Tesla has had a longstanding policy of not spending on advertising, as dictated by CEO Elon Musk. Tesla believed that it could instead spend the money on their products and let consumers do all the marketing for them through word of mouth. However, earlier this year, Musk stated a reversal of this policy. He stated that Tesla would not, finally undertake advertising.
Investors of Tesla have often told Musk that even minimal advertising, highlighting its product’s features could be beneficial for the brand. Finally, Musk heard the investors and said that Tesla would, “Try a little advertising,” to see where to goes.
As a result, Tesla has broadened its online ads. Furthermore, they have expanded into a new medium, i.e airport advertisements. Tesla began testing its ‘little advertising’ through Google ads in June. It has since, tried and tested around 300 different advertisements on Google.
Looking at the structure, Tesla is sending out multiple advertisements with headlines related to pricing after incentives in the Unites States. This seems to be the companies main focus. But, the automaker has also been testing targeted ads that highlight ‘built in Texas’ and other safety features of their vehicles.
With airport advertisements, Tesla has been trying out visual forms of advertising as well. There has been some buzz around displays featuring Tesla ads at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The ad runs across the entire wall and showcases Tesla’s Model Y and focuses on the brand’s large supercharger network and its famous autopilot feature.
Japan is an interesting market, since they usually prefer vehicles that are made in Japan. However, Japan is one of the countries who are trying to go all-electric soon. Thus, this opens up an opportunity for Tesla to test the waters, through advertising and see ifs they can successfully penetrate the market and carve a permanent spot for themselves.