Boy, there sure are a lot--and I mean
a lot--of people here that don't understand how advertising works.
Please stop pretending that Q1 wasn't a special situation:
Record Q4 sales
Largest drop in the tax refund incentive
Q1 is a traditionally weak quarter
Strong suspicion, which turned out to be true, of upcoming upgrades to the S and X
Advertising would have changed none of that.
Except, of course, that that's exactly the sort of situation that advertising can change. Again, Tesla didn't massively drop the pricing on S/X because they love small margins, nor are they cell constrained for the S/X. They have (or, I hope, had) a demand problem for S/X. Recall that they guided for around 21k midway through Q1, then proceeded to thoroughly *sugar* the bed. That wasn't planned, and it cost Tesla dearly in Q1.
For those who read Tesla forum the product is that good. For those who do not Tesla it is not even on the radar screen. Your word of mouth and mine against the endless media bombardment is not worth that much - and you have the SP to show it. Once EVs are 20% of the market, there will be more visibility. To date this is more like 2-3%. My colleagues look at everything else but Tesla, despite my best effort to educate them. And those few that were slowly seeing the light now don't want to hear about it because of the impending bankwupcy they keep reading about.
It is true that having another few hundred thousand more people interested in the car will not sell more cars than Tesla can actually produce - but it will certainly improve the mix and profit margin.
I do not necessarily think Tesla should do commercials. But perhaps Tesla could think out of the box and come up with a more creative way of combating FUD. As I said, whatever they have now is not nearly enough.
It is OK to believe in a company and be critical at the same time, you know? And even the most intelligent people can be wrong, including Elon.
Amen.
Increased demand will allow higher margins on cars sold, either through raising prices or selling more fully-equipped cars. The improved financials will help counteract the FUDster arguments, raise the share price and make future cash-raising options more palatable to investors.
It's not horseshit just because Elon doesn't understand the benefits. What's not to like?
Yes.
Elon said earlier, in fact, he laughed, that there is no demand problem. What would any kind of advertising or marketing do? Increase demand, when there is enough already to satisfy production capabilities.
Perhaps in the future when they have so much manufacturing capacity that they are running out of new orders to fill...
But when will that ever happen? Some time after Model Y? Point being... sure, advertising will be necessary at some point, but not for a long time.
See above. Tesla selling every car they make does not mean they are selling the ideal mix or volume of vehicles.
This. When I heard Elon doesn’t believe in advertising because it’s deceptive, I inwardly cheered.
Advertising provides: No. Net. Economic. Value.
Advertising is a net-zero game: company A misleads you into thinking their products are better than company B. So A profits at B’s loss. Oh, and the misled consumer loses too. Tesla’s mission is to move the world to sustainable transportation. They are providing a better product that doesn’t destroy the planet. ICE manufacturers reap profits and the earth suffers the consequences of all that pollution. It’s the ultimate tragedy of the commons and Elon and Tesla are not stooping to that level of greed.
This is another fallacy. Or rather, it's
one way that advertising
can work, but it's not the only way. Elon disliking sleazy/deceptive/appeal-solely-to-emotion ads that he sees for other brands
does not imply that Tesla must follow that path.
Get many more marketing cars out there to let people actually experience the vehicles. Hold annual contests for user-created ads like the one Marques Brownlee won. Stick some targeted web ads out there against searches for competing models. Make an anti-FUD site. Hire more (or more competent) PR people.
This isn't rocket science. Maybe that's why Elon has trouble with it.