Can you remember any Tesla advertisement that you have seen recently? I can't neither. That's because there are no official commercials from Tesla except that of fan made videos until this date. The car has evolved to become a status symbol. It has transformed to be a extension of your character. For years, auto manufacturers have understood this with car marketing and branding reflecting the aspiration values. We all have seen advertisements, it's literally a fairy tale that we want to be part of.
Times have changed. Industries are experiencing disruption and the automotive industry is no exception to this. 95% of the customers use online platforms to research about cars. Social media channels have become indirect showrooms where you get to know about what's on the table here. Tesla has understood this ever since it was launched. It's a brand found in 2003, unlike the great auto giants Tesla doesn't make a fortune to invest millions on advertising. Yet Tesla holds a prestigious place among other auto giants in social media engagement.
i) Auto brands performance in terms of mentions. Data source: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (Jul,13 - Aug,19, 2017) ii) Tesla holds the highest no. of mentions on electric vehicles and autonomous cars. Data source: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (Jul,13 - Aug,19, 2017)
So what's the reason behind Tesla's huge social media popularity? Elon Musk, the CEO himself is the face of Tesla just like how Steve Jobs was for apple and Bill Gates was for Microsoft. But wait, Elon Musk is not one of those executives who play it safe by having strict guidelines on what and what not to speak in public forums. Instead, Elon Musk grabs every chance that he gets to humanize his brand by sharing his successes, failures, random thoughts and quirks. He has made it evident that being a socially visible CEO helps investors and your customers that people are talking about you.
"There's a star man waiting in the sky and he wants to meet us. But he thinks he'll blow our minds!!"
Would there be any other CEO who would have thought of shipping his own brand's product using his rocket company ? Well, Musk did. This brought both his companies Tesla and SpaceX under spot light in the media. Elon Musk does not want to perform promotional events and marketing campaigns for Tesla Model 3 as well. His reason for that pretty much made a lot of sense, "We don't want to talk about the product itself. We wanna talk about what we can supply". This sense of being aware of what he can deliver adds a lot to his personality.
Competitive advantages in marketing strategy for Tesla:
More than a electric car manufacturer, Tesla has transformed into a technological company and that's what Tesla wants to be. Tesla has not only manufactured electric cars but it has also established series of infrastructure that supports the operations of it's cars. Tesla also produces household charges and operates more than 9000 super chargers in 1500+ charge stations around the world. The significant advantage is the vision Tesla works with, to provide integrated ecosystem to it's customers that operates for and from sustainable energy. It has diversified it's businesses from just being car manufacturers. It is entering the market of Solar roof tiles which compliments the business of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that allow storage for solar power. Tesla has also unveiled the Tesla Semi which provides a lot better efficiency in terms of fuel costs, performance and experience. It never looks like Tesla comes up with a product only to keep their cash flow alive. Instead it is perceived that Tesla wants to change low key factors of whatever business it enters. Initially it was the release of Roadster 2008 that made people believe performing electric cars can be manufactured. This has heavily benefited Tesla in building it's reputation.
So, Tesla does not do any paid advertising. It clearly does not need to. Yet it has doubled the number of cars it has sold in the third quarter of 2018 when compared to that of the last quarter.
The following report shows that Tesla spends 0$ in marketing per vehicle.
Elon Musk's social media presence acts critical with no spending in marketing for Tesla. This does not work for everyone, especially for a average CEO but not if Elon Musk is your CEO. He does not shy away from anything. A car is merely the extension of one's characters. Auto manufacturers have understood this clearly for years but times have changed and 95% of customers use online platforms that act as virtual showrooms to know what's on the table for them. Tesla, purely has adopted the online sales model instead of traditional dealership model based on the current trend. These aspects of 0$ marketing strategy benefits Tesla hugely in it's success.
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