Listening to Brands - Tesla: If you don't have anything good to say...
I selected Tesla. I have followed Tesla for a while, especially given the many oddities of Elon Musk's internet habits. Tesla tends to be a popular, hip brand, that appeals to a wide range of customers, from young, environmentally-conscious millennials, to wealthier consumers interested in luxury vehicles.
Currently the largest marketing challenge that Tesla faces is, ironically, themselves, (more specifically Elon Musk). He has a history of generating controversy and saying damaging things over the internet, and has even faced SEC investigation for stock manipulation via his twitter feed.
The controversial nature of his internet habits is seen by many as a double-edged sword, both providing the company with "free marketing" at the expense of volatility.
A few days ago he came under fire for tweeting that "Tesla stock price is too high", which immediately had a negative effect on Tesla stock as investors lost confidence in the company. Mr. Musk has also tweeted against the shelter-in-place orders that forced the closure of Tesla manufacturing facilities, which has been extremely controversial.
To date, Tesla has not responded to Mr. Musk's tweet, which arguably is the right decision. Wading into this mess is only going to amplify the controversy and add confusion, since that would put the company at odds with its CEO. This could arguably even increase uncertainty by publicly acknowledging an internal conflict, further hurting Tesla stock performance.
Public response has been significant. Responses fall into three categories: Support for his protest against the shelter-in-place, anger at his lack of care for the casualties of reopening too soon, and a more vague "please stop tweeting, you are only making things worse".
If I were the brand manager, I would get as far away from this controversy as I could. If forced to respond, I would emphasize that Tesla has performed unusually well financially even during the covid19 crisis, overcoming factory closures to maintain an unexpected profit. I would attempt to turn to focus towards Telsa's optimistic outlook for the future.
I would also tell Elon Musk to stop tweeting.
In the course of researching this assignment, I learned that, as has been said many times, what is said in a public forum can have far-reaching consequences. I personally don't put anything on the internet that I wouldn't stand by under even the most stringent scrutiny. If I couldn't say it to someone I was trying to impress as a professional, then in my opinion it doesn't belong on the internet.
Comments
Post a Comment