Whether you’re selling cars, insurance or even petrol, knowing how to stand out in a competitive marketplace and engage consumers isn’t an easy feat. Automotive marketers often must think outside the box to show off their latest product or to get the brand awareness they need to perform.
As an award-winning automotive SEO agency, we’ve rounded up some of the best automotive marketing campaigns by well-known brands.
Discover the 5 Best Automotive Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You
We’re revved up and ready to bring you the best automotive marketing campaigns from around the world. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.
1. Kia EV3 (Ireland) – Everything but Ordinary (2024)
The Kia EV3 takes sustainability to the next level, as highlighted in this clever campaign by Havas Play Ireland. Kia set out to create a bold, standout initiative that truly embodied its “Everything But Ordinary” positioning. The rollout took a full-channel approach, spanning TV, radio, digital and OOH, designed to maximise reach in a highly competitive EV market. A standout OOH special build on Dublin’s busy Wexford Street placed the EV3 in a striking, high-visibility setting, amplified by supporting video content. The campaign drove major impact with its powerful sustainability theme and message that you can ‘Travel the length of Ireland on a single charge’, establishing Kia as the country’s second-leading EV brand.
2. Citroën – Love at Test Drive (2026)
A creative twist on “love at first sight,” Love at Test Drive by BETC Paris is a cinematic, dramatic campaign showing a car buyer instantly falling for a striking Citroën during a test drive. We follow a woman as she replays her test drive like a memory of an unforgettable romance. Her exaggerated, funny and romantic flashback pulls us in, making it clear that it’s love at first test drive with the renewed Citroën range. The ad convinces us that when you get behind the wheel of a Citroën, you’re not just test driving a car, you’re experiencing a glimpse of your future fantasy.
3. Volkswagen Golf – Eternal Like a Golf (2026)
To mark 50 years of the legendary Golf, Volkswagen explores the idea of eternity, showing how objects can outlast their original purpose and evolve into cultural and personal symbols. Rather than relying on nostalgia, it positions Volkswagen Golf as a forward-looking icon, using contemporary cultural references to connect with younger audiences in a more relevant way. In doing so, Volkswagen reinterprets its 50-year legacy not as history, but as something tangible and future-facing, transforming the Golf into a lasting collection of moments, memories and identity.
4. Toyota – Abuelita’s Food Truck (2026)
Gulf States Toyota delivers a powerful reminder of what great brands can do with “Abuelita’s Food Truck.” In this documentary-style campaign, real-life grandmother Abuelita Aurora shares her heritage with her community, as a Toyota Tundra tows her custom-built food truck, bringing her tamales and story to new streets, new people and new moments.
Created with Erich & Kallman, the campaign goes beyond selling trucks. Rather, it celebrates movement in its truest sense: culture passed down, communities brought together and stories carried forward. It’s not just about where a truck can take you, but what it can help you share along the way.
5. Mazda – 5 Sides of the All-New CX-5 (2026)
The new Mazda CX-5 ad delivers a cinematic, high-impact journey, following a striking red CX-5 as it powers through city streets and into remote, misty roads after dark. With dramatic visuals and a moody soundtrack, the film captures control, performance and confidence at every turn, while subtle interactions with Google Assistant add a modern, connected edge. Flashing messages like “More Discovery,” “More Connection,” and “More Passion” fuel the emotional pull, turning the drive into something deeper than just a journey. It all builds to a bold promise: “More to Move Every Side of You” and an invitation to chase adventure, freedom, and everything in between.
And Some of the Best Automotive Marketing Campaigns You May Have Missed…
We’ve searched through the archives to bring you more great examples of clever automotive marketing from the past.
1. Mercedes Benz Chicken – When No Car Sells a Car (2013)
To launch “Magic Body Control,” Mercedes-Benz used an unlikely star: chickens. Set to Upside Down, the ad shows their bodies moving while their heads stay perfectly still…without ever showing the car. It’s a clever metaphor for the S-Class’s stability, with the car absorbing road movement just as seamlessly. Over a decade later, it remains a memorable example of creative storytelling that proves less can say more.
2. Just Sold My Car – We Buy Any Car (2022-24)
Featuring TikTok star and musician Mufasa, this We Buy Any Car advert is incredibly catchy and uses the Friday remix that Mufasa himself featured on. The reason this campaign was so successful was that it not only featured a well-known character, but other variants of the advert featured genuine customer experiences and the shared joy they felt once they’d sold their car to We Buy Any Car (catchy, right?)
3. Compare the Meerkat (2009-present)
One of the most iconic ad moments of the late 2000s was Compare the Meerkat and its star, Aleksandr. What started in 2009 as a quirky TV ad and interactive website—where users could “compare meerkats” by choosing traits like size and hobbies—quickly became something much bigger.
From those simple beginnings came books, cuddly toys, and a full-blown brand universe. While the campaign has evolved, Aleksandr remains a recognisable face of Compare the Market. For many, the campaign isn’t just memorable, it’s nostalgic. The playful world of meerkats made insurance advertising genuinely fun.
4. Toyota – It’s a Trap!
One of the more unusual yet memorable car adverts, Toyota’s “It’s a Trap!” campaign quickly gained global attention. Set beside a seemingly broken-down Toyota Corolla, the ad shows a woman appearing to need help—until passing drivers refuse to stop. When questioned, one driver warns, “It’s a trap—have you ever seen a broken-down Corolla?” The scene then flips in classic dramatic fashion as the woman reveals herself as a disguised villain.
Released in 1997 alongside news that the Corolla was the world’s best-selling car, the campaign cleverly reinforced its message of reliability. What began in Puerto Rico soon spread internationally, turning a bizarre twist into a globally recognised piece of automotive advertising.
5. BP’s Carbon Footprint PR Stunt (2004)
The term “carbon footprint” was never pioneered by a climate change activist or environmental group. Instead, one of the biggest polluters, BP (British Petroleum), released a carbon footprint calculator to show how the consumer was impacting the amount of carbon released into the world.
Prior to this campaign from BP, the term ‘carbon footprint’ wasn’t used, and hadn’t applied to consumers either. Nowadays, it’s everywhere. In terms of a marketing campaign’s success, having a word become part of our everyday lexicon is a marketer’s dream. However, in this scenario, it’s easy to see how a large oil conglomerate has successfully pushed the blame and responsibility of climate change onto our individual buying habits.
A successful marketing campaign? Absolutely. A marketing campaign created for the right reason? Absolutely not.
6. Lotus Eletre – A Portal to the Future (2022)
In a two-tone advert, Lotus launched the Lotus Eletre. The Eletre is a world-first electric Hyper-SUV and the advert matches the tone and feel of the car. It also denotes a new step in the Lotus history into their electric era.
The simple colours mixed with powerful music and spoken word help to produce an ad that moves away from roaring engines and petrol to one where the car itself does the talking.
7. Cazoo – Yeah You Can! (2019)
Cazoo is a challenger online car dealership, set up to rival platforms such as Autotrader. They offer cars that are vetted and checked by mechanics before being sold and are delivered straight to your house. Cazoo used an interesting marketing tactic to help increase brand awareness which was their catchphrase “Cazoo yeah you can.”
Long story short, no one has figured out what “Cazoo yeah you can” actually means. It’s got people talking about the brand, even if it is tinged with confusion.
Are you looking to create an automotive digital marketing campaign that gets people talking?
Here at MRS, we’ve won awards for our work with automotive companies and those operating in the automotive industry. Why not see what our automotive SEO or PPC services could do for you? Get in touch.
