Introduction
While the heart of marketing is the product or the offering, and everything starts with
having a great product because if the product is wrong, there is no amount of marketing,
logistical experience, or pricing strategy that can make it successful, customers still need to know
about the product (Marshall & Johnston, 2023). Communicating the value offering is clearly
explaining the specific benefits they will gain by owning the product of offering (Marshall &
Johnston, 2023). This the most recognizable area of marketing management and what most
people identify marketing as. Most people think that marketing management is simply the
communication or advertisement of the product of offering. We have been taking a journey
through the marketing strategy of Tesla over the last few projects. In this installment we will
continue to dissect how Tesla builds out their communication plan and how they have
successfully built their promotional mix to increase revenue for their brand.
Q1. Explain the elements of the firm’s promotional mix. (Ch. 13)
The promotional mix is the elements of promotion, including advertising, sales
promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing, and interactive marketing
(Marshall & Johnston, 2023). Tesla’s promotional mix has the following components, viral
marketing, personal selling, public relations, sales promotion, and direct marketing (Kissinger,
2024). Viral marketing has the largest contribution to Telsa’s promotional mix. “For example,
the release of the Tesla Model S for Kids is largely promoted through viral videos on social
media, thereby also promoting the company’s product mix” (Kissinger, 2024). Tesla uses their
company owned stores and showrooms to leverage personal selling (Kissinger, 2024). Tesla
leverages public relations by including their patents in the open-source movement to move the
world towards sustainability. Tesla uses sales promotion through discount offerings to customers
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as well as a customer referral program. Tesla lastly leverages direct marketing, such as selling
powertrain components and batteries to other businesses (Kissinger, 2024).
Q2. Explain whether a push or pull promotional strategy will be used, or a combination of
both. (Ch.13)
Tesla primarily leverages the pull promotional strategy. Pull promotional strategy
stimulates demand for an offering directly from the end user (Marshall & Johnston, 2023). Tesla
has been known to have a $0 marketing budget. Tesla tends to leverage CEO Elon Musk’s X
(formerly Twitter) account as a viral marketing campaign. Word of mouth marketing and social
media engagement are the primary promotional strategy (Tale & Ani, 2023). Tesla has proven
that with a very non-traditional marketing approach and exceptional target marketing, they can
achieve a muti-billion-dollar brand value (Luck, 2019).
Q3. Discuss the firm’s use of digital, mobile, or social media marketing. (Ch.13)
Tesla does not leverage traditional media advertisements such as newspaper or television
ads. They embrace the use of digital and social media marketing (Chaurasia, 2023). Digital
marketing is the creation and execution of an advertisement leveraging any form of digital media
(Marshall & Johnston, 2023). Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, uses his social media platform to drive
digital marketing to customers. He posts about the brand continuously driving brand awareness
and promoting the product mix (Chaurasia, 2023). Musk is a master storyteller who leverages
innovative communication and his personal brand to elevate the overall brand of Tesla
(Chaurasia, 2023). “Tesla actively utilizes social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram to engage with its audience. These platforms serve as a space for sharing updates,
showcasing product features, and interacting with Tesla enthusiasts” (Chaurasia, 2023). Tesla
also leverages their YouTube channel to highlight unique and innovative features of their
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vehicles and provide an immersive look at the Tesla experience (Chaurasia, 2023).
Q4. Explain the selected approach to advertising execution. (Ch. 14)
Advertising is synonymous with marketing and is the most visible side of marketing due
to the large amount of money spent on advertising (Marshall & Johnston, 2023). According to
our text, prior to COVID-19 global advertisement spend was nearly $600 billion per year,
however, that only accounted for traditional forms of advertisement (Marshall & Johnston,
2023). The traditional mindset for most brands is to spend a large percentage of revenue on
advertisement to drive more customers to the brand and increase brand loyalty. Tesla has taken a
unique approach to advertisement as discussed in this paper already. Tesla has opted out of
traditional advertisement forms and instead focused on word-or-mouth, social marketing, and
targeted communications to advertise their products (Team, 2024). “Tesla leveragesFonline sales,
customer advocacy through itsFreferral program, and viral product launches to create buzz
without a big advertising budget” (Team, 2024). This proves the old adage that a great product
can market itself.
Q5. Explain the organization’s use of sales promotion, public relations, live events,
publicity, or personal selling. (Ch. 14)
As discussed earlier, Tesla uses sales promotion, public relations, live events, publicity,
and personal selling as part of their promotional mix. Tesla uses personal selling by leveraging
their showrooms to have sales personnel interact directly with customers looking to purchase a
new Tesla (Team, 2024). Tesla has leveraged exciting product launches to reveal new models
such as the recently released Cybertruck. “These live-streamed unveilings generate immense
social media engagement, turning them intoFmust-watch events” (Team, 2024). Tesla has
leveraged the used of public relations through their continued drive to move the world to a more
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sustainable future. They have leveraged their patents through open-source methods to express
their sustainability message (Kissinger, 2024). Lastly, Tesla leverages sales promotion using
targeted campaigns and online sales offers (Kissinger, 2024). Tesla has a robust customer
referral program that not only drive revenue but also drives customer loyalty. Tesla has
masterfully leveraged these sales promotional activity to drive their cult like following of the
Tesla brand and community (Kissinger, 2024).
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References:
Chaurasia, N. (2023, October 10). Tesla Marketing Strategies: Best 10 Key Lessons To Learn.
Sprintzeal.com. https://www.sprintzeal.com/blog/tesla-marketing-strategy
Kissinger, D. (2024, November 1). Tesla’s marketing mix: 4Ps analysis. Panmore Institute.
https://panmore.com/tesla-motors-inc-marketing-mix-4ps-analysis#google_vignette
Luck, I. (2019, September 5). How tesla used a $0 marketing strategy to dominate a market.
Marketing Strategy. https://www.marketingstrategy.com/marketing-strategy-studies/how-
tesla-used-a-0-marketing-strategy-to-dominate-a-market
Marshall, G., & Johnston, M. (2023). Marketing Communications. In Marketing Management
(4th ed.). essay, McGraw Hill Education LLC.
Tale, A., & Ani, H. (2023, August 16). Tesla’s marketing strategy - how to succeed without
traditional advertising. Brand Vision. https://www.brandvm.com/post/teslas-marketing
Team, K. (2024, October 7). Tesla’s marketing playbook: Driving success without paid ads.
Krows Digital. https://krows-digital.com/teslas-marketing-playbook-driving-success-
without-paid-ads
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