- A potential advertising campaign for Tesla must answer who it is and explain the brand’s relevance to consumers, whether in EVs, autonomy, or personal robots, Black said.
- Tesla does not engage in traditional advertising, instead relying on word of mouth and its several affiliated X accounts to disseminate information and promote its products.
- While Tesla briefly experimented with ads in 2023, the team hired for traditional advertising was disbanded in 2024 after Musk criticized the output as “too generic.”
The Future Fund managing partner Gary Black reiterated his push for Tesla Inc. (TSLA) to start advertising its products more, urging the EV maker to take inspiration from iPhone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL).
According to Black, Apple owes its value to the best products coupled with the best marketing. Tesla, in comparison, has the best products but no marketing, the fund manager said in a post on X.
A potential advertising campaign for Tesla must answer who it is and explain the brand’s relevance to consumers, whether in EVs, autonomy, or personal robots, Black said, drawing from Steve Jobs’ talk on Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign.
Tesla’s Marketing Strategy
Tesla does not engage in traditional advertising, instead relying on word of mouth and its several affiliated X accounts to disseminate information and promote its products.
Black, for his part, has often called upon Tesla to better market its ease of charging and full self-driving driver assistance technology to reach more consumers, while also often adding that it is “too good a company in a thriving business.”
Neither Tesla nor Apple break down their advertising spending separately.
Tesla’s Brief Attempts At Advertising
At the May 2023 Tesla shareholder meeting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the company would "try a little advertising and see how it goes". He acknowledged that relying solely on X was "preaching to the converted" and didn't reach a wider audience.
Musk envisioned ads that were informative, aesthetic, and "not something you regret watching". The goal was to educate consumers on features like safety, affordability, and utility, particularly as competition in the EV market intensified.
However, the team hired for traditional advertising was disbanded in 2024 with Musk criticizing their output as “too generic” without specific references to Tesla.
How Did Stocktwits Users React?
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stock climbed from ‘extremely bearish’ to ‘bearish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at ‘high’ levels.
TSLA stock has gained 37% over the past 12 months.
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