Should Tesla Do Paid Advertising?

[Dids]

Advertising is a long-term approach. They need to advertise now to get sales in 2-5 years ?

The “Tesla army” doesn’t exist in many American’s realities (e.g. the vast majority of people who don’t join future-electric-pickup owners forums like we do ?). Cable TV does though! OTT for the cord cutters.

Ultimately, advertising is a reinvestment strategy that pays off long-term. You’ll get a few sales within months, but long-term lift is the goal.

So the most valuable car company in the world got there by doing it wrong? What Tesla should do is what Apple did when they fired Steve Jobs and do things the right way like every other company does them.

 

[AlexD]

The best products don't need to be advertised.

When Cybertrucks start feeding into the traffic they will draw more attention than you running down the road naked with your hair on fire.
No need to pay for advertising.

 

[thejohnllama]

So the most valuable car company in the world got there by doing it wrong? What Tesla should do is what Apple did when they fired Steve Jobs and do things the right way like every other company does them.

Appreciate the perspective! ?

I think Apple was better off with Jobs, as we kinda saw when he came back and got their products, advertising, and stocks back on track/to record highs n s#

 

[Frank W]

10 times that Elon Musk proved Tesla doesn't need advertising
https://apple.news/AXCozXZcoTDGOtU58618fPQ

 

[thejohnllama]

10 times that Elon Musk proved Tesla doesn't need advertising
https://apple.news/AXCozXZcoTDGOtU58618fPQ

Awesome stuff! Trajectory of Tesla as a brand has come such a long way, it will be interesting to see how it grows in the future

 

[alan auerbach]

How does everyone feel about Tesla’s shareholder vote to begin investing in paid advertising?

I read the proposal was $50 per car sold. I bet Tesla’s profit per car is $5k or higher, so it’s a modest 1% of margin and ~1/1,000 of total sale value.

I’m all for it. Americans need to become better educated on electric cars and running a marketing campaign allows you to control the narrative. While digital presence and engagement has been successful for the coasts and tech demos, Tesla isn’t reaching a core audience of middle America/traditional media consumers.

Ads are propaganda paid for by the gullible.

 

[Ehninger1212]

Yeah.. i dont ever buy products because i saw it on TV or something. Most of the time its someone i know has one or i read an article review and i liked it. My Neighbor bought P85D when they first came out and let me drive it... From that moment forward i have been a complete Tesla Maniac. I have convinced a few people to actually buy and have become a walking information booth to stop the FUD. Someone at my work thought electric cars can only travel 50 miles... SMH.

To some degree i understand the want/need to spread information. But there are people like me out there doing it for free! The hard part is actually a lot of people are just stubborn. A good friend of mine literally said his "vehicles will always burn oil" and my father still thinks the Hummer is better for the environment than a prius...

 

[Bigvbear]

Appreciate the perspective! ?

I think Apple was better off with Jobs, as we kinda saw when he came back and got their products, advertising, and stocks back on track/to record highs n s#

but apple can produce products quick enough to meet demand (even back when Jobs was first fired) Tesla cannot.

 

[alan auerbach]

Yeah.. i dont ever buy products because i saw it on TV or something. Most of the time its someone i know has one or i read an article review and i liked it. My Neighbor bought P85D when they first came out and let me drive it... From that moment forward i have been a complete Tesla Maniac. I have convinced a few people to actually buy and have become a walking information booth to stop the FUD. Someone at my work thought electric cars can only travel 50 miles... SMH.

To some degree i understand the want/need to spread information. But there are people like me out there doing it for free! The hard part is actually a lot of people are just stubborn. A good friend of mine literally said his "vehicles will always burn oil" and my father still thinks the Hummer is better for the environment than a prius...

I agree, and go further. Given a choice, I buy products because they DON'T advertise (which I would otherwise be paying for). That's a major reason why I shop at Costco and ordered a Tesla.

 

[OverlandCT]

why spend money on advertising if you could just use that money to make your product even better than everyone else

 

[alan auerbach]

I totally agree. I had posted the below comment on a YouTube channel but either the channel owner or YouTube had muted my display to others. I really think it was YouTube somehow, because I don't think the '"Now You Know"! channel staff would have done such a thing, and I do like Zac and Jesse. Some operators choose to censor selective content if they do not like it, and IMO that makes them a publisher (and also a dictatorial speech suppressor). Problem is, not being able to accept all views or engage in relative discourse and sneakily suppressing one's comments from view - is devious - and they didn't even inform that they were doing it. When this suppression is activated, the comment shows for the author, but when others view YouTube with their accounts, the comment is conveniently deleted from those viewed. So have a friend use their account to check comments that you post on YouTube, if you feel they might be 'muted'.

Now, as for the comment that was muted from view today (didn't see anything wrong with it):
19:45 NO - Tesla should Never Advertise. Tesla's Business Model is Stratosphere's above all the rest - and doesn't need 'fixing' or messed with. Plus, Advertising would only further enable the Scum Anti-American Media - and look what that 'advertising revenue' in their corrupt pockets is doing for us so far!! Elon is very well aware of this and other factors, as advertising also cuts into the quality substance margins of the car resulting in a worse car for the consumer. Advertising on MSM is Wrong for both the Company and Consumer in So Many Ways. If one must ask if Tesla should advertise, they do not comprehend Tesla, and do not comprehend Americans who are awake. Likely these 'suggestions' or articles are initiated by media advertising marketing departments who are losing money (and rightfully so) because Americans are Waking Up!

I truly wished this had shown up on Zac and Jesse's channel, but since it's not and I don't know why, I'm posting it here also. Speech suppression is a very dangerous stab at American rights and freedoms. Freedom of Speech provided by our First Amendment - is one of The main strands in the tapestry of what makes America a great country. Abusing a fellow citizen's rights in a devious manner is in my opinion, an indication of someone's psychological instability, because if one cannot engage with or respect other's opinions, then they are insecure about who they are or what they stand for.

Stratospheres above the rest? Good word choice. You probably meant it as a metaphor, but it happens to have a quite literal aspect as well!

 

[ldjessee]

When I realized that I did not have to take a car off the lot, that they wanted the sale enough to go find the car I wanted and make it available for me to buy, I stopped taking cars off the lot.

I go with a list of things I want and do not want. I took a car with an extra option once, because everything else matched and they made it the same price I was willing to pay (which I also figure out before hand).

Still a hassle and hate the salesman/finance manager game they play. Looking forward to just picking the options I want and waiting for exactly what I want to arrive.

 

[carpedatum]

To be completely open about it, I do not like advertising. I don't like that it has crept, for example, very rudely into the "screen saver" produced by my Directv box. I don't like seeing it on the poles that hold up chairlifts at the ski slope. I don't like being yelled at by web sites about my ad blocker, only to turn it off and find that the content then disappears into a blizzard of really awful, and often deceitful, click bait.

I don't _think_ I've ever bought a vehicle because of an advertisement. I don't know that - these things are purposefully designed to wear on one's psyche over time and build brand interest, so maybe the Ridgeline is in my garage because I've seen too many Honda ads. I like to think it's there because the feature suite fits my lifestyle better than the Ford and the execution is better, but maybe...

Tesla doesn't need advertising at this point in its life-cycle. If you're going to buy a Leaf or a Bolt, it isn't because you didn't know about Tesla. You're not going to put down that Camry key fob because you saw a Tesla ad, or even a million of them.

The lack of advertising is, in my view, a positive differentiator, much like the lack of traditional dealerships. It speaks to the idea that buying and owning a Tesla might be somewhat less of a disappointment than buying a VW or a Chevy. While Tesla can't avoid hype altogether, at least its efforts to draw attention to itself are generally aligned with making better vehicles, rather than paying a third party to manufacture enthusiasm.

So, yeah, I voted against that idea, both here and as a shareholder. At the very least, this isn't the right time, IMO.

 

[ricinro]

fairly soon there will be stainless steel billboards driving on our roads that will turn heads and probably terrify a few folks.
Tesla has a minimalist website, yeah it's hip but they need a back door (maybe name it after Elmer Fudd ...if they could rent the rights) to go deep into the details of what differentiates Tesla tech and specs and Tesla's overall plan from existing tech and our oil based economy.

 

[rr6013]

How does everyone feel about Tesla’s shareholder vote to begin investing in paid advertising?

I read the proposal was $50 per car sold. I bet Tesla’s profit per car is $5k or higher, so it’s a modest 1% of margin and ~1/1,000 of total sale value.

I’m all for it. Americans need to become better educated on electric cars and running a marketing campaign allows you to control the narrative. While digital presence and engagement has been successful for the coasts and tech demos, Tesla isn’t reaching a core audience of middle America/traditional media consumers.

NO advertising. Ads are “ feature lists. They don’t produce good customers for great cars.

SteveJobs never advertised features or specs. People want to own something that “ Just Works” is how Steve phrased it. Tesla have smartly chosen to become the anti-carcompany.

it can sponsor where sponsorship sells more cars, trucks and cross-overs. Perhaps a tow behind camper range designed on brutalist elements, apocalyptic specs and off-grid technologies like weapons grade bio-terrorism HVAC system for pandemic, pollution or civil breakdown scenarios which Cybertruck can easily support.

it can co-venture engineering for upgrades, add-on and certified integration onto the Cyber platform a range of industry specific solutions just not possible with a conventional pickup.

Finally, Elon might find a niche that needs an IPO start-up for armored, offgrid and recreational users to egg-on innovation, uptake and certify new uses on top of Tesla technologies. But no, I don’t think Tesla needs breakout Cyber* vehicles just to keep Tesla stock down.