[GTO]

Interesting! Haven't seen this in India as manufacturers here have their dealers maintain the press fleet. In the USA however, there are specialist organisations in charge of media car upkeep & maintenance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eMS9mTOV74

[nivatakavacha]

Thanks for this wonderful article GTO! I never knew so much went into the car reviews. Thank to all the mods for the wonderful reviews put up over the years.

[GTO]

Here's an interesting article from across the world. Though not too detailed, it's a fun read nevertheless on the subject.

Jalopnik

Again, talks of fleet management companies unlike India where manufacturers handle the press cars themselves. But then, the number of launches per year is much lesser in India, as are the number of car reviewers.

[shravan2k2]

Just curious to know how these small bloggers can contact the pr agencies to be included in their media drives? Any particular way of communication is followed by these small bloggers?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by shravan2k2

Just curious to know how these small bloggers can contact the pr agencies to be included in their media drives? Any particular way of communication is followed by these small bloggers?

Not easy to 'get in' for sure. Main reason is the large number of websites that have come up. Every month, there are like 1 or 2 new websites that are launched to cover the Indian car scene. This can confuse the manufacturer and thus, they choose to only focus on the big websites, magazines, newspapers & TV shows. This way, they've reached 99% of the intended audience.

I know of some websites that have crossed 5 lakh monthly pageviews, but still don't get called for press drives. Too small, the manufacturers say. Remember, with so many journalists, press drives are anyway held over a number of batches with a large number of participants.

My suggestion would be to first focus on content quality. The rest will automatically come. I took a look at your website and noticed the lack of daily updates. Your homepage has news that is 3 months old.

[shravan2k2]

Originally Posted by GTO

Not easy to 'get in' for sure. Main reason is the large number of websites that have come up. Every month, there are like 1 or 2 new websites that are launched to cover the Indian car scene. This can confuse the manufacturer and thus, they choose to only focus on the big websites, magazines, newspapers & TV shows. This way, they've reached 99% of the intended audience.

I know of some websites that have crossed 5 lakh monthly pageviews, but still don't get called for press drives. Too small, the manufacturers say. Remember, with so many journalists, press drives are anyway held over a number of batches with a large number of participants.

My suggestion would be to first focus on content quality. The rest will automatically come. I took a look at your website and noticed the lack of daily updates. Your homepage has news that is 3 months old.

That's because I work full time in the automobile industry. And the website is just my hobby. Because it actually costs me nothing as I design maintain and write on it myself.
Well thanks for the information as it actually helps me to be better at it. It's a really lovely thread. A lot of information and its also shows that it's not just fun but a lot of work in least time has to be finished at such events

[luvDriving]

Wow ! Thanks a lot for this wonderful thread, read it in one go.

Nowhere else can you find such a frank behind the scenes report on reviews. Kudos to all those involved for their passion and hard work to get these unbiased and detailed reviews out to all the bhpians !!

[adutta2k]

wow!!! that's really informative......I was keeping a close watch on this forum for the Maruti Baleno 2015 review. Now I know why the Team-bhp official review is not out yet while there are quite a few already doing rounds on the internet. Frankly speaking after reading reviews of many cars over the last few months on the internet I really found that many of them are biased, because they always say "this one ranks at par with the competition" and stuff like that, while omitting out some negative aspects which would really help a customer choose the right car.

Eagerly waiting for the detailed Baleno 2015 official team-bhp review. I am sure if will put all my questions about the car to rest

On a lighter note........the way the I20 sales representative is bugging me to buy his car over the Baleno (didn't see this before the Baleno launch), I am sure the Baleno has already started dethroning the premium hatchback king!!!

[Rajeevraj]

I suggest this thread should be made a 'Parked' one in the Indian Car Scene Forum. The question on 'Where is xx car review' ,'Why is it taking so long' Keeps getting repeated across thread whenever a new car is launched. Keeping this thread 'Parked' will ensure continuous visibility of the work that goes behind compilation of a review.

Apart from the above reason, this is a thread that every one should read. It is fascinating.

[mayank0782]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Writing the review involves segregating photos which can take upto a week sometimes! Then the review itself which goes on in parallel. Once the photos are shortlisted, we then need to write the captions and formatting.

The review itself as Rush mentioned goes through several rounds of proof reads and checks before it goes live.

On the final review you see close to a 100-150 photos but in reality we will have well over 500 photos per review. .

This has to be one of the best threads ever posted on T-BHP.

Feeling proud on being A BHPian.

Just one question though.

So on the point which Vid mentioned, I am sure it would be tough job drafting such exhaustive reviews.

But do you rely on your memory or the photos or do you take some notes while reviewing the car. Or is it like some short clips taken while the review.

I am asking these because there are so many details and how do you manage to remember every minute detail two weeks later too.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by mayank0782

But do you rely on your memory or the photos or do you take some notes while reviewing the car.

I am asking these because there are so many details and how do you manage to remember every minute detail two weeks later too.

Excellent question . We make voice notes on a dedicated device like this one. If there are two people, we share the voice recorder (or one continues making voice notes on his smartphone). It's humanly impossible to remember 500 observations accurately at a later point in time.

I'm a big voice note guy and you'll see me recording notes all through the day, whether it's a working day or holiday. It's the most used feature on my smartphone.

[Karthik Chandra]

WOW!!!

That's exhaustive.

Now I understand why it takes so much time for a TBHP review to come online, its pretty simple 'quality takes time'

How do you guys manage this kind of excellent presentations amidst your daily routine. It takes a lot of passion and determination and untiring efforts to bring the kind of quality TBHP review exudes.

I read through the first review - Maruti Ritz and over time our review pattern and quality has improved to humongous proportions.

I remember one thing from new Figo review, the below image is of the infotainment display, the display showing date as 13/08/2015 but the review went online on 9th November 2015, thats 56 days in between, almost 2 months and this thread explains what was happening in between.



Thanks to the untiring efforts TBHP moderators, we have the most comprehensive, high quality, most influential reviews across.

Congratulations and kudos to the moderators and team

Keep revving guys

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

I remember one thing from new Figo review, the below image is of the infotainment display, the display showing date as 13/08/2015 but the review went online on 9th November 2015, thats 56 days in between, almost 2 months and this thread explains what was happening in between.

Haha, nice catch!

However, just the pictures in the Figo's infotainment post were taken from the Aspire review, since they were identical.

I did of course compare the Aspire pictures with actual Figo entertainment to ensure things were exactly the same. (Eg. does the "door open" graphic show a sedan or a hatchback? -- they both show the same graphic, in case you're wondering).

The Figo drive was on the 25th of September. Review went live on 9th November. That's ~45 days in this case. I'm a slow writer too

[nijelj]

Great thread mods!
I always wanted to make a checklist of 'points to notice' based on the reviews that I read at teambhp, but never got around to it, due to work and family pressures. I cannot even begin to understand how much time each of you put away from work and family to bring us these reviews.
What I've noticed over the years,
1. You have been consistent on upholding what is right
2. You have always been impartial.
3. You have always been incorruptible (who else could decline an iPad!)
4. You have been doing this without any material motivation.

So I guess my question to the mod team is, are you Batman?

[peterjim13]

Very Informative GTO. This was in detail and have already answered a few questions I had in mind.

Out of curiosity : were there any accidents/engine failures during any media drives. I understand this could cause some real concern to the manufacturer.

Are you at a freedom to share those pics to readers. ?