Tesla Ditched the Traditional Advertising Playbook and Dominated

For a number of reasons, Tesla has become a disruptor. The company’s choice to abandon traditional advertising efforts is one of the biggest surprises. When was the last time you saw a Tesla advertised on TV, on a website banner, or on a billboard? Isn’t that true?

Tesla’s anti-advertising stance has resulted in them becoming one of the fastest-growing automakers in history, paradoxically. Tesla, it turns out, does not engage in traditional public relations. Nonetheless, it appears that everyone now knows who Tesla is. So, if Tesla avoids traditional advertising and public relations, how has the company managed to become so ingrained in our collective consciousness?

Focus on the product
The company focused its efforts (and money) on simply improving the product. Despite the skeptics and naysayers, you’d have to hunt hard to find a Tesla owner who isn’t enthusiastic about driving an electric vehicle.

Across the board, Tesla tends to reinvest its profits in ever-more-disruptive development. Tesla has been able to generate a lot of buzz by avoiding the franchise dealership experience, delivering next-generation technology, providing constant software upgrades, and developing a comprehensive Supercharger network.

Innovation is a core principle

Given the high rate at which Tesla innovates and the multi-faceted nature of their business, it would be difficult for a traditional carmaker to keep up with Tesla’s new cars, new technology, and 360-degree renewable energy solutions in the news cycle.

Consider the projects Tesla is working on: the Cybertruck, Roadster, Semi, ATV, FSD, software updates, construction progress at Giga Shanghai, Giga Berlin, and Giga Texas (soon Giga India), solar roofs, energy storage, battery improvements, and a much-anticipated $25,000 small automobile. That’s a lot of potential projects, and I’m sure I missed a couple.

Elon’s Twitter
What is the name of Mazda’s CEO, please? Honda’s? BMW’s? I’m guessing you don’t know who they are. But I’m sure you’ve heard of Elon Musk — and not only because you like Tesla or electric vehicles in general. Elon Musk, in fact, is the world’s 30th most followed person on Twitter, with 44 million followers, according to friendorfollow.

Tesla has not delivered 44 million automobiles, I can promise you (yet). Simply said, Musk’s Twitter engagement does more than any Super Bowl commercial. He’ll send you memes. Answer the questions. This is breaking news. As well as sparking debate (and, of course, sometimes controversy).

We get Tesla updates directly from the Iron Man himself, rather than a formal corporate account maintained by some staid PR firm. Elon Musk produces a lot of buzz around his company. There is literally no CEO in the world who is more connected on Twitter.

Events to remember

The majority of legacy automakers unveil their new models during auto exhibitions (with 2020 being an obvious exception to this rule). Tesla, on the other hand, holds its own event whenever a new car is released.

Tesla aficionados will usually try to forecast what will be disclosed in the weeks preceding up to the event. Tesla owners and influencers are frequently invited, so social media feeds are chock-full of each attendee’s unique experience. Opening the event to owners and influencers is a proven strategy to increase loyalty, and those same people tend to return some of those positive sentiments to Tesla.

Tesla discloses significant technology improvements at events in addition to new car releases. We had Autonomy Day two years ago, Battery Day last year, and it appears that AI Day will be held this year.

Referrals
Tesla values word-of-mouth marketing as well, and has employed a referral system to help spread the word for years. Owners who received referrals were rewarded with rewards, which encouraged them to discuss publicly about their vehicle purchases.

Furthermore, EVs have piqued people’s interest. So being an EV owner in an ICE world doesn’t make it harder to strike up a discussion. After all, no one ever mentions how much they like filling up their car with petrol.

Conclusion
For the time being, it does not appear like Tesla needs to set aside funds for traditional advertising. However, there is almost certainly a space for non-traditional advertising (maybe a documentary film?) geared at educating people about electric vehicles. Unfortunately, anti-EV misinformation tactics are still common. So many people are still confused about electric vehicles and refuse to contemplate making such a lifestyle change.

It remains to be seen whether Tesla takes it upon themselves to educate the public through targeted advertising campaigns. However, for the time being, most people appear to be OK with the idea that they’re reinvesting in growth — Tesla Gigafactories, Superchargers, Services Centers, and, of course, their cars.