6 hours ago
6
Getting front and centre of local sports fans will be key for Denza as the BYD sub-brand begins building awareness.
Denza Australia is looking into a sports sponsorship deal to build brand awareness as it looks to gain a foothold in the Australian market against other premium brands like Genesis and Lexus.
Speaking to Drive, Denza Australia and New Zealand boss Mark Harland said having a presence in a sport speaks to the customer base the BYD sub-brand is trying to target with its B5 and B8 off-road SUVs.
“Australians, as do Kiwis, they love their sport,” Harland said.
“And what I found probably more than any part of the world that I’ve lived in … is people are not just watching sport, they’re playing – they’re swimming, they’re biking, they’re sailing, they’re playing footy on the weekend.
“People are active in sport, and I think participating in some select sports for us, where again, people can drive our cars and use the cars, I think it is something we’re definitely interested in doing.”
Ford’s support of the Geelong Cats men’s AFL team is also the longest running sports sponsorship in the world, with the two brands linked together for over a century.
Harland said Denza would not necessarily go for a headline sport like Toyota and Kia, but would explore activities that allow customers to also interact with its vehicles.
“I don’t think we need necessarily one of the big headline sports being NRL or AFL, but if something came together, I wouldn’t turn them down,” he said.
“I was looking at a couple sponsorship packages, and I said ‘I don’t want to just have naming rights of a sponsorship or a jersey or have a couple of banners in the outfield’, I want to get people in the cars.
“If there is a sponsorship opportunity that allows me some naming rights, and I can have 20 cars out there, and do test drives and VIP transfers, I’m in.
“If I can’t put people in the car then I’m not interested in a thing.
“We’re looking at things from golf to tennis, but a lot of those things are already tied up with long-term sponsorships.
“We’re looking really closely, but the nice thing is a lot of people have come to us and said ‘hey, do you want to sponsor this, you can sponsor that’.
“So we’ve got some good choice in front of us and we’re going to make some decisions going into the beginning of next year.”
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
