If any, What will the commercials be like?

[W.Petefish]

I was thinking about the commercials from other car companies and I just had to wonder, What would a commercial for the Model S be? What music? What video?

My suggestion for music which was featured in an epic driving game for the PS2: Overseer - Velocity Shift.

 

[TEG]

Looking at what Space-X has done might give you some inkling.

 

[Lloyd]

For contrast, watch this commercial made in my home town in 1949 for Chevrolet.

[video=google;-5481093413759968375]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5481093413759968375#[/video]

 

[markwj]

I'm told that Tesla doesn't advertise. Its apparently an Elon thing. So, whatever commercial is produced, let's not expect to see it on TV.

Has any every seen a Tesla paid advertisement on TV or in a magazine?

 

[W.Petefish]

Lloyd, can't open the video link.

I'll chat sometime with my cousin who works for Mediacom. (he does commercials for a living)

 

[Citizen-T]

I'm told that Tesla doesn't advertise. Its apparently an Elon thing. So, whatever commercial is produced, let's not expect to see it on TV.

Has any every seen a Tesla paid advertisement on TV or in a magazine?

Elon says that for the foreseeable future Tesla's biggest problem will be that they don't have the manufacturing capability to keep up with demand, so there's no point in going out and spending money on ads to create more demand. When they get to a point that there isn't a several month long waiting list to get a Model S, he'll consider advertising.

 

[AnOutsider]

Looking at what Space-X has done might give you some inkling.

That actually looks a tad low budget to me. I'd imagine the Model S would have happier/more soothing music/theme too. It's funny this thread was posted, I was just thinking about this last night.

If they want to sell 10k/year they're only half way there for the first year, so unless reservations pick up as the betas make their tour, commercials will be needed. Though, they should probably have commercials either way.

 

[Lloyd]

Lloyd, can't open the video link.

I'll chat sometime with my cousin who works for Mediacom. (he does commercials for a living)

Fixed the link above

 

[Tempus]

That actually looks a tad low budget to me. I'd imagine the Model S would have happier/more soothing music/theme too. It's funny this thread was posted, I was just thinking about this last night.

If they want to sell 10k/year they're only half way there for the first year, so unless reservations pick up as the betas make their tour, commercials will be needed. Though, they should probably have commercials either way.

I'm guessing they will get some pretty significant free press with the Oct 1 event, and a lot more coverage when they actually start delivering production Model S cars - and all of that without spending any advertising money. Remember, we're still well over a year away from them being out of reservations, and that's only if they don't get any more between now and next fall. There will probably easily be a year+ of production models spoken for by next summer.

 

[Jaff]

I'd have to agree.

Down the road a bit, when they may need to advertise, they could probably save some cash by cloning the Spacex adverts...could call the Model S a "Falcon cool car!"...or "Falcon Fast!"..."no Falcon emissions"...et al...:wink::biggrin:

Elon says that for the foreseeable future Tesla's biggest problem will be that they don't have the manufacturing capability to keep up with demand, so there's no point in going out and spending money on ads to create more demand. When they get to a point that there isn't a several month long waiting list to get a Model S, he'll consider advertising.

 

[doug]

Related threads here:

Fun Ideas for Model S commercials
Songs for Model S ad......

 

[vfx]

Tesla has been pretty much ad free since the beginning. Local stores have advertising budgets (LA store does full page ads in local bling magazines) The line between marketing and advertising in a small company can be blurred. Every event they do, the videos they produce, the trade shows, supplying cars for review, the website, social media work, are all advertising on some level.

As for music and how the sell their brand, even Elon might take advice from an ad agency on how to sell product. The SX videos get away with the homebrew look because they are not selling moms in to Peoria.

How to sell an EV is still out there.
Nissan is all over the place. With Lance (athlete), a polar bear (fuzzy CG animation), Ryan Renalds (celebrity actor) and the "what idf everything was powered by gasoline" (the homage to PIA's gas powered cellphone spot). Coda has actually had some good gorlilla markeing ads but not many have seen them.

Tesla does not say on the cars that they are EVs. No weird looking features and no badging or stickers They go with the "It's a great car that happens to be an EV" mantra. Will they be able to sell tens of thousand of cars on that alone? No one has tried it yet though the new Infiniti EV might be the first.

 

[TEG]

Tesla does not say on the cars that they are EVs. No weird looking features and no badging or stickers They go with the "It's a great car that happens to be an EV" mantra. Will they be able to sell tens of thousand of cars on that alone? No one has tried it yet though the new Infiniti EV might be the first.

Yes, good point to keep in mind. No sign of "EV", "ZEV", "Zero Emissions" badges for Model S either.

(Nissan pushes the "Zero Emission" with the Leaf.)

 

[ckessel]

Yes, good point to keep in mind. No sign of "EV", "ZEV", "Zero Emissions" badges for Model S either.

(Nissan pushes the "Zero Emission" with the Leaf.)

They do tout it on the Model S website under "By the numbers", it says "0 tail pipe emissions".

 

[vfx]

... No sign of "EV", "ZEV", "Zero Emissions" badges for Model S either.
...

Too early for that call but I see no reason for them to change.

 

[vfx]

They do tout it on the Model S website under "By the numbers", it says "0 tail pipe emissions".

Well they aren't in denial. I'm talking headlines.

 

[malcolm]

Yes, good point to keep in mind. No sign of "EV", "ZEV", "Zero Emissions" badges for Model S either.

That's because the name TESLA is the EV badge. And the great thing is; it can't be copied - unlike all this EREV/EVER/ZEV stuff.

Any advertising "just" has to do the job of getting people to visit the stores. The stores are going to be everyone's first taste of the Tesla-difference. [assuming that they can handle the volume and remain different ]

 

[neroden]

Elon says that for the foreseeable future Tesla's biggest problem will be that they don't have the manufacturing capability to keep up with demand, so there's no point in going out and spending money on ads to create more demand. When they get to a point that there isn't a several month long waiting list to get a Model S, he'll consider advertising.

A statement corresponding to this is in fact in the annual report. Tesla warns that if they start needing paid advertising, their profit margin will drop substantially, and so they're hoping to put that off as long as possible.

 

[ckessel]

A statement corresponding to this is in fact in the annual report. Tesla warns that if they start needing paid advertising, their profit margin will drop substantially, and so they're hoping to put that off as long as possible.

It's taken a few years to get the 5-6k reservations they have now. Even if interest per year quadruples, that won't be enough to fill the 20k orders a year. There's all sorts of unknowns in there as far as reviews, market awareness, etc, but something is going to have to give Tesla's public awareness a huge kick if they're going to sell 20k a year without any advertising.

 

[bonnie]

I'll be interested to see how orders jump, once deliveries start. A number of friends have told me they plan to buy the Model S as their next car - but see no need to reserve now. They assume they'll be able to either buy cars built on spec or order with a short delivery window in a year or two.

Obviously what they say and what they do won't always be the same - but that's the conversation I'm hearing. Just among the people I work with, there are probably 10 people interested. And some of their extended family members.