Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc? (Vol 2)

[selym]

AJB1971 said:

MDL111 said:

There is an (imo interesting) article on Bloomberg re automotive influencers

Yes, I thought so, too.

The link is here for anybody else wanting to read the article -
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-25...

They didn’t like the fact that Tim refused an interview request. At least that’s the way it comes across from this -
“Tim is absolutely flat-out busy with the creation of content for his YouTube channel,” Burton’s assistant wrote in reply to an interview request, noting it would take six months before Shmee had an opening in his schedule for a phone call. “It is part of the life of an influencer: never time and always lived by the algorithms of YouTube.”  

It makes you wonder how anyone has the time to eat if they can't find 10 minutes in their schedule to take a call.

[egor110]

selym said:

It makes you wonder how anyone has the time to eat if they can't find 10 minutes in their schedule to take a call.

Do food vlogs then get paid to eat

[selym]

egor110 said:

selym said:

It makes you wonder how anyone has the time to eat if they can't find 10 minutes in their schedule to take a call.

Do food vlogs then get paid to eat

Thinking there.....

[GOATever]

selym said:

It makes you wonder how anyone has the time to eat if they can't find 10 minutes in their schedule to take a call.

“Influencer” this is a term that makes me cringe, like I’ve stuffed a load of Haribo Tangfastic in my gob, and taken a swig from a bottle of vinegar. These monkeys ‘influencers’ seem to get a lot, for doing nothing but ‘wearing some clothes / make up, talking about cars which they seemingly know little about’ etc. etc. etc. People ‘subscribe’ to watch the planks, advertisers / companies give them money. Okay, that seems to be the way of the world now, but when said ‘influencers’ start ejecting the Tampon / become a massive tool / refuse simple phone calls, because they are ‘bigger than that’ it really does make me despair. Why don’t the money men just bin them, the second they start being a little bh?

[fridaypassion]

I think influencer is a term you could use for 14 year old girls been tempted to buy make up but for a grown adult to buy a car? Nah. There are some hype bubbles that are created (Jimny anyone?) occasionally but most often I would say it's totally the other way round the Youtubers are dependant on the new cars for their videos. All the content on new car releases is by and large the same positive report so there's nothing in a new car review that would change your mind from buying a Ford Focus to buying a Golf. The one area where you may be tempted into a sale is reviews of older cars where you might not even be aware of the model but obviously that's of no commercial interest to a manufacturer.

I think it was on one of the Harris podcasts that the relationship is a bit toxic between the new media and car manufacturers as has been covered many times on these pages.

I don't blame Tim for not wanting to talk to a paper. What relevance does it have for him? Not his target audience and it's largely irrelevant what some rag wants to print about youtube.

[Tickle]

I've just finished watching a young'ish youtuber review an Exige 410, Jack Scarlett. Seems enthusiastic, plenty of external footage too.

[jayemm89]

I have emails from a very large number of people saying that I helped them in their decision to purchase a Lotus. Did I make them buy the car? No, but I was helpful. Lotus obviously is an exception because it is a niche brand with very little coverage from the mainstream YT crowd (at least until recently).

I wouldn't like anybody to make a sole buying decision based on my own advice - that's nothing to do with being a YTer - but I like to offer an additional viewpoint to those already considering a car, or simply a bit of information about a forgotten gem.

As regards Tim and Bloomberg, I would also think twice about any interview in any kind of traditional media - the potential for your own words to be twisted/skewed to suit their viewpoint is massive.

[Shmee]

Unfortunately it's all about timing, the interview request came in about 6-7 days before publishing and during that week I had a full day drive through Death Valley with no signal, return long haul 12hr flights to Germany with an intense schedule there, and came straight back in to a press launch that means it would have been impossible.

As a result for my team the request didn't even land on my plate because they knew I didn't have time for it when required by Bloomberg. As it happens I have actually met the author, Hannah Elliott, a few times as she is Magnus Walker's girlfriend so they travel together to many events.

[fridaypassion]

jayemm89 said:

I have emails from a very large number of people saying that I helped them in their decision to purchase a Lotus. Did I make them buy the car? No, but I was helpful. Lotus obviously is an exception because it is a niche brand with very little coverage from the mainstream YT crowd (at least until recently).

I wouldn't like anybody to make a sole buying decision based on my own advice - that's nothing to do with being a YTer - but I like to offer an additional viewpoint to those already considering a car, or simply a bit of information about a forgotten gem.

As regards Tim and Bloomberg, I would also think twice about any interview in any kind of traditional media - the potential for your own words to be twisted/skewed to suit their viewpoint is massive.

Helped me buy my 410 there was hardly any press on the 4XX cars at all so it was useful to know a bit about owning one. I would argue that vlogs documenting ownership are of much higher value to a consumer. Difficult for manufacturers to provide though. Something like Evo fastfleet would be virtually impossible to translate to YT.

[AlexNJ89]

Shmee said:

Unfortunately it's all about timing, the interview request came in about 6-7 days before publishing and during that week I had a full day drive through Death Valley with no signal, return long haul 12hr flights to Germany with an intense schedule there, and came straight back in to a press launch that means it would have been impossible.

As a result for my team the request didn't even land on my plate because they knew I didn't have time for it when required by Bloomberg. As it happens I have actually met the author, Hannah Elliott, a few times as she is Magnus Walker's girlfriend so they travel together to many events.

Furthermore, there is no advantage to you giving a quote for that article.

[David87]

Top stuff with the GT500, Tim. Fingers crossed you get the Track Pack allocation as it’s such an amazing car.

[Earthdweller]

jayemm89 said:

Oooh, Harry is doing a Ford GT. That's my evening's entertainment sorted

Indeed it was excellent!

Just watched your Z4m review ... enjoyable and pretty spot on

You ought to try one back to back with an Si as many feel the Si is a better more useable car than the M

That would be an interesting comparison

Keep em coming,really enjoying the vids .. the M series has been excellent

[scottydoesntknow]

AJB1971 said:

“Tim is absolutely flat-out busy with the creation of content for his YouTube channel,” Burton’s assistant wrote in reply to an interview request, noting it would take six months before Shmee had an opening in his schedule for a phone call.

Schmark is such a fking knob.

[jayemm89]

Note here the difference between Tim not even being in an area of signal for a week vs "he's too busy for six months to talk to you" - this is why I'd be cautious about speaking to that kind of media outlet.

[AJB1971]

jayemm89 said:

Note here the difference between Tim not even being in an area of signal for a week vs "he's too busy for six months to talk to you" - this is why I'd be cautious about speaking to that kind of media outlet.

I look at it differently to you.

The journalist contacted Tim’s business and got a reply back, in writing, saying that he was too busy and it would take six months before he had an opening in his schedule for a phone call.

It would have been better to have just declined the request. Saying that he wouldn’t be available for a phone conversation within the next six months sounds ridiculous and makes him appear arrogant. A strange response from a business that you would expect to be skilled in public relations.

The journalist wasn’t to know that Tim hadn’t been notified of the request. She probably thought that he was messing her around and decided to include the quotes from the reply in her article, ostensibly to show how busy influencers were, but in reality, knowing it showed Tim in a bad light. It may also have prompted her to add the ‘round-faced Brit’ description.

I don’t know what Tim’s dealings with Magnus Walker (the author's partner) have been in the past or whether there was the expectation of a favour. I also don’t know whether he routinely avoids interviews, something I would be surprised at given his involvement here and his willingness to argue his case. I was surprised that Seb was featured in the article and you have to wonder whether this was down to Tim's unavailability.

So, a bit of a misunderstanding, albeit one which stemmed from the response from Tim’s business.

As far as I’m aware, Bloomberg is a well-respected business news orientated organisation. I thought the article was fair and balanced.

Edited by AJB1971 on Sunday 27th October 15:19

[scottydoesntknow]

AJB1971 said:

I look at it differently to you.

Precisely.

"Tim's very busy on a US road trip right now and his phone signal is patchy at best so I don't think he can contribute on this occasion. Hopefully we can work together on something in the future, many thanks for your interest."

Same message, completely different tone.

[Shmee]

Despite the speculation here I have now seen the full message exchange and it is exactly what I thought.

She reached out, the reply back explained that I was flat out and unavailable within her timeframe, with Marc offering to speak by phone and answer any questions he could for her. She then wrote a one liner: "we are focusing only on the influencers themselves for this story." so he offered again including mention that if a long list of questions was put in an e-mail it might be 6 months before we get it all answered and that he couldn't answer most things for me directly.

There was no further reply.

[AJB1971]

Shmee said:

Despite the speculation here I have now seen the full message exchange and it is exactly what I thought.

She reached out, the reply back explained that I was flat out and unavailable within her timeframe, with Marc offering to speak by phone and answer any questions he could for her. She then wrote a one liner: "we are focusing only on the influencers themselves for this story." so he offered again including mention that if a long list of questions was put in an e-mail it might be 6 months before we get it all answered and that he couldn't answer most things for me directly.

There was no further reply.

I can understand why she would think you were being deliberately obstructive.

The initial request was declined due to time pressures, which is reasonable, but the mention of ‘it might be 6 months before we get it all answered’ doesn’t sound good. Journalists have their own deadlines to meet and an interview with your business manager is not the same as one with you.

That’s just my opinion.

Edited by AJB1971 on Sunday 27th October 16:41

[lemmingjames]

Is schmark really Tim just sounding off?

Is Schmee, Tim?

I am Spartacuschmee

[timrud]

Yeah that's been handled really badly, I'm sure you are aware of this already and had the appropiate chat with the offending member of staff.