Learn from Tesla’s Marketing Mistake: The Importance of Strategic Marketing

Inform us you don’t know something about marketing with out telling us you don’t know something about advertising and marketing.

Final week, multibillionaire and advertising and marketing genius Elon Musk fired the newly formed content and marketing team one yr after he begrudgingly stated he would “attempt slightly promoting and see the way it goes.”

Information of the dismissal got here simply after quite a few stories of the bugs, failures, and restricted gross sales of Tesla’s latest product — the larger and fatter Again-To-The-Future DeLorean referred to as the Cybertruck. It additionally got here simply earlier than Tesla’s newest earnings report.

Do you have to care that 40 individuals in Tesla’s advertising and marketing and content material crew have been eliminated unceremoniously? Is {that a} good factor for the model?  What does it say about your prospects in advertising and marketing?

What a distinction a yr makes

Final week was robust for about 40 individuals in Tesla’s advertising and marketing division. Nonetheless, I think about many most likely noticed their depart coming in a method or one other.

Their departure was a part of an ongoing broader layoff at Tesla, which earlier introduced plans to reduce its global workforce by 10%. Provided that Tesla nonetheless counts greater than 140,000 staff, the whole layoff quantity may ultimately hit 30,000 to 40,000. So, dropping 40 advertising and marketing and content material people who find themselves extra appropriately described as communications professionals isn’t probably the most significant a part of the Tesla story.

However what resonates with me probably the most is Tesla’s sudden turnaround in its beliefs about advertising and marketing, promoting, and content material as a contemporary firm. Solely a yr in the past, Elon Musk seemingly begrudgingly stated he would try advertising. At the moment, the content material crew already existed, however they received a brand new mandate to “attempt slightly” promoting. A yr into that experiment, Elon stated the adverts have been “far too generic” on his X platform.

However have been they? Possibly they have been, and perhaps they weren’t. Possibly his crew wasn’t large enough or lacked the abilities to supply superb model promoting. Possibly the crew did magnificent work however couldn’t get it authorised. Possibly they did however couldn’t get it promoted correctly. At the moment’s trendy marketer realizes so many issues that get in the way in which of doing — and publishing — excellent inventive work.

Little question, the previous Tesla advertising and marketing and content material groups must be pleased with the work they did. In a LinkedIn submit, the group’s chief, Alex Ingram, wrote in regards to the demise and thanked his crew for the superb inventive work they did through the years.

So, what’s the takeaway?

Historical past doesn’t repeat, however it does rhyme

Again in January, which looks like historical historical past, I wrote about Solo Manufacturers throwing its model advertising and marketing crew below the bus after a disappointing gross sales quarter of its Solo Range regardless of their superb inventive work. Its Snoop Dogg marketing campaign went viral, however six weeks later, the corporate hadn’t achieved the specified gross sales, so it fired the CEO. I identified that one thing larger was most likely at play, however they felt compelled to make the advertising and marketing plan the scapegoat.

So right here we go once more, however this time it’s Tesla. Because the well-known quote says, “Historical past doesn’t repeat itself, however it does typically rhyme.”

Although most information stories say the 40-person crew had solely been round a yr, my studying says the staff had been round quite a bit longer than that. In Alex’s LinkedIn submit, he mentions they’d been doing the work in comms, public relations, and social media since 2019. It was Elon’s quote to “attempt slightly paid promoting” that was a yr outdated.

On the floor, the precious comms crew was doing attention-grabbing issues, however then they needed to attempt promoting. It didn’t work to Elon’s liking, so Tesla removed the crew.

That makes virtually as a lot sense as tearing down a social media platform to its studs to see what is going to break after which being stunned when it does.

Sadly, as I discussed throughout the Solo Range problem, entrepreneurs should be used to this. When issues go amazingly properly, advertising and marketing virtually by no means will get the credit score. It’s the genius CEO’s imaginative and prescient, the extraordinary gross sales crew, or a celebrity product that gained the day. Then issues fail, and it’s virtually at all times advertising and marketing’s fault.

It’s a Faustian discount that entrepreneurs have accepted since advertising and marketing has been round.

Don’t take any takeaways from Tesla on what to do

What annoys me probably the most is when a CEO, board, or management crew feels the necessity to throw advertising and marketing below the bus when it’s assuredly not their fault. If issues have been going nice for Tesla — and they’re actually, actually not — would Elon take trip of his busy day to thank the advertising and marketing and content material crew that created the adverts? After all not.

So, why, within the face of shedding 10% of Tesla’s workforce, would he exit of his approach to throw shade at a crew that makes up 0.0002% of the corporate and say that their work was “generic”?

As a result of Elon thinks he is aware of higher, and his insecurity requires him to say the quiet half out loud. Extra troublesome are the management groups throughout the trade who will hear this pronouncement and, as they did in Twitter’s dismantling, say, “Possibly we should always try this too.”

Spoiler alert for these leaders: Don’t. Tesla at all times thought-about advertising and marketing and branding as an afterthought. Its famous absence will not be laudable however one of many myriad signs of challenges the automobile firm has. There aren’t any classes to be realized right here for any management crew aside from what to not do.

To the previous content material development crew at Tesla, bon voyage. Let me know if I can do something to assist. Your work was unbelievable. Your fellow advertising and marketing and communications practitioners are with you. You’ll all find yourself in a greater place.