric mobility in Canada is charged with possibilities. Ready to harness them for your brand?
This insightful POV is a result of collaboration between Yield and Laurence Yap, Automotive Journalist, long-time colleague and former Porsche Client.
