Copyright BusinessAMBE

Tesla boss Elon Musk admitted at the company's Investor Day that the electric car maker will turn to conventional advertising, a 180-degree turn.

It was one of Tesla's trademarks: to be a manufacturer apart, needing no advertising, only word of mouth. It was marketing in itself: exclusivity and rarity aroused desire in the buyer, who thought he was joining a club by invitation. Those days are over, in an industry that has become hyper-competitive.

The news: Elon Musk is changing the gun from shoulder on the advertising front.

  • "We're going to try to do some advertising and see how it goes," Musk said in response to a question from a shareholder during Tesla's investor day. An answer the audience was quite pleased with.
  • Later, interviewed by business channel CNBC, the Tesla boss added that he would be interested in informative and aesthetic ads. Elon Musk said he had "given his consent" but had not yet established a "clear strategy."

The context: the hyper-competitive electric car market.

  • The auto industry is the sector that spends the most on advertising. Until now, Tesla has been an exception.
  • But the sector faces challenges: supply chain bottlenecks and, for non-Chinese brands, the with its many brands in the global market.
  • Add fragile demand, and Musk was forced to activate the : a price cut on his Tesla cars. The American brand could afford this more than other manufacturers because its profit margins per vehicle were the highest on the market.
  • However, this did not become an unqualified success. Since then, Elon Musk has announced new price increases: the manufacturer is searching.
  • So this change in ads is generally well received by shareholders, who believe Tesla can become even better known to the general public.

Soros

One more thing: On his social network Twitter, Musk caused controversy again with a lashing out at Georges Soros, the billionaire who recently got rid of all his Tesla shares. Musk compared Soros to Magneto, a character from X-Men and tweeted that "Soros hates humanity."

During his interview with CNBC, Musk was asked to backtrack on his statements. And he confirmed them.

  • "Yes, I think it's true. It's my opinion," the businessman assured.
  • However, he did refute the accusations of anti-Semitism he faced, adding that he was even "rather pro-Semitic."
  • The presenter then asked him why he continued to post such controversial tweets, knowing that it could irritate both investors and customers of his companies (Tesla and Twitter, among others) and ultimately cost him money.
  • "I will say what I want to say, and if that results in me losing money, so be it," he replied, referring to a quote from the movie The Princess Bride (1987): "Offer me money. Power, too. Promise me that. I offer you nothing."

(evb/nd)

© The Content Exchange, source News