Why Tesla Doesn't Do Advertising (GENIUS Marketing Strategy)

Summary

Tesla's astonishing growth without traditional advertising is attributed to innovative marketing strategies, including leveraging CEO Elon Musk's personal brand, engaging content, and social media. Musk's media presence and the company's focus on product excellence and customer satisfaction have propelled Tesla to become the fastest growing brand globally, outpacing industries with a clear stance on values and future aspirations.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Tesla has become the fastest-growing brand on Instagram without traditional advertising, according to Brand Finance.
• 🌐 Tesla's success is attributed to its strong presence in growing industries such as electric vehicles, sustainable energy, and space travel.
• 🧲 Elon Musk's personal brand and media savvy play a significant role in Tesla's marketing, acting as a 'walking, talking marketing machine'.
• 📈 Despite claims of no advertising, Tesla utilizes various marketing strategies including content marketing, social media, and public relations.
• 💡 The script emphasizes that marketing encompasses more than just advertising, and Tesla's growth is a testament to effective marketing.
• 🚀 A notable marketing move by Tesla was launching a Tesla Roadster into space, which cost nearly $100 million and garnered significant attention.
• 🏆 Companies like Google, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Uber have also built empires with minimal or no paid advertising, focusing on broader marketing strategies.
• 🤔 The script questions the effectiveness of traditional advertising, citing the famous John Wanamaker quote about wasted ad spend.
• 🛠 Tesla focuses on creating a great product and obsessively improving it, which is a fundamental principle of successful marketing.
• 🔊 Elon Musk leverages his personal brand and controversial statements on platforms like Twitter and podcasts for marketing Tesla.
• 🌟 Tesla uses influencers and early adopters in tech and automotive industries to spread the word about their products, enhancing their marketing reach.
• 🛑 Tesla and Elon Musk are clear about their values and goals, taking on entire industries rather than specific companies, which creates a strong brand perception.

Q & A

Why did Tesla top Instagram as the fastest-growing brand according to Brand Finance?

Tesla topped Instagram as the fastest-growing brand due to its strong presence in rapidly growing industries such as electric vehicles, sustainable energy, and space travel, combined with the media savvy and polarizing leadership of Elon Musk, who acts as a powerful marketing force.

How has Tesla managed to grow 64.9 percent in the last year without traditional advertising?

Tesla has grown significantly by focusing on marketing strategies other than traditional advertising, such as content marketing, social media marketing, and public relations, which all contribute to brand visibility and engagement without direct ad spend.

What is the difference between advertising and marketing as per the script?

Advertising is a subset of marketing. While advertising involves paid promotions, marketing is a broader term that includes various strategies and tools like content creation, social media engagement, and public relations to promote a brand.

What marketing tools does Tesla use according to the script?

Tesla utilizes marketing tools such as content marketing, social media marketing, public relations, and leveraging the personal brand of Elon Musk to create buzz and engage with their audience.

What was the marketing strategy behind Tesla launching a rocket with a Tesla Roadster into space?

The rocket launch with a Tesla Roadster was a marketing strategy that showcased Tesla's innovation and brand identity. It involved elements of content marketing, social media marketing, and public relations, without being a traditional advertisement.

Why do some companies like Google, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Uber spend very little or nothing on advertising?

These companies have built strong marketing strategies that focus on creating a great product and leveraging various non-advertising marketing tools to reach a wide audience and build brand loyalty.

What is the traditional approach to launching a new brand or business?

The traditional approach involves creating a product or service and then spending a significant amount on advertising to reach as many potential customers as possible.

What is the main problem with the traditional advertising approach according to the script?

The main problem is that it often lacks strategic thinking and creativity, focusing on the wrong variables like likes, comments, or brand recall instead of effectively driving sales and business growth.

What is the famous quote by John Wanamaker about advertising, and what does it imply?

John Wanamaker's quote, 'Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half,' implies that a significant portion of advertising spend may not be effective, and it's challenging to measure the true impact of advertising.

What is the core of Tesla's marketing strategy as described in the script?

Tesla's marketing strategy focuses on creating a great product, leveraging the personal brand of Elon Musk, using influencers and early adopters, and having a clear set of values that resonate with their audience.

How does Tesla's approach to marketing align with the first principles of marketing mentioned in the script?

Tesla's approach aligns with the first principles of marketing by first ensuring they have a great product and then effectively communicating the benefits of that product to their audience through various non-traditional marketing channels.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Tesla's Unconventional Marketing Strategy

Tesla has become the fastest-growing brand on Instagram without traditional advertising, as reported by Brand Finance. The company excels in industries like electric vehicles, sustainable energy, and space travel, with Elon Musk's media presence acting as a powerful marketing tool. The script clarifies that advertising is a subset of marketing, and Tesla focuses on various marketing strategies like content marketing, social media, and public relations. The Tesla Roadster's launch into space is highlighted as a costly yet effective marketing move. The script also points out that other big brands like Google, Netflix, and Amazon have built empires through marketing rather than paid advertising. It questions the effectiveness of traditional advertising and emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking and creativity in business growth.

05:02

🌟 Elon Musk's Personal Brand and Tesla's Marketing Tactics

Elon Musk's personal brand is deeply intertwined with Tesla, leveraging his years of building a polarizing and outspoken image. His appearances on platforms like the Joe Rogan podcast and his active Twitter presence are forms of marketing that draw attention to both himself and Tesla. The script discusses Tesla's use of influencers and early adopters in tech and automotive fields to enhance credibility and authority. It also touches on Tesla's and Musk's clear values and unapologetic approach to their goals, drawing a line in the sand for consumers to either support or oppose them. The script concludes by emphasizing the importance of marketing in defining and delivering solutions to consumers' problems and how Tesla's marketing strategy contributes to its rapid growth.

Keywords

💡Brand Finance

Brand Finance is a London-based company that specializes in brand valuation and strategy consulting. In the context of the video, it is mentioned as the source that declared Tesla the fastest growing brand in the world, emphasizing the company's success and relevance in the global market.

💡Electric Vehicles

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are vehicles that run on electricity rather than traditional fossil fuels. The video highlights Tesla's strategic positioning in the EV industry, which is one of the fastest-growing sectors and contributes significantly to Tesla's brand growth and popularity.

💡Sustainable Energy

Sustainable energy refers to renewable sources of energy that are environmentally friendly and can be replenished naturally. The script mentions Tesla's involvement in this industry, showcasing the company's commitment to eco-friendly practices and its role in shaping a greener future.

💡Space Travel

Space travel is the act of traveling through outer space, typically for exploration or scientific research. The video script uses Tesla's launch of a rocket with a Tesla Roadster as an example of innovative marketing that doesn't rely on traditional advertising but still captures public attention and interest.

💡Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage a clearly defined audience. The script explains that Tesla utilizes content marketing as part of its broader marketing strategy, such as the space launch, to generate interest organically.

💡Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing involves promoting products or services through social media platforms. The video mentions this as one of the non-advertising marketing tools that Tesla employs, leveraging platforms like Instagram to grow its brand presence and engagement.

💡Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and maintaining a positive public image for an individual, company, client, or organization. The script implies that Tesla's PR efforts, including high-profile events like the rocket launch, contribute to its brand growth without traditional advertising.

💡Influencers

Influencers are individuals who have the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience. The video discusses how Tesla collaborates with influencers in the tech and automotive sectors to spread positive word-of-mouth and endorse the brand.

💡Brand Evangelists

Brand evangelists are individuals who are so passionate about a brand that they voluntarily promote it to others. The script refers to these individuals as influencers who become advocates for Tesla, spreading the brand's message and values to their audience.

💡Values

In the context of the video, values refer to the principles and beliefs that guide a company's actions and decisions. Tesla and Elon Musk are described as being clear and unapologetic about their values, which helps them to define their brand identity and attract like-minded consumers.

💡Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is a plan for reaching a specific marketing-related goal in a focused and achievable way. The video's main theme revolves around Tesla's effective marketing strategy, which focuses on innovation, customer obsession, and leveraging the personal brand of Elon Musk, rather than traditional advertising.

Highlights

Tesla has become the fastest growing brand on Instagram, according to Brand Finance.

Tesla's growth is attributed to its presence in popular industries such as electric vehicles, sustainable energy, and space travel.

Elon Musk, a polarizing leader, acts as a marketing machine for Tesla.

Despite claims of no advertising, Tesla has grown 64.9% in the last year alone.

Advertising is distinguished from marketing, with the former being a small part of the latter.

Tesla utilizes various marketing tools like content marketing, social media, and public relations.

The Tesla Roadster's space launch was a marketing strategy costing nearly 100 million dollars.

Tesla's marketing includes innovative attention-grabbing methods without traditional advertising.

Other successful companies like Google, Netflix, and Amazon also focus on marketing over paid advertising.

Traditional advertising is often ineffective and wasteful, missing strategic thinking and creativity.

John Wanamaker's quote highlights the inefficiency of not knowing which advertising works.

Marketing's primary goal is to make sales, not just to increase brand recall.

Tesla's marketing strategy focuses on creating a great product and customer satisfaction.

Elon Musk's personal brand and polarizing personality draw attention to Tesla.

Influencers and early adopters in tech and automotive fields are used by Tesla for credibility.

Tesla and Elon Musk are clear about their values and goals, attracting support or opposition.

Tesla's marketing challenges entire industries, not just specific companies.

Marketing is central to Tesla's operations, with a focus on delivering solutions and benefits.

Transcripts

tesla has recently topped instagram as

the fastest growing brand in the world

according to london-based company brand

finance this shouldn't be too surprising

though

after all they've positioned themselves

well in some of the fastest growing and

most popular industries like electric

vehicles and

sustainable energy and even space travel

and they're being led by an outspoken

media savvy and polarizing leader the

one and only

elon musk who is basically a walking

talking marketing machine

so while their business growth may not

be that surprising what is shocking is

elon musk and other tesla insiders claim

that tesla does not do advertising and

yet they've still managed to grow

64.9 percent just in the last year alone

so how did elon musk and tesla become

the fastest growing brand in the world

without spending money on advertising

well the first thing you need to

understand when

unpacking elon musk and tesla's claim

that tesla does not do advertising

is really understanding that advertising

does not equal marketing

but rather advertising is just one small

part of marketing and in tesla's case a

very

very small non-existent part but that

doesn't mean that tesla doesn't do

marketing because they do and they do a

lot of it you see under the marketing

umbrella you also have a ton of other

things like content marketing

and social media marketing and public

relations

many more all of these are marketing

tools that tesla uses

and all of them cost some kind of time

or money

or energy for example when tesla

launched their rocket into space and

they sent along a tesla roadster for the

ride well

that was marketing marketing that just

so happened to cost just under 100

million dollars

now this little trip to space wasn't

advertised wasn't advertising at all

but it did include elements of content

marketing and social media marketing

and public relations but when it comes

to finding new and creative and

innovative ways to get attention

and to do marketing that isn't

advertising well tesla isn't alone

in fact there's a number of other

incredibly popular and well-known

businesses that spend

very little or nothing at all on

advertising companies like

google netflix amazon apple

facebook and uber all of these have

built massive empires on the back

of marketing but not necessarily off of

paid advertising we'll take a look at

what was at the core of their marketing

strategies in just a second but first

let's tackle and answer the question

what's wrong with advertising anyway

when it comes to launching a new brand

a new business or a new company the

traditional way is to create something

spend a ton of money on advertising and

try to reach as many people as possible

when this is done right and when it's

paired with an actual good product or

good service or good business

like we're going to talk about in just a

second well this traditional approach

can be quite effective the problem is

rarely is this approach done right

and more often than not advertising

dollars and simply throwing money at the

problem

is spent instead of spending time on

strategic thinking

and creativity and problem solving and

really getting to the core

and the underlying principles of what's

truly going to result in business growth

this is where the famous john wanamaker

quote comes in which says

half the money i spend on advertising is

wasted the trouble is

i don't know which half and in today's

day and age that's simply unacceptable

now while there's a ton of places that

advertising can go horribly wrong

very quickly a large portion of this

waste simply comes down to

optimizing for the wrong variables these

are things like spending money to try to

get

likes or comments or shares or simply

trying to reach as many people as

possible

or try to improve metrics like brand

recall which is really just how many

people remember you

these are fine but at the end of the day

it's not how many people that remember

you that matters

it's how many people buy from you

marketing's job always has

and always should be first and foremost

to make sales

period if your marketing isn't making

sales not bringing in new revenue

not making you money it's not working

and tesla's marketing strategy

is definitely working so if elon and the

whole tesla team

aren't focused on advertising what are

they doing instead first of all

tesla has a great product and they're

obsessive about

making their great product even better

and are obsessively focused on their

customer

on their end consumer tesla customers

love their brand and they love the

company and they love the product

they talk about it they write about it

and they tell everyone they know about

just how great it is

but more on that in just a second plus

like another great brand who also spends

little or no money on advertising

apple well innovation is at the core of

what they do

always trying to make it better and

faster more exciting you see some of the

first

principles of marketing are number one

to make a really great product

and then number two to tell everyone

about that product the sad reality is

is that most businesses most

entrepreneurs and most marketers

well they often shortcut number one and

go straight to number two

trying to get as much attention as

possible but this never works as well

unless you focus on really creating that

great product first next up we have elon

musk as an incredibly integral part to

tesla you see tesla almost has a

baked-in

marketing aspect to it with elon and his

personality elon is also able to

leverage his personal brand that he

spent years building up

before getting into tesla because elon

musk is so polarizing

and so out there and so outspoken well

it makes it really easy for him to get a

ton of attention and

elon musk is synonymous with tesla just

like steve jobs was synonymous with

apple and just like bill gates was

synonymous with microsoft essentially

when one of these large personalities

does

something or says something or anything

like that well there's kind of a

two-part effect where the personal brand

gets attention

but the business gets attention as well

elon musk going on the joe rogan podcast

that's marketing elon musk being very

polarizing and outspoken and not being

afraid to share his opinions on twitter

that's marketing elon knows this and

he's good at it another part of tesla's

marketing strategy is also to use

influencers and early adopters in the

tech and automotive space

these influencers in the tech field or

in the automotive field or in electric

vehicles or anything like that

well they have a higher level of

credibility and authority

in their field and among their audience

other than say just a generic celebrity

so tesla

works with these brand influencers who

then become brand evangelists who then

go out and tell

everyone and anyone about just how great

tesla really is

next we have values tesla and elon musk

are unapologetic about their goals and

their dreams

and their desires for the future for

their brand and for the world they draw

a line in the sand and you're either

with us

or you're with them apple did this years

ago and they did it incredibly well with

the mac versus pc marketing campaign

coca-cola

and pepsi have been doing this for years

do you remember the taste tests and the

challenges fun

fact in a blind taste test people

actually preferred the taste of pepsi

over the taste of coca-cola but at the

end of the day

it's not about taste it's about

perception and that all comes down to

marketing

which is why coca-cola still wins anyway

tesla is doing

that now but rather than taking on

specific companies like

ford or chevrolet or gm they're taking

on entire industries like

the entire automotive industry the

entire energy industry

entire space industry this makes it easy

for people to talk about

and because they back up all this talk

with a good product well

it only helps the company grow faster

marketing is at the core of what tesla

does

they know it's important and they do it

well this is why the next thing you're

going to want to do is check out the

video i have linked up right here on

introduction

to marketing so make sure to check that

out now and i'll see you in the episode

marketing helps people solve their

problems by

clearly defining and delivering

solutions and really explaining the

benefits of the solution so they can get

better

you