Historically, manufacturers have built and sold cars, and car owners have bought cars and repaired cars. I don't know when there will be an extra "third party" between the brand and the consumer - the car reviewer. When there is a contradiction between manufacturers and consumers, car critics need to come out and preside over justice. The role of car critics is particularly important in the era of self-media. However, with the changes in the ecological environment of the automobile circle, the delicate relationship between the three has gradually been broken.
On January 26, Tesla formally sued the big V "Xiao Gang Senior" with 14 million followers for violating the right to reputation. The car critic's move of "stepping on the electric door to measure the brakes" makes people can't help but think: Do we still need car reviewers?
1. Tens of millions of influencers who have been prosecuted
It all started in April 2021.
Douyin car critic "Xiao gang xuechang" has released two videos titled "Use your own two cars to do an emergency brake test". In the video, Xiao Gang drives the Xiaopeng P7 and Tesla Model 3 into the pre-arranged 1:1 prop paper and inflatable dummy, releases the accelerator pedal at a distance of 50km/h, and controls the vehicle only by the car's automatic emergency braking, so as to determine which of the two vehicles' automatic braking system (AEB) is more sensitive.
The test results showed that the Xiaopeng P7 did not hit the props and dummies, and the vehicle was perfectly stalled, while the Tesla Model 3 hit the dummies. Therefore, Xiao Gangxue grew the conclusion that Tesla AEB was inferior to Xiaopeng Motors.
In order to reflect his fairness and objectivity, Xiao Gang also mentioned many times in the video, "I didn't step on anyone or hold anyone, because both are my own cars." But in fact, the test of Xiao Gang was pointed out by many Tesla car owners to be abnormal, and more professional media found that in the test video, when Xiao Gang drove a Tesla into an emergency brake, the energy bar showed that the car still had power output.
This means that the car has been stepped on the electric door, and tesla after enabling AEB, if it continues to step on the electric door, then AEB will fail. To put it simply, it was this "kick in the door" that made Xiao Gangxue grow up to the above conclusion.
In response, Xiao Gang said that the reason why he clicked the throttle was to meet the test standard of 50km/h, making the test more rigorous and scientific, and not to distort the facts.
However, in the chat records exposed by netizens, Xiao Gang sighed that the control of Tesla Model 3 is really good, and said that the reason for rumors about Tesla is that "the key is not to give me money."
Regardless of how he responded, Senior Xiao Gang had actually admitted that he had indeed stepped on the accelerator one more time before the collision.
The reason for this is simple.
First of all, Tesla is the king of topics. In China, Black Tesla can be regarded as a well-known "traffic password". In the topic related to Tesla, the fission propagation effect is far beyond the usual car video.
Secondly, looking back at the time of the release of these two videos, it is the period when Tesla female car owners were dragged away at the Shanghai Auto Show to defend their rights, and Tesla was controversial due to "brake failure". For self-media car critics, this is simply a "hot spot" sent to the hand, not rubbing white and not rubbing.
Xiao Gang, who is well versed in the survival of self-media, will naturally not let go of such a good opportunity to rub traffic. However, he forgot that he was first a "car critic" and then an "internet celebrity".
2. Changes in automobile publicity
The transformation of the identity of car critics can be seen in the environment of the Internet.
Car critics in the traditional Internet period are mainly contracted by car brands of major portals and vertical websites such as Auto Home, and car reviews rely on professional media people with a certain amount of automotive knowledge. With the rise of WeChat, car critics have also caught up with the dividends of self-media. Car reviewers of traditional websites began to stand on their own portals and switched to private domains such as public accounts. When short videos and live broadcasts swept the Internet, the identity of car critics changed again. The attractiveness of traditional media and graphic self-media to the public has gradually decreased, but short video celebrities and various anchors have occupied an increasing proportion in the car review industry.
The marketing budget of the entire automotive market has also been tilted to the live broadcast field. The original car publicity was only a routine car show, the evaluation and test drive of media people, celebrity endorsements, and film and television sponsorship. After the short video, there are obviously more tricks, and car reviewers have become an important carrier of car publicity. It can be said that the content of car reviewers largely determines the direction of car publicity.
However, the current situation of demons and ghosts has made more and more people lose confidence in car reviews.
At the beginning of last year, Xiao Gang and another car critic "pleased the old driver" because the ideal one sprayed each other on the network, Xiao Gang as a firm supporter of the ideal one was "pleased the old driver" implied to be recharged, so it was called "recharge gang" by netizens.
Prior to that, he also directed and acted in a car-carrying farce. In the video, Xiao Gang deliberately scratched the right front door when mentioning a BMW M4, and finally directly removed the door, digging a hole as a stove to cook vegetables outdoors.
While this video has been criticized, it has also allowed Xiao Gang to harvest a large wave of traffic.
This is also the current situation of the car review industry: exaggerating facts, throwing dirty water at each other, and chaos.
There are countless videos like this on the web. The most popular "zoo system" in the car review industry, such as Monkey Brother and Eight Commandments, are mostly of this type. The raucous content and bizarre characters helped them capture a lot of eyes in a short period of time. From a marketing perspective, this approach really works. But car critics who are becoming more and more popular seem to be divorced from the essence of car reviews. Entertainment and specialization are put before the horse, resulting in more and more public doubts about car critics.
3. Favored "influencers"
Tesla's attitude of not recharging and not marketing has always been consistent, always believing that the product itself is advertising. But for most car companies, marketing is still very important.
Compared with traditional marketing, car reviews "net reds" are mainly personal IP in content presentation, and the advertising attributes are weaker. Consumers are more receptive to this type of marketing while shifting their trust in the individual to the brand. The biggest feature of the net red car critic is the infinite inclusiveness of the output content. The variety of styles allows them to have a more precise audience range, and the keen insight into market reactions ensures the spread of the content. In the eyes of car companies, this is undoubtedly the most cost-effective marketing solution.
This also explains why car reviewers are frequently "recharged".
Car critics should have a way to make money. The cost of evaluating a car is relatively high, and no one can generate electricity with love. Do not accept the recharge of car brands, the survival of these car critics is indeed difficult. But as long as the recharge situation exists, there will be "objective" problems. Even if the car critics are dissatisfied with the brand in their hearts, what they say to the audience after the funds arrive is all the advantages. This is not only extremely misleading for consumers, but also fails to directly map marketing effects to sales.
At the end of the day, the ultimate goal of all marketing routines is to sell, and they shouldn't go astray. Although car reviews should consider using entertainment to drain traffic, they should not lack the most important professional content. As an intermediary between the brand and the consumer, the car reviewer accepts the brand recharge is understandable, and it is understandable that there is a personal subjective will, but it is not advisable to say that the black is white and the bad is good. There should be a bottom line for people, and car reviewers should be even more so.
The author | can be