Sustainable Innovation and Ethical Positioning

Introduction

The concerned organization, Tesla, Inc., is an American EV manufacturing business along with developing clean energy sources in order to improve the degree of operations through renewable sources. The organization is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and was established in the year 2003. The continuous innovation in the line of propositions and the differentiated operations of the business has contributed towards the competitive edge of the venture while operating with the existing competitors in the markets. The solar powered vehicles and energy products has supported the business sin influencing their competitive edge while attracting the ethical buying related needs of the customers.

The current discussion would focus towards identifying the different campaigns that are used by Tesla and the CEO Elon Musk with the purpose of reaching out to their target audience and market their propositions for ensuring sales. The identification of distinctive promotional campaigns supports businesses in gaining a competitive edge over the other business players in the markets. In this connection, the discussion would develop a complete understanding on the promotional campaigns that are used by Tesla and the manner in which the same might be managed or controlled in order to influence the buying behavior of the customers.

Task 1: The different campaigns that are used by Tesla

Promotional campaigns support a business in reaching out to their target audience while influencing their purchase intent and behavior while empowering sales. It has been observed as per the research made by Nenonen et al. (2020), efficient promotional campaign designs enables a business sin encouraging the customers to make purchases of their distinguished propositions. The development of different themes and the identification of the major devices through which the promotions might be made efficiently are integral factors that are considered by the businesses in order to improve their capability in sales. Tesla, the innovator in EVs, has taken the initiative of deploying extensive promotional campaigns at the minimal costs than that of the other businesses in the same industry.

In an interview, Musk clarified that the business focuses towards utilizing the money that is thereby saved through curtailing the promotional activities on the research and development projects in order to ensure the continuity of the business operations and relevance of the same among the shifting preferences of the customers (Martin, Javalgi and Ciravegna 2020). It can be thereby stated that the organization solely focused on developing efficient strategic interventions and drives in order to facilitate the promotional activities. According to a web article, the chosen organization has developed an intricate system of social media promotions through hiring a meme maker and positioning the same as the social media manager in the business. Porcu et al. (2020) opined that social media utilization is a dynamic tool that are used by most businesses in order to reach out to a range of customers. However, the decision of recruiting a meme maker as the social media manager of the organization is specifically reliant on the needs of developing efficient and attractive contents that would significantly attract the interests of the customers.

According to a research memes form a vital part of the social media vehicles in the current days while attracting and influencing the behavior of the customers through the positioning of efficient Content (Folschette 2021). The contents in the memes act as tools towards driving the interests and empowering efficient relations with the audience. It has been observed that the recruitment of the meme maker in the organization has supported the continuous development and growth of the different operations in the field of promotion while making the targeted niche audience of Tesla aware of the different products or the new propositions. According to Goldring (2017) memes attract the attention of the people more easily than any other forms of advertising while the audience retains the content in their minds that are shown in memes for the longer period of time. The concerned organization mostly focused towards developing memes for Facebook and Twitter pages with different controversial topics.

Musk stated in an interview that negative promotional techniques help Tesla in attracting the attention of larger number of audience. Kim and Kumar (2018) stated that the identification of the negative contents cause the audience to discuss between the same on the topic area which multiplies the capability of the business in reducing the promotional expenses while promoting through word—of mouth transfer of information. According to Verma, Mathur and Goyal (2017), the chief motif of promotional activities that are conducted by the businesses are specifically reliant on making the target audience aware of the propositions and influencing their buying behavior in order to increase sales. Therefore, it might be stated that the organization, Tesla, developed a free model for promoting through social media channels while reinvesting the saved revenue as operational expenses for empowering their R&D facilities.

The use of social media campaigns has again supported the business in developing efficient monitoring and controlling activities on the page reviews likes and dislikes along with the reviews or comments on the quality of the propositions. The identification of the concerns that are being encountered by the people while utilizing the propositions are reviewed by the business leaders and the plans for continuous innovation in the line of propositions are established. Therefore, it might b stated that the social; media promotional technique through the positioning of different interesting and attractive memes, pictures or videos and influencing the development of a controversial topic through the contents are the basic systems that are being devised by the business for sound promotional outputs.

In- store promotions are again an important aspect that is considered by the business with the purpose of improving the experience of the customers while making the same knowledgeable on the different models. According to Jiang and Ma (2018), businesses transmit the knowledge on their propositions to the customers and thereby devise a complex chain of word- of mouth communication for promoting their offerings in the markets. In this connection, the organization facilitates word of mouth communication for promoting their offerings to wider range of target audience through providing a better value of experience to the people visiting their store. The business upholds a booking policy where the customers are required to book a car with a certain amount of ticket amount through digital websites. The websites already offer the customers with an idea on the new range of products that are offered by the organization while researching and surfing down the site. As the customers reach the stores for collecting their booked proposition, the knowledgeable and skilled workforce of the business introduces a range of propositions to the customers while offering them test drives and the like, adding to their interests and experience.

According to Zheng, Yu and Jin (2017), the developments that are made by a business is based on improving the experience of the customers. In this connection, the nature of change in the organizational operations is critically reliant on addressing the emotional and psychological needs of the customers in order to address their experience based needs. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, declared that the organization operates towards ensuring the fulfillment of expectations of the customers while developing customer oriented values. Knowledge transmission on the other propositions that are offered by the organization supports Tesla in improving the awareness among its customer base while facilitating word of mouth communication between the groups. Lee and Cho (2020) opined that word of mouth communication supports a business in reducing their promotional expenses through referral programs.

Tesla also encourages a sound referral program where the business takes the initiative of developing a range of schemes in order to attract the attention of their primary consumers and influence their referral activities through provisions like discounts or no booking on the second buys. Nghiêm-Phú (2017) stated that provisions of different types of schemes as per the interests of the customers acts an important tool towards improving the experience of the customers while retaining a loyal customer base. The nature of change in the organizational operations is reliant on the shifting needs and requirements of the customers. In this connection, Elon Musk focused towards prioritizing the experience driven interests of the customers while providing the same with a range of schemes and loyalty programs for retaining their commitment to the business. In- store promotions are some of the resultants of Elon Musk’s efficient strategic planning for developing cheaper means of promotion activities with high quality of outputs. Behera et al. (2020) )opined that the brilliance of Elon Musk’s promotional strategies has contributed towards the continuous growth and development of the business in the global markets. Therefore, the in- store promotions that are conducted by Elon Musk in Tesla has contributed towards the development of trust and commitment among the customers while influencing the business sales through larger word- of mouth promotion initiatives and referral programs.

The concerned organization devised press releases where Elon Musk presides over the speeches and makes the same available in different media channels. According to Nenonen et al. (2020), press conferences create a space for the content that Musk focuses towards sharing with the customers. In this connection, in several events it has been observed that Elon Musk introduced different controversial contexts in the press releases in order to attract the attention of their target audience. Moreover, the CEO of Tesla believes that promotion is simply based on reaching out to the people and making the same aware of the diverse propositions that are being made by the business. Goldring (2017) stated that professional communication is an integral part of promotional activities that are undertaken by the businesses. Therefore, in this connection, Elon Musk believes that the development of communication with the target audience through the controversial press releases would not actually make any negative impact on the minds of the audience.

Rather than the controversies, the organization would be capable of making the target audience aware of the different areas of change which is an efficient part of the organizational operations. It has been observed that Elon Musk also encountered different legal notices and sues for the behavior. It has been observed that the strategic discourse that was facilitated by Elon Musk significantly supported the continuous growth and development of the business while ensuring that the promotional aspects are well attended without spending a single penny on the promotions. The strategy of developing a zero investment policy on promotions has been empowering the continuous growth and development of the business in the global markets. The development of the different strategic intent and interventions towards reducing costs on promotions has enabled the business in reinvesting the funds of efficient R&D measures while ensuring the continuous innovation, creativity and market sustenance.

Task 2: Marketing theories

AIDA model

The concerned organization, Tesla, devised their promotional activities through the application of the AIDA model which supported the same in maintaining the efficiency of the business operations. In the first part of the model the organization used strategies like the use of social media vehicles through memes with the purpose of attracting the attention of the customers or the press releases that the business made on certain controversial topics which has significantly contributed towards the awareness of the people. Fortenberry and McGoldrick (2020) stated that the first step of making the people aware is integral towards encouraging the active involvement in the different organizational practices. In this connection, the organization demonstrated a lower cost promotional strategy where the business took lesser initiative to reach out to the customers but created more news through different controversies which addressed the awareness based needs of the customers. It has been observed that the organization devised memes in different social media accounts of the venture in the year 2020, as their new promotional strategy, which is mostly visited by the customers. The increased awareness among the customers is specifically identified through the views and active engagement in providing reviews and comments in the social media pages of the venture by 9%.

On the other hand, the organization influenced the interests of the people through providing the same with extensive experience while the same made purchase of the propositions that are offered by the business. According to Polk (2018), interests act as an integral part of the AIDA marketing model as it supports an organization identifying the specific needs of the customers and influencing their buying practice. In this connection, it has been observed that the organization advertised mostly in their official website while making the target audience aware of their extensive collection of propositions. In a speech made by Elon Musk it was observed that the business mostly prioritized the experience based needs of the customers. Therefore, in this connection, the organization developed in- store promotions and introduced several schemes related to referrals. The schemes related to referral payments allowed the business in striking an important blow on the interests of the customers. The adherence to the interests of the customers in a marketing plan supports a business in improving the overall capability towards promoting and encouraging the involvement of the stakeholders in the different business operations.

After development of interests, the desire among the customers is an important factor in the AIDA model. Businesses take the initiative of attracting the attention of their target audience and converting their interests into desires for possessing the propositions for themselves. Ullal and Hawaldar (2018) stated that desires acts as ways for encouraging the buying intent of the customers. In this connection, businesses take the initiative of developing efficient innovation based practices with the purpose of improving the scope of the propositions and address the shifting priorities of the consumers. Tesla developed the innovative processes through reduction in costs of promotional activities. The strengthened R&D operations of the business has supported in building on continuous innovation.

The quality of the propositions and the impact of its brand image supported the business in influencing the desires of the customers. The business developed a Just In Time approach which is specifically based on pre- booking of the propositions and the delivery which has created an exclusive and limited time deal related feeling in the minds of the customers. Moreover, the customers who are mostly driven towards ethical consumerism desired to purchase a proposition that Tesla offered in the markets. In this connection, it has been observed that the organization encountered an increase in the rate of their official website visits by 12% within the years 2019 and 2020 which reflected the increasing rate of desires among the customers to make a purchase of their propositions.

The call for action or the purchase of the propositions is the end result of all the promotional activities of businesses. In this connection, it has been observed that the concerned organization, Tesla, has been empowering the growth and development of their sales through the developing efficient trust and relation with the customers which has significantly supported the continuous growth and development of the business. Porcu et al. (2020) stated that the action step in the AIDA model focuses towards identifying the preferences of the customers while ensuring sales for the businesses. In this connection, it has been observed that the quality propositions that are offered by the business have significantly supported the growth of their sales volume. As per the reports, the organization has been encountering a 9% increase in the sales volume of their propositions from the year 2020 to 2021 even in the midst of the pandemic situation (Budiawan, Satria and Simanjuntak 2017).

The communication process

The communication process is a cycle where the businesses share information with the targeted customers and expects feedback from the same. Polk (2018) opined that the communication process in marketing is a two way process where a sender encodes and sends a message and a receiver decodes the message, understands the context and provides feedbacks to the businesses. Moreover, Nghiêm-Phú (2017) stated that marketing communication is integral for a business as well as a customer due to the transmission of information and knowledge while empowering the businesses to facilitate continuous improvements. In this connection, Tesla devised efficient marketing communication through effective integration with different social media networks and press releases and public speeches that are made by Mr. Musk. The active transmission of the messages and analysis on the reviews that are being provided by the customers on the social media networks has been supportive towards the continuous improvement related needs of the business. On the other hand, the use of extensive communication through the social or digital media platforms and the websites has been supportive towards increasing the growth potential of the business sin he international markets through increased awareness among the target audience.

The integrated and efficient communication process enables a business in developing efficient relations with the customers while influencing their buying behavior. Goldring (2017) stated that communication through different media vehicles and channels acts as an effective source towards ensuring the development and growth of the businesses while ensuring the transmission of relevant and authentic information to the customers. Tesla’s Elon Musk has taken the initiative of integrating and inducing authentic and relevant information on the organizational website while including the same on different social media networks to increase the reach among the customers in the mass global markets. Professional corporate communication being used by Tesla enables the leader in gaining over the interests and motivators of the customers. Jiang and Ma (2018) stated that transparency, clarity and brevity are some of the major qualities that might be considered by the leaders while conducting corporate promotional communication in order to win over the trust and confidence of the audience and persuade the same to make purchases. Therefore, corporate communication through the systematic professional process has assisted Tesla in developing an effective growth in the sales.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above assessment it might be stated that Tesla has been saving on their promotional expenses in order to improve their R&D operations. The discussion identified the different promotional practices that are conducted by Tesla whereas at the later part of research identified and analyzed the two marketing theories in the light of their implementation in the organizational operations. Therefore, the report provided a comprehensive view on the different marketing promotion strategies of Tesla.

References

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