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by Lukas on 29 Oct 2026

What It Actually Takes to Win on Reddit: With Rhidian Taylor (Škoda)  

The Škoda Octavia has long had a reputation as the sensible choice: dependable, practical and, according to some reviewers, a little bit boring. But on Reddit, a community of car enthusiasts had been calling it “our Lord and Saviour” for years. In our latest webinar, Rhidian Taylor shared how Škoda found those superfans and handed them the keys to its newest car.

Rhidian joined Rob Fawkes to go behind the scenes of the Redditor Edit, the Cannes Lions-winning campaign that produced the first car ever configured by a Reddit community. He was refreshingly honest that he went in as a self-confessed Reddit newbie, which makes the story all the more useful for brands that don’t know where to start. Everything he shared in the session reflects his own experience and views.

About Rhidian

Rhidian Taylor is Brand Marketing Manager at Škoda UK. He recently led the Cannes Lions-winning Octavia Redditor Edit campaign. He was a self-confessed Reddit newbie when he started, so he’ll share the lessons he learned and his top tips for engaging your brand’s fans on Reddit. Rhidian has spent over 20 years in brand marketing at Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover, NatWest, Barclaycard, American Express and Vodafone, picking up seven Cannes Lions along the way. His approach is simple: find the human truth, turn it into an idea people want to notice, then make it work commercially.

A few highlights from the conversation
  • Find the fans who already love you: The brief started with an anecdote. Rhidian kept getting stopped by strangers at petrol stations who loved his Octavia. Škoda’s agency found where those people were gathering online: r/CarTalkUK, the UK’s biggest car community, where the Octavia had a cult following.
  • Learn from a false start: Škoda’s first attempt at Reddit, asking parenting subreddits what “familying” meant to them, was firmly rejected. The lesson shaped everything that followed: don’t turn up and take from a community, come with something that adds value.
  • Hand over the keys: Instead of sending the first facelifted Octavia to the motoring press, Škoda offered it to Redditors, taking it from Scotland to the south of England for test drives and letting them post whatever they thought.
  • Let the community design it: When one Redditor suggested a community trim, Škoda turned every customisable part of the car into a comment in a mega thread. The community upvoted their favourites, and the result became the Redditor Edit, a real car customers could order.
  • Take their voices beyond Reddit: With permission, and with Carfest tickets as a thank you, Škoda turned Redditors’ quotes into digital out of home and paid social ads, credited to r/CarTalkUK. Rhidian also noted an unplanned benefit: the conversation still supports Škoda’s visibility in AI search today.
  • Know when to step back: Rhidian’s tips include learning the platform’s language, growing a thick skin, and not outstaying your welcome. Even a simple “help us pick a colour” vote can feel extractive if there’s nothing in it for the community.

The audience Q&A covered whether being a Reddit beginner can be an advantage, how hands-on to be with a mega thread, what signals to look for when reading subreddits in your industry, and how to bring brutally honest Reddit feedback back into the business without it being dismissed.

We’ll be following this up with a deeper piece on the specific tactics and takeaways from the session, so keep an eye out for that.

Catch up on the rest of the series

This was the fourth webinar in our Reddit series, and the series is now taking a break until January. If you missed the earlier sessions, you can catch up here:

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