Advanced Online Media – Blog Post 20 (critical report)

When I started thinking about the individual project for Advanced Online Media, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to focus on. But going through the different workshops helped me narrow down my choices. It was either going to be an app or a live blog. I eventually went for the latter as I thought there was a gap in the market for an in-depth, multi-topic live blog on the world of motorsport.

Many live blogs focus on just one topic but I wanted mine to cover a range of things. Most of the posts would revolve around the biggest motorsport event taking place but there would be frequent updates and posts on other championships also in action. So, my project was a motorsport live blog, running for longer than many others and providing in-depth coverage on one series, and semi-regular updates on categories.

I completed a practice run the weekend before covering Formula E in Mexico and IndyCar qualifying in St. Petersburg. They were on similar time zones so it made covering them both easy, as they effectively ran one after the other. It went well but I felt I definitely learned what to do and what not to do when completing a live blog. As part of my freelance work with Grand Prix Times I also regularly contribute to their live feed for F1 sessions so that gave me added practice, but the assessment for Advanced Online Media really helped develop my skills in this area, which I have been able to transfer on to my work outside of university.

Having completed a run-through, I then completed my assessment live blog on the following weekend, covering third practice and qualifying for the F1 2016 Australian Grand Prix. It was a busy day for motorsport, which enabled me to chip in with updates and posts on other series, but the timing for the Australian sessions meant there weren’t many clashes or categories racing at similar times. This made things a bit trickier compared to the practice blog but I think I managed the challenge well and brought added motorsport flavour to the feed, so it wasn’t just all about F1.

 

But because of this, it did steer away a bit from my initial plan. The feed was started at 2:41am for a 20-minute build-up before FP3 and ended at 7:38am, following almost 40-minute wrap-up. There were lots of small details from my practice blog that I looked to change and did so, such as using hyperlinks rather than the full links, more consistent use of symbols, mixing it up with tweet embeds and pictures, breaking up sessions with bullet-point round-ups and a summary of what was to come at the start of the feed, along with a picture.

Another crucial detail was producing pre-planned content, which I did the evening before. This ranged from fun facts about the race to explaining new F1 2016 regulations and introducing new drivers and teams. This proved to be a big help and was mainly used in the gap between FP3 and qualifying, to keep the blog ticking over and provide potential readers with interesting information that will be useful to take into the season and sessions.

I was pleased overall with the content I produced, it was the right length, the updates were shorter, sharper, looked smarter and the whole blog looked nice and uniform. I used colours to split up the series I was talking about and I felt the short summaries worked well. I really enjoyed completing it and didn’t get caught up in the speed of it, I kept things consistent and in the right, light-hearted and chatty tone. Which is exactly what I wanted to achieve.

But I feel there are negatives to it as well. I could have started a bit sooner and taken longer to wrap up the feed, providing more information on developments at the track before and after the sessions. I did not publicise the blog but acted as if I had, but perhaps feedback from those following it would have been beneficial as I went along. I was limited by the version of Live Blog Pro slightly as there were limited symbols and no way of directly embedding it onto my blog. It would have been handy to add video too but Formula One Management are strict with this and so it wouldn’t be used anyway, and the F1 social media accounts do not post videos during sessions. It lost some of its unique edge by being more focused rather than reporting on a broader motorsport spectrum but that was partly the weekend it was completed on and the time of year. There was plenty of room for improvement but overall I was pleased with the work completed and the finished product.

During the first Advanced Online Media lecture, I immediately wrote down some initial ideas for the pitch assessment, one of which was a supercar spotting app. It’s something that a friend and I had been discussing a few weeks earlier, without even realising it could be explored during an assessment. We were out in London supercar spotting, seeing what exotic cars were out there, but we were struggling to find the cars people were posting about on social media. We realised an app pin pointing the locations of these supercars and hypercars would be really helpful.

It took me a while to come up with a name, it was one of the last things I thought about. I had two apps to choose from but following a meeting with the head of year, I started to realise how crucial it would be for the app to be a spin-off of a popular automotive brand. Car Throttle proved to be perfect. I work as a freelancer there, so had the information, knew how the company worked and was passionate and knowledgeable about the current products – the website and apps they currently run.

I struggled initially with names, but I soon saw just how important it would be to have the Car Throttle name in there and Car Throttle Spotter was born. It was the one I thought worked the best from my brainstorming sessions and was short, catchy but still described the app perfectly. I soon started developing the idea and got really into it. The car industry is one of my passions and so it was really great to be exploring an idea that I would genuinely use in real life.

I think the core of the idea is strong, with the mix of location (not a new idea, but it is in the supercar area) and user generated content to produce pins where supercars have been spotted. The audience is niche, but there is still a substantial potential user pool out there. I see supercar spotting growing with every trip.

I decided introducing the social media element with following users, having a feed and being able to comment and “plus” (like) pins would be crucial for building a community feel. I also stressed the crossover elements to the Car Throttle editorial content and how crucial it would be to utilise the social media and brand of Car Throttle for advertising and promotion.

The presentation itself went well, I spoke a little too fast but I managed to fit inside the 10 minute time limit. I didn’t focus too much on my note cards and the powerpoint, speaking in a more relaxed tone than I expected considering my nerves and tried my best to get my enthusiasm and knowledge of the car market across. The presentation had a lot of elements, from stats to trends, my own story of how the idea came about and mock-ups, but I kept the slides simple and had an additional hand-out with further information.

In the Q & A, there were concerns over privacy of the cars with the app, but many supercar owners like showing them off and that’s why they are parked on the street. We discussed in the presentation there could be the chance though of blurring out number plates in the camera software. The panel was confused by the logo but as the Car Throttle branding it can’t be changed, and there were questions about the potential user base. While it is a small sector I do think a considerable amount of people within that would be interested. I feel I handed the Q & A segment well and backed up my answers with my research and knowledge.

This module has enabled me to improve my skills in many areas like social media, blogging and content creating as well as introducing me to others like data journalism. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone at times but kept to what I know best for the assessments and was really proud of what I achieved. It was a big learning curve and one I enjoyed very much.

Advanced Online Media – Blog Post 19 (pitch, the presentation)

Prior to my Advanced Online Media presentation on my pitch idea, I completed a number of tasks in preparation. I gathered together stats, facts and information on Car Throttle and the world of supercars, on topics like social media, revenue, investment and app usage.

I found out some fascinating facts about Car Throttle, for example its apps have 400,000 daily users and the website gets 20 million views per month, five million of those are unique. I was also able to use information I have previously been told by the Car Throttle staff, as I am on their freelance team. For example, 99% of content on Car Throttle is user generated.

I used the information found to put together my pitch document, which gave a brief overview of my idea, the research I had completed, the market and why I think the idea is worth pursuing. It contained many details that I explained in my presentation, but in the powerpoint I was able to go into depth about why I thought of this idea, my passion for cars, my enthusiasm for the industry and look more at the increasing trend of supercar spotting.

As well as my pitch document and powerpoint slides, I also prepared a hand out with other facts and information in written form for the panel to look at during it. The document also gave them a closer look at the logo. I felt the presentation shared a lot of information in a short space of time and enabled me to really get my enthusiasm and passion across on the subject and idea.

During the presentation itself, I veered off topic from my slides slightly to share facts like how Car Throttle predicted mid-way through 2015 it would make over £1million in revenue that year, as well as information about its recent investment boost and staff numbers. It was important to share Car Throttle’s story of rapid expansion and show that something like Car Throttle Spotter could not only be doable but be something that could potentially be on the horizon as well.

The presentation lasted around 10 minutes, with a Q & A session afterwards, where I was able to push forward my idea more and give further clarity on its aims, objectives, the target audience and what the future could hold for it if the app was created.

Advanced Online Media – Blog Post 18 (pitch, logo)

Because my Advanced Online Media idea is a spin-off app of the Car Throttle media platform, it was clear what the logo for Car Throttle Spotter would include.

It needed to contain the official Car Throttle logo, but with a slight twist to show off the supercar spotting element. The two mock-ups I created feature the full Car Throttle logo and the “gate” grid which is made up of the “ttl” part of the name.

This is the style made by the person in charge of designing the logo when the website was rebranded in 2014. When those three letters are taken away in the design created, it resembles the gate of a gearbox, which is the layout of the gears.

I opted to use a magnifying glass as the additional extra to showcase the supercar spotter, it’s obviously a reference to the word “spotter” and describes the main function of the app – to help people find nice cars.

I think the branding is clear, it maintains the Car Throttle logo, colours and style but is obviously its own thing with the addition of the magnifying glass.

The large logo will be used for branding, advertising and on the app loading screen but the smaller grid logo will feature as a thumbnail, as well as on social media and at the top of the app itself.

Advanced Online Media – Blog Post 17 (pitch, mock ups)

Before my online media idea pitch, for the Advanced Online Media module, I created a series of mock-ups of what the app and logo could look like. They also debut the name of the idea, Car Throttle Spotter.

I decided to keep Car Throttle in the name due to the fact it is a spin-off of the popular automotive platform and keeping that brand association will be crucial for gaining new users and building a following.

The first mock-up is a simple one of what the app will look like when you open it up:

Next up is what the menu screen will look like:

Then there’s what the pins will roughly look like when clicked on: