Elon Musk has become a brand in himself. He dared to enter segments of that market where others feared to tread. He had the foresight, resilience, and determination to succeed in his ventures. He was not afraid of failure and was not deterred by them. It took several failures before the first successful launch of SpaceX reusable rockets. In the process, he came close to bankruptcy. The story was similar for Tesla too. He continues to innovate and expand into frontier areas. These traits have led to Elon Musk becoming a brand in himself.
As a brand, he knows that brands can be powerful influencers too. He makes statements and takes bold and unconventional actions. Critics, experts, news people, and common people follow each word. It enables him and his companies to stay in the news. From the marketing standpoint, his statements alone have a very high return on investment. Unlike competitors who spend billions on marketing, Elon Musk’s tweets and media comments achieve the same and even better results.
Take the Twitter controversy, His decision to make an offer to buy and then to withdraw the request, and now the litigation around the deal are all tracked daily on business media and over social media. People debate on his next steps. Speculation on his actions is continually swirling around.
I regard Elon Musk as a master marketer who knows how to keep the spotlight on himself, his actions, his companies, and his moves. Arguments and counter-arguments to his actions are part of his marketing strategy.
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