Tesla, known for its minimal advertising strategy, continues to make its foray into the advertising world.
During the company’s annual shareholder meeting, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla would engage in “little advertising.” The move marks a shift from Tesla’s traditional reliance on word-of-mouth marketing for its electric vehicles and products.
Tesal CEO Elon Musk provided an update on October 22, stating, “I said we would advertise. We are doing so at small scale and will do so at larger scale as we figure what works best.” The company is taking a cautious approach, starting with small-scale advertising efforts before potentially scaling up.
Tesla previously participated at all stops of the Electrify Expo tour, the largest electric vehicle (EV) festival in North America. “We have successfully created a not-to-be-missed event for leading EV brands, and Tesla took notice,” said BJ Birtwell, Founder of Electrify Expo, a previous statement to Tesla North.
Other Tesla advertising at the moment appears to be a Google Adwords campaign, while we also saw the company advertise at a baseball game. Recently, a Tesla ad was spotted at the Tokyo Airport.
The Adwords campaign shows Tesla has about 300 text ads right now, showcasing the Model 3 with Autopilot, the company’s cheaper prices after federal tax credit, California solar incentives, and more. Google Adwords campaigns offer Tesla lots of metrics so it is likely providing the company insight into what’s working, and what’s not.
We have yet to see Tesla jump into a major advertising campaign on TV or video ads on YouTube. Imagine if Tesla decides to advertise during the Super Bowl? Now that would reach the most eyeballs, but of course at a cost.