Instagram: Car mech has 70 000 followers
CAREER Cédric Plattner works at the Porsche Center Winterthur and will soon complete his training as an automotive mechatronics technician. The 20-year-old is a successful Swiss influencer in the automotive sector. So influencers don't have to be flashy or extroverted and smile into a camera with some product. Cédric Plattner prefers to stand behind the camera and hunt down his favorite subjects: extraordinary [...]
So influencers don't have to be flashy or extroverted and smile into a camera with some product. Cédric Plattner prefers to stand behind the camera and hunt down his favorite subjects: extraordinary vehicles.
Always on Saturdays the hunt begins
Four years ago, as a young car spotter, he took the S-Bahn to Zurich almost every Saturday afternoon. There, the Winterthur native hoped to catch a glimpse of special sports cars or a rare luxury car around Bürkliplatz. Cédric Plattner's 75,000 followers can look forward to at least two pictures a day.
Changes in the spotter scene
But in the meantime, he's taking it a little easier.
Cédric Plattner: "The young spotters who chase cars on foot in the streets still exist. I limit myself more to events that can be planned, such as the Supercar Owners Circle meeting in Andermatt."
In the last four years, he said, the spotter scene has changed.
Cédric Plattner: "Thanks to modern smartphones, it has become easy to take photos. Today, it's often more about quantity than quality of the pictures."
High-tech details under the hood
He himself continues to pay attention to the details and now chooses his car subjects for high-tech under the hood and less for gaudy colors:
Cédric Plattner: "I take far fewer photos on location than I used to, and I look for my subjects more purposefully. I always want a picture that's perfect for me and not just another picture of a supercar."
Problems with Instagram algorithm
Meanwhile, the new Instagram algorithm is giving the successful influencer a hard time:
Cédric Plattner: "There used to be likes every second when you uploaded a new picture. After 300 to 400 likes, the whole thing is now automatically scaled down."
What is important above all is authenticity
What would he actually advise a garage owner who also wants to reach and inform his customers via social media?
Cédric Plattner: "Authenticity is the be-all and end-all. You have to remain yourself, appear genuine, and convey what's really going on via the digital channels. Sometimes it already helps to send a customer a picture of damage to the underbody or a short video so that they can better understand what the garage owner has discovered and repaired."
