4 ms·

Tesla doesn't advertise (yet). They have a huge word of mouth / Elon Musk cult following. He must be doing something right for getting all that loyalty and hype

by nugga 8y ago

Tesla doesn't advertise (yet). They have a huge word of mouth / Elon Musk cult following. He must be doing something right for getting all that loyalty and hype. A few hundred thousand preorders with 1000 bux down is something.

gamblor956 8y ago
Tesla has had billboards all over LA and SF for many years now, so your definition of advertising must be very different from the normal definition. Any company following GAAP (standard accounting practices) would also consider stunts like the "flame thrower" and the Roadster in space to be marketing activities. The only marketing activity Tesla hasn't actually used is paid TV commercials, unless you include Hulu or online streaming, in which case... Tesla has actually used every mode of advertising commonly used by its competitors. The fact that Tesla doesn't actually categorize its marketing activities as marketing in its financial statements just means that Tesla isn't following GAAP.
bjl 8y ago
What are you taking about? Tesla spends millions a quarter on advertising and PR.
rgbrenner 8y ago
I've seen the articles where you got that from... But that's BS. Just read their 10K (this is from Q4 2017): Marketing, promotional and advertising costs are expensed as incurred and are included as an element of selling, general and administrative expense in the consolidated statement of operations. We incurred marketing, promotional and advertising costs of $66.5 million, $48.0 million and $58.3 million in the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. http://ir.tesla.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1564590-18-2956 http://ir.tesla.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1564590-18-2956
- nugga 8y ago
  Fair enough, so they put some marketing stuff as expenses and might have some visibility in the real world, but it also says in the same document: Historically, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our vehicles, and we believe we will continue to do so. To date, for vehicle sales, media coverage and word of mouth have been the primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

by nugga 8y ago

gamblor956 8y ago

Tesla has had billboards all over LA and SF for many years now, so your definition of advertising must be very different from the normal definition. Any company following GAAP (standard accounting practices) would also consider stunts like the "flame thrower" and the Roadster in space to be marketing activities. The only marketing activity Tesla hasn't actually used is paid TV commercials, unless you include Hulu or online streaming, in which case... Tesla has actually used every mode of advertising commonly used by its competitors. The fact that Tesla doesn't actually categorize its marketing activities as marketing in its financial statements just means that Tesla isn't following GAAP.

bjl 8y ago

What are you taking about? Tesla spends millions a quarter on advertising and PR.

rgbrenner 8y ago

I've seen the articles where you got that from... But that's BS. Just read their 10K (this is from Q4 2017): Marketing, promotional and advertising costs are expensed as incurred and are included as an element of selling, general and administrative expense in the consolidated statement of operations. We incurred marketing, promotional and advertising costs of $66.5 million, $48.0 million and $58.3 million in the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. http://ir.tesla.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1564590-18-2956 http://ir.tesla.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1564590-18-2956

nugga 8y ago
Fair enough, so they put some marketing stuff as expenses and might have some visibility in the real world, but it also says in the same document: Historically, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our vehicles, and we believe we will continue to do so. To date, for vehicle sales, media coverage and word of mouth have been the primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]