Elon Musk says Tesla will try advertising
By BLOOMBERG | 17 May 2023AUSTIN: Tesla Inc. chief executive officer Elon Musk said the electric-car maker will dabble in advertisements, a major shift for the company that’s largely avoided traditional marketing.
“We’ll try a little advertising and see how it goes,” Musk said Tuesday at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting here, in response to an investor’s question.
Tesla has long prided itself on word-of-mouth among its fan base to market its vehicles. It’s built a formidable brand without paying for television, radio or print ads.
Musk said in a subsequent interview with CNBC that paying for ads could be a way to expand beyond Tesla’s existing user base.
“It’s worth a try and we’ll see how effective it is,” he said. “I only just agreed to it so it’s not a fully formed strategy.”
Musk has used Twitter, which he now owns, as a marketing tool for Tesla. The social media site depends on advertising as its primary source of revenue, something newly appointed CEO Linda Yaccarino is expected to focus on.
Musk told CNBC that some companies had pulled ads from Twitter after facing criticism from the social media site’s own crowd-sourced fact-checking feature known as community notes. He didn’t name the advertisers, but said it cost Twitter US$40 million.
Musk also said that he’s going to continue to say what he thinks on Twitter even if it causes some advertisers to abandon the platform.
“I’ll say what I want, and if the consequences of that is losing money, so be it,” he said.
Tags
Autos Tesla
Reviews
8.4
BMW R 1250 GS: A symbiotic connection
7.8
Nissan Almera Turbo VLT Kuro GT package: Dark draw
Great Wall Motor (GWM): Going high-five in Beijing
Geely Driving Experience in Beijing: Zeekr 001 FR hypercar d...
Jaecoo J7: Ready to rumble
7.6
Hyundai Ioniq 6 Max RWD driven
8.2