For years, Tesla has not done traditional advertising. Yes, you have not seen a Tesla ad on a TV. But that is going to change, according to Elon Musk: ‘“He said that in his experience as CEO of Twitter, a company that is highly dependent on advertising, has shown him that “advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it.”’
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will try conventional advertising, marking a shift from the electric vehicle maker’s approach to sales.
Musk said this on Tuesday during the automaker’s 2023 annual meeting of shareholders. The shift is coming amid growing competition in the EV market and dwindling sales that have seen Tesla lost its dominant position in markets like China.
Tesla is known for not paying for conventional advertising, relying on other avenues of marketing to promote its products. The automaker uses emails, word-of-mouth and referrals in addition to Musk’s tweets, which promote Tesla models, to reach a large audience.
Why not? If you do not advertise your products, you may not be fair to those who do not know your product exists. In other words, even though you are not closing deals, you are also not helping people, since you are depriving them of the opportunity to know about a great product. Tesla has great features that if people know about them will get them to patronize the brand.
In the Igbo Nation, the market women will say, “ahia oma na-ere onwe ya” [ a good product sells itself] but check carefully, the women have paid extra fees to be at the junction in the market. In all my grandmother’s “shades” (minimized stores), in Oriendu Market in Ovim, she tried to be at intersection- or T-junctions.
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There is a reason for that, being at a T-junction means you are going to lead into the product category from one side of the market. Being in the middle is not good. In other words, the women actually pay more money to the owners of the shades and stores to position their garri, yam, etc before customers – and that is an advertising awareness!
And sure, beyond advertising, the product has to work. Indeed, the product selling itself means unlocking referrals from the current customers. But those initial customers need to know that your product exists and that is where advertising comes into play.
This playbook will help Tesla! Welcome Tesla to traditional advertising which has been called the “soul of business”
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On the other hand, Elon Musk is also telling anyone who cares to listen to bring ads to Twitter, the line of “advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it” isn’t meant for Tesla, rather everyone else that sees the quote. He’s using one stone to kill two birds.
Well, Tesla needs new customers, and modes of reaching them vary, it’s a great ‘injustice’ to Tesla if it’s known just as EV brand, it needs to tell more stories, showing why it’s more than EV, and a category king too.
Without testimony, there will be no testimonials, so as long as there are people who hear or read something for the first time each new day, advertising or marketing will never end, the chase is endless.