As the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk oversees the management, strategy formulation and implementation, decision-making, and overall performance of the company. In his role, Musk forms a crucial part of the firm’s daily operations and long-term investments in line with its values and goals. Furthermore, Elon Musk leads all product design and engineering in the global production of electric cars. These products align with the organization’s mission to accelerate the shift to sustainable transportation systems. As such, Tesla sells a wide range of electric vehicles, from sedans to trucks, with the company shifting to e-commerce for marketing and distribution services. Additionally, Elon Musk manages to run a low-cost marketing campaign utilizing his public image for the company’s branding. Tesla’s CEO became crucial to steering the company in the highly innovative technology industry through strategic marketing strategies leading to increased product demand and sales revenues.
Marketing is essential to Tesla’s profitability, and Musk’s marketing strategy initially targeted affluent buyers, a task he navigated in his role as CEO at minimal costs. As co-founder of the electric car production company, Elon Musk served a valuable part in connecting the company’s production strategies to its marketing plan. For instance, Tesla’s strategy from its incorporation in 2003 included producing low-volume high-priced electric vehicles like the Roadster, priced at around $109,000 at its release (Mangram, 2012). Elon Musk adopted a similar strategy to most technological-product life cycles with flashy but low-cost advertising. Sending Elon Mask’s roadsters to space captured the attention of the high-class market niche the product was designed for and boosted sales. As CEO, Musk succeeded in offering innovative marketing strategies that suited the company’s production and growth.
After the initial marketing of the pricey Roadster, Elon Musk shifted the company’s focus to mass production of lower-priced electric vehicles and its marketing focus to e-commerce. Automobiles such as the Tesla Model S and Model X focused on the broader luxury market, and Elon Mask concentrated on online marketing, eliminating dealers’ needs (Mangram, 2012). One such move included selling cars from the company’s showrooms and doing away with dealer networks (Mangram, 2012). As most people buying cars do an online search before selecting a vehicle, the move to e-commerce became an effective means to reach new buyers in the market. The step worked out well as soon, the demand rose, and customers who ordered a Tesla had to wait months to receive their purchases (Mangram, 2012). Furthermore, the production turned out to be useful as car production matched the current request on the market, reducing production losses. By moving to e-commerce, Tesla’s marketing increased sales by effectively reaching more potential buyers.
Additionally, as Elon Musk became an influential figure in the world through his philanthropic and innovative investments, he utilized his influence to boost Tesla’s marketing. As CEO, Musk became highly active on his social media platforms and advertised the company’s products at a low cost. For instance, Tesla rose to the third-highest mentioned car brand across all social media platforms, ahead of well-established brands like Ford and Mercedes- Benz (Jovancic, 2018). Similarly, the discussions around electric vehicles increased significantly in the recent past, alluding to their rising popularity. Interestingly, the company’s account on social media had few posts, but Elon Musk became the single person in front of their branding campaign. Social media marketing allowed Tesla to reach broader markets through efforts spearheaded by the CEO, Elon Musk.
Social Media Mentions for Car Brands: Elon Musk Leadership Analysis Report
Note. Social Media Mentions for Car Brands (Christophe Folschete, 2019)
Elon Mask in Action
Elon Musk presented his case for transforming the transport and energy sector through sustainable energy projects in one interview at the Oxford Martin School. In the interview with the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Andrew Hammington, Elon Musk explained the reasoning behind developing and marketing the first Tesla car, the Roadster. According to Musk, any vehicle that the Tech-company made initially would become expensive, but people would only be willing to pay $100,000 for a fancy sports car (Oxford Martin School, 2012). As a result, Tesla decided to target the high-end market to ensure the company made substantial sales in its first production. Tesla then matches the production strategy with targeted marketing to affluent individuals allowing the emerging company to gain significant sales revenue from its initial sales. Elon Musk successfully led the company through its entry into the competitive automobile market against established automakers.
Tesla’s CEO also actively leads the engineering and manufacturing of the electric vehicle company, including setting up new production plants to boost the company’s capacity. Since the waiting line for new customers seems to grow with increasing sales, Elon Musk initiated plans to increase manufacturing capacity as Tesla looks to occupy a more significant market share. In an address to investors, Musk said that a new factory in Shanghai had started tail production in October 2019, producing “full vehicles, from the body to paint to general assembly” (Toh, 2019). Musk’s sentiments immediately impacted the stock market as investors developed confidence in the company’s progress. As CEO, Elon Musk led the company’s local and international investments as they suited its strategy. Therefore, by announcing the new investment in global production from China, Elon Musk boosted the company’s capacity and position in the world market.
In another interview with a recode reporter, Elon Musk got questioned on his extensive use of social media. On Twitter, Elon Musk regularly posts content making, developing a visible online presence and sharing information consistently with the rest of the world. When asked about his Twitter posts, he said, “I look at it as a way of learning things, kinda stay in touch with what’s happening” (Swisher, 2018). Despite his light comments, it’s hard to ignore the impact of the CEO’s online activity, particularly on Twitter. Just recently, Elon Musk’s posts on Twitter caused the company to lose $14 billion and cost him $3 Billion personally in market value after commenting that Tesla’s stock price was too high (Griffith, 2020). Even though the CEO holds a massive influence on social media, there’s a great need to practice great care when posting to avoid harmful impacts.
Tesla’s CEO has several leadership styles, but his transformational nature stands out as he manages several revolutionary projects. Besides acting as the CEO of Tesla, Elon Mask leads many innovative companies. It continues to head projects such as SpaceX, which aims to bring human extra-terrestrial habitation to reality. For instance, Tesla’s initiative to transform the transportation industry comes against massive competition from the fossil-powered vehicle industry that currently dominates the market (Mangram, 2012). Nonetheless, Elon Musk steered Tesla’s transformative agenda into the international market and convinced thousands of customers to switch to Electric vehicles. Elon Musk’s transformative nature impacts the world and the future of humanity as the Tesla CEO seeks to develop new ways to solve problems in various sectors.
Regarding entrepreneurship, the business mogul that started four billion-dollar companies makes timely and informed investments with great potential for future success. Based on scientific facts, market characteristics, and informed projections, the Tesla CEO invested in the right kind of industries that turned out to be profitable ventures. When the internet broke out in the late twentieth century, Elon Musk saw the potential the sector held and decided to invest in PayPal, his first billion-dollar company (Oxford Martin School, 2012). Similarly, his ambitious investment in self-driving cars through Tesla pushed the limits of innovation at the opportunity that Musk saw in the future of transportation. Even though Tesla car innovations come with substantial capital investment, Elon Musk continues to make groundbreaking decisions in innovative designs and investments without letting the challenges hinder his ingenuity. However, he sticks to an approach where nothing is assumed or taken for granted and strives to change the future through timely innovations.
With a billion-dollar resume for Tesla’s CEO, the effectiveness of the business mogul to deliver is unquestionable, but time schedules come as a challenge. The exceeding demand for Tesla electric vehicles means customers must wait months before their purchased units get delivered. For instance, Tesla’s Model 3 waiting list of nearly half a million clients is a significant inconvenience for prospective buyers (Toh, 2019). Even so, the sales of Tesla’s electric cars managed to increase by 50% between 2018 and 2019, expanding the company’s market share significantly. Furthermore, Elon Musk effectively led the company to attain a market capitalization of $166 billion by February 2020 (Griffith, 2020). Despite the timeline constraints, Elon Musk led Tesla’s engineering and innovation to increase the company’s market share. As such, Elon Musk proves to be an effective leader for the tech company that continues to enjoy market success due to increased sales.
Innovation comes at the heart of Elon Musk’s success story with low-cost marketing strategies that pushed Tesla to increase sales revenues and product demand as it effectively transformed the transportation industry. Musk’s entrepreneurial skills, from PayPal to his position as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, prove he is an effective leader in many sectors by making informed and timely investment decisions. Musk’s position at both companies also substantially contributes to the design and engineering departments. Furthermore, the Tesla CEO kicked off the electric vehicle’s sales with significant success at a relatively low marketing cost. Social media comes as a crucial part of his influence that Musk leverages for advertising at no charge. However, social media posts also have disastrous effects on Tesla and himself. Under his leadership, Tesla managed to shift its operation to e-commerce platforms, allowing the marketing team to reach a broader range of potential clients. Therefore, Elon Musk transformed how Tesla’s electric vehicles were sold and distributed.
Folschette, C. (2019). Tesla marketing strategy: 3 lessons you must learn from Musk. Retrieved from https://www.leadquizzes.com/blog/tesla-marketing-strategy/
Griffith, K. (2020). Elon Musk’s tweet caused Tesla’s market value to tank by $14 billion. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8280293/Elon-Musks-tweet-caused-Teslas-market-value-tank-14-billion.html
Jovancic, N. (2018). Tesla marketing strategy: 3 lessons you must learn from Musk. Retrieved from https://www.leadquizzes.com/blog/tesla-marketing-strategy/
Mangram, M. (2012). The globalization of Tesla Motors: a strategic marketing plan analysis. Journal Of Strategic Marketing, 20(4), 289-312. doi: 10.1080/0965254x.2012.657224
Oxford Martin School. (2012, November 22). Elon Musk – the future of energy & transport [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1HZIQliuoA
Swisher, K. (2018). Elon Musk: The recode interview. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2018/11/2/18053424/elon-musk-tesla-spacex-boring-company-self-driving-cars-saudi-twitter-kara-swisher-decode-podcast
Toh, M. (2019). Tesla has just started making cars in China. Europe could be next. Retrieved May 2 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/24/tech/tesla-gigafactory-china-europe/index.html
Customer's Feedback Review
Published On: 04-05-2018
