3.67M Views from a Cat Channel — Why HeyDealer Skipped Auto YouTubers
Key Takeaways
- · 헤이딜러 협업 크리에이터 19명 중 자동차 채널은 3명(16%)에 불과하며, 예능·음식·펫 채널이 다수
- · 평균 조회수 618,177회로 자동차·모빌리티 카테고리 평균(243,934회)의 2.53배
- · 조회수 상위 3개 영상 모두 비자동차 채널(펫 367만, 여행 125만, 음식 94만)에서 발생
- · 딜러 출신 창업자가 만든 판매 특화 포지셔닝이 크로스 카테고리 전략의 기반
- · 스토리텔링형 PPL이 직접 리뷰 대비 조회수와 댓글 수 모두 우수
The top-performing video for an automotive brand came from a pet channel. It wasn't an accident.
Of HeyDealer's 22 YouTube collaborations, the most-watched wasn't a car review. It was "Cat Riding a Benz" by pet channel 언더월드 UNDER WORLD, hitting 3.67 million views. Only 3 of the 19 collaborating creators (16%) are automotive channels. The other 84% come from entertainment, food, pets, and travel.
A Platform Built by an Ex-Dealer
HeyDealer's origin story sets it apart. Founder Park Jinwoo started at a Seoul National University startup club, then deliberately took a job as a used car dealer to understand the market firsthand. After working the floor since 2014, he founded the company in 2015 with the concept: "The car selling experience we've always wanted."
The brand campaigns are equally distinctive. Ads featuring top Korean actresses Kim Hye-soo and Han So-hee open with "Let's break up" — a line that only reveals it means selling a car at the very end. Director Park Chan-wook (of Oldboy fame) even helmed one campaign. HeyDealer Zero lets sellers complete the entire process without meeting a single dealer, and the license plate price checker delivers instant valuations.
Key Metrics: 2.5x the Category Average
HeyDealer's YouTube performance tracked by Dhesy, compared against 125 brands in the Automotive & Mobility category.
| Metric | HeyDealer | Category Average | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg Views | 618,177 | 243,934 | 2.53x |
| Engagement Rate | 2.17% | 1.61% | 1.35x |
| Collaborating Creators | 19 | — | — |
| Total Views | 12,794,722 | — | — |
Across the Dhesy platform, 1,752 creators and 2,172 brands produced 4,832 collaborations in the past three months.
Category Distribution: Auto Is Only 16%
The 19 creators span 10 categories. Entertainment leads with 4 creators; automotive ranks third with just 3.
헤이딜러 협업 크리에이터 카테고리 분포
* Source: Dhesy
Entertainment channels 딘딘은 딘딘, 정형돈의 제목없음TV, and 김계정; food channels 먹어볼래TryToEat and 헌터퐝; plus pet channel 언더월드 UNDER WORLD — non-auto creators dominate the roster.
Why a Pet Channel Hit 3.67M Views
The top video was 언더월드 UNDER WORLD's "Cat Riding a Benz." The title itself does the heavy lifting — juxtaposing "Benz" with a pet channel creates immediate curiosity. Viewers clicking for cute cat content encounter an unexpected automotive tie-in, and the cognitive dissonance drives engagement.
Second place: travel channel 김치와 바게뜨 at 1.25M views. Third: food channel 먹어볼래TryToEat at 940K. Meanwhile, auto specialist 김한용의 MOCAR peaked at just 210K — a stark contrast.
조회수 상위 협업 영상
* Source: Dhesy
21,000 Comments from a Food Channel Collab
Food channel 헌터퐝 (1.69M subscribers) posted "Secretly Bought a Car and Got Kicked Out" — 894K views and 21,252 comments, the highest comment count across all HeyDealer collaborations.
The title tells you why: it's a couple conflict story. HeyDealer appears not as the star, but as the tool for solving the problem — "I need to sell this car I bought behind my partner's back." The brand dissolves into the narrative instead of interrupting it, which is precisely why engagement spiked.
"Sell with HeyDealer" — Positioning Dictates Strategy
External surveys show HeyDealer holds 45% of the used car selling market, leading Encar (24%) by 21 points. In the purchasing market, Encar dominates at 53%.
This asymmetric positioning is what makes cross-category marketing viable. Selling a car isn't a niche interest — it's a universal life event. HeyDealer doesn't need viewers to want a car right now. It needs them to remember one name when that inevitable moment arrives. Brand awareness, not purchase conversion, is the KPI — and that works on any audience.
Takeaways for Marketers
| Audience | Insight |
|---|---|
| Brand Marketers | If your product serves a "someday" need, non-endemic channels can deliver superior awareness ROI. Set long-term brand recall KPIs, not immediate conversions. |
| Creators | Automotive brands may generate higher ER on non-auto channels. Storytelling-based PPL outperforms direct reviews in both views and comments. |
| Agencies | The 2.5x category average benchmark validates cross-category strategy — but only when the brand's positioning (sell-side focus) supports broad audience targeting. |
FAQ
Q. What type of creators does HeyDealer mostly work with?
A. According to Dhesy data, HeyDealer partners more with entertainment (4), food (2), and travel (2) creators than automotive channels (3). 19 creators span 10 categories.
Q. What is the average view count for HeyDealer sponsored videos?
A. Across 22 videos, the average is 618,177 views with 2.17% engagement — 2.5x the Automotive & Mobility category average (243,934 views, 1.61%).
Q. Why does partnering with non-auto channels work?
A. Selling a used car is a universal need unrelated to specific interests. HeyDealer's top three videos by views all came from pet, travel, and food channels.
Q. What is HeyDealer Zero?
A. A service where professional evaluators handle the entire selling process — inspection to auction — so sellers never meet a dealer.
Methodology: Based on Dhesy platform data covering 3,600+ brands and 64,000 collaboration videos. Data source: Dhesy External sources: Electronic Times, MotorGraph, Google Think Last updated: 2026-03-23