Nova and BrandSpace put radio and retail media to work for BYD this Christmas

Nova Entertainment has teamed up with BYD Australia and WPP Media on an integrated Christmas campaign. It asks Nova FM listeners to help build a national map of the best festive light displays, with activity running on radio, on Westfield retail media screens, and at a live street party in December.

The campaign launched on 2 November and centres on the BYD Christmas Lights Map. Listeners can nominate their favourite decorated streets via the Nova win page, and five $1,000 cash prizes are on offer. The resulting map is meant to help families find light displays in their area.

The activity extends into participating Westfield centres through Nova Entertainment’s partnership with BrandSpace, the retail media division of Scentre Group. BrandSpace SmartScreen and SuperScreen placements will ask shoppers to submit locations, adding to the map.

A block party with Fitzy, Wippa & Kate

The campaign finishes with a street celebration hosted by Nova’s national drive show, Fitzy, Wippa & Kate. A separate competition asks listeners to send a photo of their home Christmas display and explain why they decorate each year.

The show will broadcast live from the winner’s street in December and host a block party there, with a prize pool of up to $50,000 given away on the day.

“At NOVA, we create meaningful connections between brands and audiences by combining the influence of creators, the scale of audio, the power of experiences and the precision of data-led media solutions,” said Nova Entertainment Chief Commercial Officer Nicole Bence.

“This partnership with BYD and WPP Media demonstrates how powerful integrated thinking can be, bringing together NOVA’s content ecosystem and BrandSpace’s retail media network to connect with Australians across every stage of their festive journey.”

The idea behind the campaign

WPP Media Investment and Activation Director Courtney Martin said the agency started from something audiences already do.

“For us, the opportunity was to find a cultural moment where BYD could play a genuine role, rather than just show up around it. We landed on this simple insight that every Christmas, Australians are already piling into their cars with family and friends to go searching for the best Christmas lights,” Martin said.

“So rather than inventing a new behaviour, we built around one people already love. From there, the idea really wrote itself: the lights are the destination, but BYD makes the journey possible.”

At the street party, BYD will use its Vehicle-to-Load technology, which lets a car’s battery power external equipment, to help run the event.

“Some of our fondest holiday moments happen in the car, whether it’s a summer road trip or a night out spotting Christmas lights with the family. Audio is a natural part of those journeys, so it felt right to show up alongside NOVA in a way that adds to the season,” said BYD Australia and New Zealand Chief Marketing Officer Kate Hornstein.

“As a brand driven by technology, we’re excited to showcase our Vehicle-to-Load capability at the street party, helping power the festivities, literally as well as figuratively.”

The Nova and BrandSpace partnership

The campaign is one of the first major executions of the strategic partnership Nova Entertainment and BrandSpace announced in March. That deal gives advertisers one pathway to plan, buy, and measure campaigns across Nova’s audio network and more than 40 Westfield retail destinations.

The two companies say the combined offering reaches more than 12.2 million Australians across radio, music, podcasts, digital, retail media, and in-centre activations.

Georgia Tomaszewski, Head of Client and Business Partnerships at Scentre Group BrandSpace, pointed to research on pairing audio with retail out-of-home (ROOH) advertising.

“We’re excited to bring our partnership with NOVA to life for BYD this Christmas. With Westfield at the heart of the festive season, our SmartScreen and SuperScreen network will reach highly engaged customers as they prepare and shop for Christmas, amplifying the campaign and encouraging participation in the competition and event,” Tomaszewski said.

“It’s a powerful example of audio and ROOH working together to deliver greater impact for partners, with our recent Analytic Partners study showing that pairing the two channels drives 6% higher ROI on average.”

The study cited is Analytic Partners’ 2026 research produced with Scentre Group BrandSpace, titled The role of ROOH redefined.