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1. It's a skill that needs practice and most professionals are not trained in. 2. PR is an entryway for collecting and managing stakeholder questions that might
by wjnc 6y ago
1. It's a skill that needs practice and most professionals are not trained in. 2. PR is an entryway for collecting and managing stakeholder questions that might warrant future board level action (in communication). 3. PR is usually close to the board and has it's own dynamic with marketing being further down the chain.
Elon dismantling PR makes sense. Probably they rubbed him the wrong way too often. Why bother.
- foobarian 6y agoBut so what good does a PR team do. Maybe for Tesla specifically not much. It's like how Border Cafe in Harvard Square used to be - always so busy with hour+ waits that there is no need to bother with reservations.
- wjnc 6y agoFor a regular large sized company there are press pieces written every day that want an informative quote, shareholders cold-mailing you, customers trying all kinds of angles except the regular ones to get in touch, TV-shows that want your CEO on. All this gets managed in a way that at least suggests some uniformity in what you proclaim externally. Sure, there's domains that overlap PR / (internal) communication and marketing but generally they are treated as different tasks and organised as such. TL;DR - They manage one single external voice. There's value in that. As other point out, Musk is a communications study in and of himself.
- im3w1l 6y agoI can only assume he wants to run the PR show himself by going on Joe Rogan and twitter. His man-of-the-people strategy does seem to have some merit. "Elon Musk" is arguably a stronger brand than Tesla.
- clintonb 6y agoI’m not sure having the Elon Musk brand be stronger than the Tesla brand is a good thing. He is a bit impulsive and seems like an asshole at times. People put up with it because, so far, his companies have produced some great products. When the other car manufacturers finally catch up to Tesla, the negative perception of the Elon Musk brand may drive some buyers away from Tesla.
- NullPrefix 6y ago>When the other car manufacturers finally catch up to Tesla Wasn't that his public goal?
- im3w1l 6y agoThe genius stroke is combining modern sensibilities with traditional masculinity. He manages to do solar projects and electric cars, hell even smoking weed, without looking like a hippie. I guess the trick was sci-fi and fast cars.
- watwut 6y agoI dislike the way "traditional masculinity" increasingly seems to used as euphemism for "being asshole".
- hnracer 6y agoHe's the main reason the Tesla stock price is so high. If you are a shareholder of Tesla that cares mostly about capital gains, you really want it to continue.
- notJim 6y agoI definitely have friends who would and could buy Teslas if not for the asshole techbro image cultivated by Musk. IMO, that is kind of silly of them, but it's foolish to pretend people don't consider their self-image when considering a car, especially a luxury one. Plenty of people don't want to be associated with him.
- ksec 6y agoThat is why I find it absurd when people compare him to Steve Jobs. Steve always use his brand to sell Apple. Elon always use Tesla to sell his brand.