Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc? (Vol 2)
Discussion
andy_s said:
Do the influencers influence much - I'd always assumed they were just 'window dressing' / free adverts for the car companies but nothing that would materialise in sales [maybe the odd one or two?]
If I wanted to get another car I already have a vague idea and Harris et al would be my go-to to get the realistic impressions of it.
I quite like Doug DeMuro's stuff just for watchability, all sorts of cars [Trabant to AM Lagonda] which he pokes around in to find the idiosyncrasies and so on, plus Jay Leno for, well, it's Jay Leno.
It's scattershot marketing, like press adverts. People see it, the more you do it the more they see it the more it sticks. Can you actually attribute it to direct sales? No. Can you match your marketing pushes to rises in web traffic match campaign UTM's (unique marketing tags) we use these a lot to segment? If I wanted to get another car I already have a vague idea and Harris et al would be my go-to to get the realistic impressions of it.
I quite like Doug DeMuro's stuff just for watchability, all sorts of cars [Trabant to AM Lagonda] which he pokes around in to find the idiosyncrasies and so on, plus Jay Leno for, well, it's Jay Leno.
Usually, this splash style advertising is matched to PPC adverts and landing pages and the like, its not always going to work.
egor110 said:
1602Mark said:
Enjoyed watching Dan having a crack at sprint events. I know they’re not for everyone but the voiceover gives a good insight.
It looked a right handful for most of the laps , be good if he gave hill climbing a go .SOL thinks his old Lambo sounds good with 12 cylinders? This is way more special with just 8! Headphone users beware!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyqJxXolico
Lord-Haggis said:
andy_s said:
Do the influencers influence much - I'd always assumed they were just 'window dressing' / free adverts for the car companies but nothing that would materialise in sales [maybe the odd one or two?]
If I wanted to get another car I already have a vague idea and Harris et al would be my go-to to get the realistic impressions of it.
I quite like Doug DeMuro's stuff just for watchability, all sorts of cars [Trabant to AM Lagonda] which he pokes around in to find the idiosyncrasies and so on, plus Jay Leno for, well, it's Jay Leno.
It's scattershot marketing, like press adverts. People see it, the more you do it the more they see it the more it sticks. Can you actually attribute it to direct sales? No. Can you match your marketing pushes to rises in web traffic match campaign UTM's (unique marketing tags) we use these a lot to segment? If I wanted to get another car I already have a vague idea and Harris et al would be my go-to to get the realistic impressions of it.
I quite like Doug DeMuro's stuff just for watchability, all sorts of cars [Trabant to AM Lagonda] which he pokes around in to find the idiosyncrasies and so on, plus Jay Leno for, well, it's Jay Leno.
Usually, this splash style advertising is matched to PPC adverts and landing pages and the like, its not always going to work.
Not my cup of chai but good luck to them - can't knock the effort/gumption and if they make a fortune then fair one.
andy_s said:
Do the influencers influence much - I'd always assumed they were just 'window dressing' / free adverts for the car companies but nothing that would materialise in sales [maybe the odd one or two?]
If I wanted to get another car I already have a vague idea and Harris et al would be my go-to to get the realistic impressions of it.
I quite like Doug DeMuro's stuff just for watchability, all sorts of cars [Trabant to AM Lagonda] which he pokes around in to find the idiosyncrasies and so on, plus Jay Leno for, well, it's Jay Leno.
Agree with the above, minus Jay Leno because, well, it's Jay Leno...If I wanted to get another car I already have a vague idea and Harris et al would be my go-to to get the realistic impressions of it.
I quite like Doug DeMuro's stuff just for watchability, all sorts of cars [Trabant to AM Lagonda] which he pokes around in to find the idiosyncrasies and so on, plus Jay Leno for, well, it's Jay Leno.
95JO said:
CharlieH89 said:
Shmee said:
Chris Harris isn't a fan of me, and has made numerous tweets and Instagram posts making that very clear. The last time I was near him I said hello and he blanked me, which is a shame given I used to respect what he was capable of doing.
Did you greet him with ‘Hi Chris I’m Shmee’ 
The old print media and terrestrial tv is dead. The youtubers have found a better way to engage with their audience that's what pees of Harris/Nidell etc I agree totally with Tim the old guys have failed to grasp it. The younger digital native generation have really got it and seem to be born to know how to harness its power. The automotive sector is a minnow compared to how younger people are earning from fashion/makeup/kids entertainment.
The quality of what you get is variable of course but there's something for everyone. The real issue as discussed many times already is just that there is no objective reporting on new cars any more. Most new cars are s
te. This is a fact but most of the manufacturers get away with churning white goods out now because most of the "influencers" are of a generation now where they have never really driven proper analogue cars.
If Harris is on a quest for fame he's got the right job. If he's on a quest to be taken really serious by car geeks he's still got the best job really. He wants to be doing some planning for 5 years time though. I would guess top gear will go off air eventually as terrestrial just continues to loose relevance. With no YT profile that could be a bit of an issue.
The quality of what you get is variable of course but there's something for everyone. The real issue as discussed many times already is just that there is no objective reporting on new cars any more. Most new cars are s
te. This is a fact but most of the manufacturers get away with churning white goods out now because most of the "influencers" are of a generation now where they have never really driven proper analogue cars. If Harris is on a quest for fame he's got the right job. If he's on a quest to be taken really serious by car geeks he's still got the best job really. He wants to be doing some planning for 5 years time though. I would guess top gear will go off air eventually as terrestrial just continues to loose relevance. With no YT profile that could be a bit of an issue.
1602Mark said:
egor110 said:
1602Mark said:
Enjoyed watching Dan having a crack at sprint events. I know they’re not for everyone but the voiceover gives a good insight.
It looked a right handful for most of the laps , be good if he gave hill climbing a go .SOL thinks his old Lambo sounds good with 12 cylinders? This is way more special with just 8! Headphone users beware!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyqJxXolico
Hill climb you get no chance to warm brakes or tyres it’s just full on .
fridaypassion said:
The old print media and terrestrial tv is dead. The youtubers have found a better way to engage with their audience that's what pees of Harris/Nidell etc I agree totally with Tim the old guys have failed to grasp it. The younger digital native generation have really got it and seem to be born to know how to harness its power. The automotive sector is a minnow compared to how younger people are earning from fashion/makeup/kids entertainment.
The quality of what you get is variable of course but there's something for everyone. The real issue as discussed many times already is just that there is no objective reporting on new cars any more. Most new cars are ste. This is a fact but most of the manufacturers get away with churning white goods out now because most of the "influencers" are of a generation now where they have never really driven proper analogue cars.
If Harris is on a quest for fame he's got the right job. If he's on a quest to be taken really serious by car geeks he's still got the best job really. He wants to be doing some planning for 5 years time though. I would guess top gear will go off air eventually as terrestrial just continues to loose relevance. With no YT profile that could be a bit of an issue.
I would hardly suggest Harris has no YT profile. He has an account himself with 431k subscribers on a channel he has not posted on for 2 years because of his Top Gear contract. Top Gear has 6.6M YT subscribers which is ok for a dying brand. No doubt a number would follow Chris to his channel if he were to leave.The quality of what you get is variable of course but there's something for everyone. The real issue as discussed many times already is just that there is no objective reporting on new cars any more. Most new cars are s
te. This is a fact but most of the manufacturers get away with churning white goods out now because most of the "influencers" are of a generation now where they have never really driven proper analogue cars. If Harris is on a quest for fame he's got the right job. If he's on a quest to be taken really serious by car geeks he's still got the best job really. He wants to be doing some planning for 5 years time though. I would guess top gear will go off air eventually as terrestrial just continues to loose relevance. With no YT profile that could be a bit of an issue.
fridaypassion said:
The old print media and terrestrial tv is dead. The youtubers have found a better way to engage with their audience that's what pees of Harris/Nidell etc I agree totally with Tim the old guys have failed to grasp it.
Yet in doing so we had the launch of Drivetribe by Clarkson, May and Hammond, the Grand Tour has over a million subs and Harris has 400K+ subscribers and 1.9M as part of Drive and all despite failing to grasp it? Terrestrial TV may be dead but neither Amazon or the BBC are reliant on it are they?DannyScene said:
To me chris harris comments come across as quite pathetic, there's a bunch of people reviewing cars getting a big audience and doing their own thing, I don't understand why he feel the need to chip in and have a dig
Indeed, it's like he doesn't think anyone is worthy or motoring stardom unless they have a history of motor racing and comes across as rather jealous/upset that someone is doing well by doing it their way.Dunno, for me it sounds more like there aren't many Vloggers out there that produce content CH would enjoy himself. I'm in the same boat. It's not the medium or the success that matters. I just find most younger guys' content pretty shallow as I'm more interested in the engineering, industrial design and driving side of things. There's also surprising little criticism of the products out there, "amazing" seems to be the new "a bit meh" in YT land...
I'm not worried though, some they will get there in the end -- independent of medium one can't avoid getting old and grumpy
.
I'm not worried though, some they will get there in the end -- independent of medium one can't avoid getting old and grumpy
.Ahbefive said:
DannyScene said:
To me chris harris comments come across as quite pathetic, there's a bunch of people reviewing cars getting a big audience and doing their own thing, I don't understand why he feel the need to chip in and have a dig
Indeed, it's like he doesn't think anyone is worthy or motoring stardom unless they have a history of motor racing and comes across as rather jealous/upset that someone is doing well by doing it their way.InitialDave said:
Cheer up, we're up to episode 4 of Harry's Farm, and he's still showing no sign of wrapping his tractor and driving it around Knightsbridge.
That may be the case, but what colour is the tractor's key, is its new exhaust a lot louder and has he had the stitching on the seat changed to a different colour?Ultimately, what do the YooToobers offer? They all seem to turn up at the same event or launch. Rinse and repeat. I remember they all went to Le Mans one year (2017 maybe) and they were never seen before or after. In other words, they are just taking advantage of free trips but I refer to my previous statement, what is the point? I had a look at TGE's latest offerings and at the start he's peddling some crappy watch, which is then promptly discarded for a Patek for crying out loud. The guy claims to be a watch enthusiast and I seem to recall he was offering advice on what to buy. Has the question in the thread topic been answered yet?
1602Mark said:
Yet in doing so we had the launch of Drivetribe by Clarkson, May and Hammond, the Grand Tour has over a million subs and Harris has 400K+ subscribers and 1.9M as part of Drive and all despite failing to grasp it? Terrestrial TV may be dead but neither Amazon or the BBC are reliant on it are they?
Drivetribe will disappear the second their VC funding dries up. The 3 stooges do very very piecemeal content for DT obviously the minimum they were contracted to do. Give it 12 months it will be gone. TG aren't really a top content maker either. No cash in it I guess as Evo sadly found. Its like any business if you employ 20 people to produce the content its a hiding to nothing on a platform designed around it being an output for an individual and that's the inherent difficulty for Drivetribe/Carfection who Im really hoping will carry on but had their content slowed of late?
Looking at Harris on cars you have to wonder if he might have been better off sticking with that but that's the bit that's hard for a 40 odd year old bloke to grasp. Not taking a job on top gear so you can develop a YouTube channel. With each passing year that statement sounds less daft. A 20 year old would probably stick with YouTube if they had 400k subs.
WarrenB said:
jonm01 said:
Whilst most YouTubers are using clickbait titles and the repetitive 'Shall I buy/I've bought/I've sold' videos and legacy media journos are getting the hump about it, Matt Watson is getting 300k + views for 'Best Small Family cars 2019' so there is still clearly a market for people just reviewing cars in a mildly entertaining fashion..
I always assumed CarWow (and the like) would get decent view counts because the reviews will always be pretty relevant. Someone after a 5 year old Focus will get a good idea of that the car is like by watching one of the older videos, but I was surprised at just how many hits the new videos get too! As for his older videos, I find them useful for reference, especially if am looking for an older SUV.
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