Covering A Virtual Launch Event: A Diary Of A Journalist

Several automobile companies have opted for digital car launch in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic.

New Delhi: Everything and everyone is slowly adjusting to the 'new normal' and that is something we have to get used to- regardless of whether we like it or not! The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world in more ways than one and also changed the way we all work- more so if you happen to be an auto journalist like me. An auto journalist has one of the best jobs in the world and a lot of what we do involves travelling and being on road, which needless to say was put on the back-burner for many months. One big part of my job involves covering car launches.

They are normally extravagant in nature with no expense spared in terms of the venue or all of the arrangements. Now mostly they are done in either Delhi or Mumbai- the hub for all of the country's motoring media. Mostly these are a same-day affair as you fly in the morning and same day fly back in the evening. You do a lot of that as I took around 12-13 flights in February alone this year. However all that changed from March and that posed a challenge for car-makers who had many of their launches lined-up. Going digital was the only way out and maybe this shows the way media or the way the auto industry will march towards an increasingly digital future.

Digital is all about convenience. You do not need to go to a physical store to buy a mobile or even a car thus in the same way covering a digital car launch recently was an unique affair. Mercedes-Benz launched two of its cars digitally recently as well as Skoda brought in three of its cars all via the digital medium. With the Mercedes one, I was given a link where I had to type in my credentials and the link to the live webcast was shown.

Thus being far away from where the car was launched, in the comfort of my home, I had all of the details at my finger tips and it nearly felt like a proper launch. Except that being there actually is a different feeling with the buzz and of course seeing the car yourself. That gives a different perspective. However that said the experience of covering the launch digitally was a different experience and this would most likely be the new norm now. A car launch event is hugely expensive and with Coronavirus now, saving that expense is not a bad idea plus the coverage and reach that a digital launch gives via various platforms is immense.

I didn't need to travel or brave through traffic which makes a digital car launch much more appealing in that sense but as a journalist I did miss being in the thick of the action! Guess I need to get used to the 'new normal'