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The Great Influencer Misfire Choking the Motor Industry

January 14, 2024

In a world where a cat with a penchant for keyboard antics can become an overnight sensation, the motor industry’s latest marketing strategy seems to be running on fumes rather than fuel. Welcome to the curious case of influencer marketing, where knowledge about cars is as rare as a manual transmission in a sea of automatics.

Picture this: A bright-eyed “influencer” with a follower count barely hitting double digits (yes double digits as in 10, NOT double as in 10 thousand), posing next to a gleaming piece of automotive engineering. Their knowledge of the vehicle? As deep as a puddle in the Sahara. Yet, these are the chosen ones, the flag-bearers of online marketing in the motor world. It’s like asking a toddler to lecture on quantum physics, but with more filters and hashtags.

On the other side of this bizarre spectrum are the real motor mavens, the grease-under-the-nails type, who eat, sleep, and breathe horsepower and torque figures. These folks could tell you the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger while blindfolded in a wind tunnel. But alas, with follower counts over a few hundred thousand mark (and a reach of a few million), they’re deemed ‘not influencer enough’. It’s akin to telling Usain Bolt he’s too slow for a casual sprint.

The crux of the matter? The motor industry, in its pursuit to stay ‘hip’ and ‘trendy’, is choking up the wrong tree. Influencers, armed with little more than a penchant for pouting and a vague idea that cars have four wheels, are steering the narrative. It’s a bit like using a butter knife for a precision engineering job – it’s blunt, inappropriate, and frankly, a little embarrassing.

Pop quiz an influencer about PCD, and brace yourself for answers that could tickle a radiator into laughter. “PCD? Oh, that’s easy! It’s not a ‘Personal Computer Die’; this beauty’s a Mac, darling!” they might say, beaming at their sleek laptop, blissfully unaware of anything related to wheel fittings.

And dare you venture further into the motoring abyss and ask about a mechanical limited slip differential? Prepare for an answer that could make a gearstick giggle. “That’s obvious,” they’d declare, “It’s when a mechanic, you know, the car doctor, slips a little differently on the workshop floor because of that sneaky oil spill. It’s all about style in the slip, really.”

Such answers are not just wrong; they’re a comedic gear-shift into a world where car knowledge is as scarce as a hen’s tooth at a vegan brunch.

This approach not only puts the brakes on authentic engagement but also drives a wedge between genuine expertise and flashy, surface-level appeal. Imagine trying to understand the intricacies of a Supercharged V8 engine from someone whose automotive expertise extends to the color of the car and how it matches their outfit. It’s like trying to understand the theory of relativity from a fortune cookie – short, sweet, and utterly unenlightening.

In conclusion, the motor industry’s love affair with influencer marketing is a classic case of style over substance. It’s time to switch gears and put the real experts back in the driver’s seat. After all, when it comes to understanding the heart and soul of automotive engineering, it’s better to have a seasoned driver at the wheel than someone who just learned how to use cruise control.

Ask yourself this, would you buy your next vehicle based on mascara and wiper comparisons?

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