Tesla sent a fleet of self driving taxis onto the streets of Austin, Texas, on Sunday, picking up paying passengers for the first time. CEO Elon Musk trumpeted the ‘robotaxi’ launch while influencers rushed to post videos of their inaugural rides.

It marked the first occasion Tesla cars without a human at the wheel have carried fare paying customers, a move Musk sees as a crucial step toward shoring up the company’s financial future.

When Tesla launched in 2008, the car industry changed forever. The groundbreaking technological advancements and innovation that Tesla engineered was, and still is, quite astonishing. The mastermind behind all of this, one Elon Musk, who has struggled to stay out of the headlines of late…

The standard of this product made it near impossible not to sell. The number of USP’s were, well, endless. The man behind it all, a charismatic genius with dreams and aspirations to have the human race holidaying on Mars.

Looking at it with our marketing lenses on what’s the marketing strategy for this new product then? Raise brand awareness and educate the market about our expertise in this field? Showcase that the car industry has changed forever? Our research tells us that Tesla was the 9th biggest brand in the world in 2024. Incredibly its global investment in media spend was a mere $200,000. This compares with Verizon in 8th position who spent $3.5BN on media in 2024.

This tells us that Tesla forged a significant market share firstly on the back of its genius in product engineering, but also benefited from the significant airplay offered to its founder, Elon Musk. However, at a number of shareholder meetings there was dissent at the lack of marketing spend as investors do like to see the brands they support in shining lights.

The strategy, no paid for advertising, the product will sell itself. To this day, the core growth engine remains media virality and word-of-mouth, driven largely by Musk’s moves and product launches, not paid ads.

Casting our mind to the modern day, Elon Musk’s stark change in personality and his new found friendships with some of the most controversial figures on the planet caused his brand, Tesla’s, brand appeal and public perception of the brand to fully shift. This has included plenty of anti-Musk ads from brand admirers, with ‘Save Tesla, Fire Musk’ plastered on buses in major cities.

When Elon Musk joined Trump’s White House, more Tesla owners than ever began trading in their cars than ever before (Fortune Magazine.)

With this a headache began to brew for the marketing team at Tesla.

How on earth can we separate from the man who made this industry what it is? Can we? Is it possible? Much of our target audience is compromised due to his political alliances. Do we need a new strategy? Musk’s presence and the quality of the product is not good enough anymore but, the product has only got better.

The entire world knows that Tesla are the founders, the inventors, the best at doing what they do in this space. This can’t get lost in the nuances of the political world.

What would Marketing Network Group do? Shift the strategy. It was one thing to drop the price significantly, but the brand somehow needs to lose the ego and showcase that Tesla are still the thought leaders in this space. The innovators, the protagonists, the ones leading the way. A new spokesperson is required and the brand needs to drill home its admirable brand benefits, while actually spending dollars on advertising its incredible attributes. When a company has a powerful leader who commands media attention it is sometimes difficult to separate the personality at the helm from the brand eg Ryanair and Michael O’Leary, Apple and Steve Jobs. But a leader is typically outlived by the brand and the brand needs to survive on its own merits.

Prominent consultants like Scott Galloway have even warned Musk’s Trump alignment is “one of the greatest brand destructions,” with Tesla tumbling from 8th to 95th in brand reputation.

That fallout from Elon Musk’s foray into a controversial government, prompted analysts to urge Tesla to “rebrand” even suggesting changing name or logo, to repair trust among disaffected core customers but Tesla hasn’t moved into mainstream ad campaigns, they still rely on earned media and Musk-driven buzz.

Tesla is reportedly considering deeper brand overhauls, like rebranding or distancing from Musk’s political persona, to recapture its original base. But why is all this relevant?

Adaptability in marketing is vital, but what else is vital is no matter how good your product is without the right communication strategy, cracks will begin to show…

So they have to do something right?

Tesla, give us a shout?

Client Spotlight – Manor Farm 250th Anniversary 

Last year, Marketing Network Group was entrusted with the exciting challenge of commemorating a major milestone for our long-standing client, Manor Farm. As Ireland’s largest poultry processor celebrates an incredible 250 years in business this year, we knew this anniversary deserved a celebration as memorable as the brand’s legacy.

And if there’s one thing MNG does best, it’s a great party. Rage were in creative heaven developing the anniversary logo and all of the branding elements needed at every touchpoint.

Tilt developed rich digital assets for all of Manor Farm’s online channels,  including tailored videos from the garden launch with Tünde, interviews with Manor Farm’s CEO from Dublin and Scandi Standard.

Tilt also developed content for the Manor Farm website to reflect this anniversary year.

Valda Boardman PR managed the entire event management and media relations for Manor Farm and were in their element planning and executing creative concepts.

Central to the success of an event is selecting a venue that is unique and is connected to the client’s profile and values. Why take the easy route of a ready made conference centre or hotel venue when you can make a point of difference with something unique. Creating memories and longer term talkability is so important.

To align with the concept we had in mind, Bord Bia Bloom Festival stood out as the ideal location to resonate with Manor Farm, their stakeholders, retail and trade partners.  Held over the May Bank Holiday weekend – famous for both sunshine and stunning showgardens – it offered the perfect stage for our bespoke celebration.

Our overall concept was to incorporate a Manor Farm Showgarden at Bloom.

We collaborated with the immensely talented Tünde Perry, who designed a ‘Manor Street’ – inspired garden. Drawing from the lush Cavan landscape where Manor Farm is based and connecting with the brand’s parent company Scandi Standard, along with its historical roots in Dublin city, the garden was a visual and symbolic centrepiece – and earned a well-deserved silver medal in its category.