Tesla Cybertruck
This report is a part of the University of London (Royal Holloway’s) BSc: Business Administration (BA-1520) (Interpreting Management, Market and consumption, IMMC) coursework for the year 2019/20.
Purpose of the report:
This report is about a unique marketing event of Tesla’s Cybertruck and consists of 3 main parts, namely selection and introduction, analysis, and conclusion. This report sheds light on the effective and unique marketing strategies used by Tesla to the fullest. Marketing issues are also discussed and how Tesla used the issue as a marketing strategy. The success of the Cybertruck event has also been identified and the role of key players has also been explained in detail.
Selection and Introduction
Tesla, being a renowned electric car manufacturing company, has revolutionized the industry and is continuously aiming to do so which is clear with the latest Tesla Cybertruck launched at an event near SpaceX facility in Los Angeles. This is also where the tesla design studios is located. Most of the car enthusiasts were waiting for this unique looking truck and posted about this marketing event on social media and this is how I became aware of the event. Tesla launched the Cybertruck on November 21, 2019. The reason for the report on this specific event is that even before the main event started, there was a hype about an exceptional product that tesla was about to launch. There were several unique activities like bar and huge tesla coil to make the experience of the people attending the event even more fun-filled, leading to increased brand loyalty. Most attendees were wearing different but unique clothes as this showed their enthusiasm for the event.
Tesla had registered trademarks a week before the launch event (Klender, 2019). The willing audience had to register themselves for the unveil event to get access to the Tesla design studios after which they received an email from tesla to confirm their presence. The reason for the confirmation through email was to make sure that more audiences could experience the unveiling of the Cybertruck while being there physically. Upon the fulfilment of the number of the targeted audience, the remaining audience was placed on the waiting list.
Analysis
Marketing essentially includes identifying the needs and wants of the customers and fulfilling them to earn profits. Tesla did just this but used value addition and unique selling point namely by providing the unique design and super powerful body and glass. The following paragraphs explain why Tesla’s marketing strategies are not only unique but highly successful.
The proof of the success is that Cybertruck is expected to get Tesla profits of $4.5 billion and Elon Musk’s net worth jumped to $768 Million just one day after the Cybertruck unveil event (Speculations, 2019) (Ho, 2019).
The fact that some people were put to the waiting list because the capacity of the Tesla design studios was not enough to fit in a huge number of people that registered for the event shows that the event was a success, though some of the tesla enthusiasts could not get the chance to witness the tesla Cybertruck launch because they were not invited.
A short video was played showing 100 years of trucks with each one looking similar. Elon Musk was able to capture the attention of the viewers by explaining how old looking other trucks are, and Cybertruck is here to revolutionize the truck industry.
Upon testing the mirrors of Cybertruck by throwing the steel ball at the mirrors of windows, the glass cracked and this led to a $768 million loss in the net worth of the company (Ho, 2019). Both left-side windows mirrors of the Cybertruck were tested but both ended up getting cracked. The reduction in the net worth of tesla due to the cracked glasses gave an image to the customers that tesla does not provide what it promises.
Although Elon Musk tried to cover the damage by issuing a sentence on Twitter claiming that the glass broke due to the sledgehammer test on the door before the steel ball test on the armoured glasses of Cybertruck, but the damage had already been done and the stock price had reduced. (Musk, 2019). The sledgehammer was smashed into the door of the regular truck and it left a dent but when the same was done to Cybertruck’s door, it stayed as good as new. This will reduce the repair and maintenance cost for the customers, thus reducing the after-sales profit for the tesla but this is a good strategy to be used as a unique selling point. (Unique selling point helps the company differentiate itself or its product from the competitors). The brand image of tesla might improve as it gives an idea that tesla cares for the customers.
Viewers were not sure whether the glasses were planned to be cracked as a guerrilla marketing strategy to which Elon Musk replied that they had hit the windows with the steel balls before but it did not even leave a single scratch while testing before the main event (Musk, 2019). Elon Musk also posted a video of the steel ball bouncing back after hitting the glass of the window which has been retweeted 39500 times and can help cover up the bad reputation witnessed during the launch event (Musk, 2019).
250,000 cybertrucks were ordered just 6 days after the unveiling of Cybertruck (Wood, 2019) even after the viewers witnessed the cracking of the windows of Tesla’s Cybertruck which implies that the brand image of tesla even though damaged due to the glass incident, still appeals the customers.
The cracked glass of Cybertruck gave companies like Pepsi, Lego, Denny’s, and Crunch to use it as an ambush marketing strategy by either directly or indirectly mocking the Cybertruck. Pepsi uploaded a 5 seconds video that showed a Pepsi’s steel tin being hit by a small steel ball depicting that the steel tin is more enduring than Cybertruck’s windows (Pepsi, 2019). Lego, on the other hand, posted a picture of a Lego truck on Twitter (Lego, 2019). Denny’s used this strategy by posting a picture of a yellow Cybertruck-like vehicle with “Denny’s” written on the truck (Denny’s, 2019). The crunch was quick to reply to Denny’s on Twitter by posting a picture of truck with Crunch written on the truck (CRUNCH, 2019). This indirectly helped Tesla’s Cybertruck’s promotion on their respected pages.
To cope up with the damage done by the cracked glass, Tesla reached some famous celebrities. Moe Sargi, a YouTuber with up to 2 million subscribers on YouTube, tweeted that he had placed an order for Cybertruck (Sargi, 2019). The company that made the famous game, Halo, posted a picture of Cybertruck with a canon on its official twitter page (Gaming, 2019). This marketing tactic can help build a positive image of Cybertruck and Tesla. This too helps to increase the sales of Cybertruck as customers might perceive it as a luxurious product that celebrities use. Several YouTubers posted videos on why they placed an order for Cybertruck. This reduces Tesla’s advertising budget as $75 million revenue from a single video is expected which is explained by this article (Marketing Examples, 2019). Separate badge for the entry was provided to YouTubers to promote social media marketing.
Teslanomic with Ben Sullins, a YouTube page, explains this clever marketing strategy. Tesla invited social media influencers to the event and they made the video on Cybertruck event. A YouTuber used data API to search for the term Cybertruck and turns out the event nearly generated 50 million views on YouTube while the searches on Google and tweets on Twitter are not counted in this (Sullins, 2019). This could be due to the brand image and brand loyalty of Tesla. In fact, 73% of people watch reviews on YouTube before deciding to purchase a product (boostlikes, 2014).
Hologram marketing was used as hologram welcomed Elon Musk on the stage after an attempt to convince the viewers that the world is being polluted due to oil-based vehicles, after which the hologram continued “I now present to you, my creator.”. This gives the event a unique touch and makes it more interesting. Hologram marketing helps capture the attention of the viewers and makes it interesting. The usage of ecological marketing in the unveil event means tesla can charge a premium price for the entry ticket and Cybertruck itself.
As for the segmentation and targeted customers, Tesla’s focus was on green customers as the event started with hologram informing how traditional oil-based cars will lead to excessive pollution in the future. This trend of saving the planet is growing as more Americans now prefer and think green before purchasing the products or services (NASTU, 2007) (WALKER, 2013).
Tesla took test marketing to a completely new level. The truck was unveiled this year but it will be delivered in the year 2020 or 2021. The more people wait, the more they would want the Cybertruck which helps increase sales. Just minutes before the test drive, another Cybertruck with the smoother body and new window glasses appeared on the stage which shows tesla’s efficiency. Tesla displayed the lowest-priced Cybertruck in the unveil event so that more people could know about the price and it attracted people to place an order, thus using the unveil as a marketing strategy to the best.
A thing to notice here is that there is not much talk on the ATV. Though it can fit into the bed of Cybertruck and charge, there was not enough focus on the ATV during the event and this could be one of the marketing failures of the unveiling event.
The way the Cybertruck entered the stage was a unique art of marketing. Just after the Cybertruck stopped, Franz, the chief designer of tesla, stepped out of the car. Cybertruck was welcomed with the artificial smoke and fire, using firepot, as it was being driven until it reached the middle of the stage followed by stick-like lights.
A video of tug of war between Cybertruck and ford f150 truck was played and Cybertruck was able to pull the ford truck uphill. Cybertruck was shown racing with Porsche 911 and Cybertruck won this one too. These two videos played in the event helped market the Cybertruck as a consumer product and as an industrial vehicle. Another video was displayed showing a gun bullet hitting the Cybertruck’s metal.
Cybertruck will be added to the Dubai police crew of vehicles, even though it has not yet been released (Padeanu, 2019). This clarifies the fact that the unveiling event was a success because the demand for the Cybertruck has reached globally.
Conclusion
Cybertruck’s clever promotion strategy for integrated marketing mix about turning the bad will during armored glass cracking, into a masterpiece of marketing is something unique. The proof was that the armored glass cracked when purposely hit with a steel ball during the unveiling (Browne, 2019), did not stop customers from placing the orders as 250,000 cybertrucks were ordered just 6 days after the event due to Tesla’s brand image (Musk, 2019). Companies like Pepsi, Lego, Denny’s, and crunch tried trolling Cybertruck but ended up directly or indirectly promoting it. Furthermore, Moe Sargi and gaming company which produced Halo, directly promoted it
The event was successful as the venue was full even though only those invited attended the event and were able to witness a video showing 100 years of trucks and a unique Cybertruck while some were able to get a test drive as well. Tesla targeted green customers using hologram marketing and this is a unique combination. The race with Porsche and tug of war with Ford truck depicted Cybertruck as consumer and industrial product. Not to mention, Dubai police is also planning to include it in the already amazing collection of cars. These factors clarify the idea that Cybertruck unveil event was very successful, hugely because of promotion due to glass cracking. Although the ATV did not get much attention even after having the unique feature of getting charged when placed in the cargo area of the Cybertruck, but the Cybertruck itself was a reason for the success of this launch event.
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