Group One:

Tesla

Erin Klein

Rafael Carmona

Jacqueline Gillette

Jaime Rodriguez

Connie Tran

Introduction

Tesla, Inc., (known as Tesla Motors from 2003-2017) is the world’s leading electric car manufacturer. The company is still relatively young, founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who named the company after Serbian American Nikola Tesla. These engineers/entrepreneurs set out to prove to the world that a full electric car was not only possible, but functional, safe, and sporty.

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Jacque Gillette

Introduction

Tesla’s mission is to make sustainable energy an everyday part of consumer’s lives. Tesla, along with CEO Elon Musk recognized the need of clean energy through automobiles and private use. However, they also recognized that people would be more susceptible to adopting clean energy products if it meant they did not have to compromise convenience, quality, and efficiency. Tesla did exactly that by first introducing safe, fast, stylish, efficient, and later affordable electric cars.

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Jacqueline Gillette

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Jacqueline Gillette

Objectives

To increase digital visibility to increase overall brand equity and sales.

Jacqueline Gillette

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Weaknesses:

• Lack of social media presence
• Manufacturing delays and complications
• Struggles to meet demand
• Economy of scale
• Batteries
• Employee safety
• Leadership
• CEO Elon Musk

Strengths:

• Top employer
• Large market value
• Best electric cars in sales, value, quality, and innovation
• Innovative
• High market position
• Strategies
• Customer loyalty
• Celebrity endorsement
• CEO Elon Musk

Jacqueline Gillette

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Opportunities:

• Social media presence
• Asian Market
• More affordable car models
• Battery production and life
• Different types of models, such as trucks
• Overall market confidence
• Customer service
• CEO Elon Musk

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Threats:

• Lack of social media presence
• Product safety
• Increasing competition
• Product quality
• Long-term sustainability
• Customer hesitance
• Self-driving fears and regulations
• Production interruption due to supply shortages
• CEO Elon Musk

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Jacqueline Gillette

Marketing Campaign

• Our marketing campaign will run for 3 months and focus on establishing an actual company Facebook page as well as establish more of a presence on Instagram and Youtube
• We also want to increase website traffic and prolong the time spent by customers when they visit the website
• To increase web traffic we will ensure that that the website is optimized for SEO and SERP
• Make sure website is up-to-date to prolong customer sessions on website
• We will create and launch a limited edition Tesla collectible NFT
• Focus on quality over quantity when creating content for social media
• We will use the popularity of the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, to help promote the marketing campaign as well as the collectable NFT

Erin Klein

Marketing Channels

Facebook:

• Create and establish official Tesla business Facebook page
• Cross-platform posting with Instagram and Youtube to ensure that there is consistent content being posted
• Run a Facebook ad that will span the entire 3 month campaign to draw customers to our new page and make them aware of our new social media channel
• Post at least twice a week

Instagram:

• Cross-platform posting with Facebook
• Increase the frequency in which we post to Instagram
• Create in-feed posts and story posts to promote the Tesla collectible NFT
• Launch one in-feed ad and one story ad that will run the entirety of the 3 month campaign
• Post 2-3 times a week minimum

Erin Klein

Marketing Channels

Youtube:

• Create three “behind the seasons at Tesla” videos to post to Youtube to give customers a look at what happens at the Tesla factory - post one behind the scenes video for each month of the campaign
• Create a video promoting the Tesla collectible NFT
• Launch one Youtube short ad that will run the entire 3 month campaign
• Experiment with creating Youtube short videos to attract new followers
• Post a least one video a week

Erin Klein

Marketing Channels

Website/SEO:

• Optimize website for SEO to increase website traffic by updating headlines, meta tags, updating internal links and optimizing keywords for SERP
• Maintain website efficiency, update links, and make sure it is easy to navigate to extend customer sessions on the website
• Optimize photos on website so they load quicker, cutting back on loading time and extending customer engagement

Erin Klein

Product Offering

Electric Cars

Stylish

Designs

Modern

Technology

Online Purchase

High Speed Performance

4 Years Warranty

Delivery Day

24/7 Support

24 to 36

months lease

Rafael Carmona

Budget/Resources

Tesla Motors spent US $81.5 million on research and development in the second quarter of 2022, about half again as much as in the same period of 2021. That expense alone accounted for a little over half the company's $50 million operating loss.

Some purported key suppliers for Tesla's manufacturing production, along with the components they supply:

• BHP: nickel.
• Ganfeng Lithium Co.: lithium.
• Glencore: cobalt.
• Modine Manufacturing Co.: battery chiller.

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Rafael Carmona

Budget/Resources

• Tesla’s total expenses have trended higher from $6 billion in 2015 to $22.5 billion in 2021.
• As a % of Revenues, Expenses have declined from 110% to 105% over the same period.
• Cost of Revenues is the biggest driver of Tesla’s expenses, accounting for 76% of Revenue in 2015 and 81% of Revenues in 2021.
• We estimate that this increase in the Cost of Revenue as % of Revenue has impacted Tesla’s Operating Income by about $1.1 billion.

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Rafael Carmona

Target audience

• Age: 30+, traditionally 50+
• Gender: Traditionally male, more recently includes females as well
• Geographic: Urban America, Europe, Asia
• Occupation: IT professionals, senior management, executives
• Income: $120,000+/year
• Social Class: Middle-upper class
• Customer loyalty: mostly hardcore loyalists, some switchers
• Behavioral: environmentally friendly, ambitious, early buyers/innovators
• Lifestyle: early, middle, and empty nesters

Jacqueline Gillette

Competition

Top 3 Competitors:

1. NIO: A Shanghai-based startup founded in 2014. NIO produced 91,429 EVs in 2021. The rising company offers an alternative for those who do not want to buy a Tesla. However, with the average price being $70,000, Tesla still has the upper-hand.

2. Ford Motors: Ford Motors has been heavily investing in EVs over the last few years and offers a wide variety. As SUVs make a come-back, the Mustang Mach-E model placed third in sporty EVs sales. Due to Ford offering more affordable cars and having a more established reputation, its EVs could out-sale Tesla in the future.

3. Volkswagen: As with other German car manufacturers, Volkswagen has been quietly investing in and developing EVs. It expects to contribute 50% of its US sales to EVs. Its main competitive advantage over Tesla is that it is over 80 years old and has consistently been known for producing high-quality and safe vehicles.

Jacqueline Gillette

Business Value Proposition

Tesla is known to provide greener solutions which includes high performance, thoughtful design, efficient, recharging mechanism.  Tesla abides by five pillars of primary value proposition, and they consist of: customization, innovation, creating a brand with status, convenience and risk reduction.  

In addition to producing its vehicles, Tesla has branched out and created home batteries and solar panels for residential and commercial clients and has become a pioneer in expanding their business model to include energy storage for the residential and commercial business. Clients can purchase solar panels through their home mortgage.

Tesla also sells systems and components to other auto manufacturers and provides loans and leases. Tesla stands out from its competitors by providing free charging stations for their clients which does not take long to charge, they also have a lot of pride in providing amazing customer service. Tesla has their own network of over 30,000 global supercharger network which allows drivers to fully charge their cars in 15 minutes, which will speed up the rate of adoption of electric cars. In some areas, Tesla offers Mobile Service Support which allows technicians to make home visits in some cases the service is delivered remotely.  

Connie Tran

Business Value Proposition Contd

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Their approach includes focusing on building a compelling car that would sell itself and increase in value over time instead of mass producing a relatively cheaper alternative. Since its inception, Tesla has sold over 140,000 cars globally and established a highly sought after brand due to its success. The company has managed to reduce risk by maintaining high safety standards which includes having the electric drive train located in its own subframe which lowers the possibility of a roll-over accident by lowering the center of gravity. Eight airbags are included while the vehicle’s high voltage power source will shut off in case of an accident. Customers can customize their vehicle with their choice of interior materials, speed, sound system.  Tesla has a “zero dollar” approach towards their marketing. In order to purchase a car, you must order it online or visit their showroom as out of network dealers are not used. Since Tesla spends $0 dollars towards advertising. We will assess their performance with web traffic, referral programs.

Connie Tran

Charger Stats

• 3,724 stations - 38% more than a year ago
• 33,657 individual connectors (stalls) - 37% more than a year ago
• 9.0 connectors (stalls) per station on average - 0.5% less than a year ago
• The network is more than four times bigger than it was three years ago.

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Connie Tran

Connie Tran

Metrics and KPI

Connie Tran

The focus here is the bounce rate. It is low as the average is between 41-51 %. The engagement is good and stable, less people are coming onto the page and quickly exiting.

Connie Tran

In recent months, Tesla fell shortly behind KIA in web traffic.

Connie Tran

Majority of hits came from a branded source by paid advertising and, which generates higher customer loyalty and generates more leads. There should be a balance of branded and non-branded searches. A higher score for non-branded means SEO is working correctly.

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

• KPI by channels

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Connie Tran

Monetization by advertising

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

Connie Tran

ROI Based on Referral Programs

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Summary:

Although it was announced the referral program ended on Sept. 18, 2021, for vehicles and solar panels expect for a solar roof, it was the means for quick growth and customer loyalty. The reward tiers were an incentive for more purchases.

Connie Tran

Sources:

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• How Tesla’s Referral Program Earned Elon Musk 40x ROI (growsurf.com)
• How does Tesla have a $0 marketing budget, and a referral program that generates more than 40x ROI? | Inc.com
• How Tesla's Magnetic Referral Program Delivered Over 40X ROI in Q4 2015 - Business 2 Community
• Tesla is completely revamping referral program after spending $23 million on free Supercharging | Electrek

Tesla Referral program(s) for cars and solar panels

• Referral Program | Tesla

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Connie Tran

KPI Based

On Sales:

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Connie Tran

Marketing Calendar

Jaime Rodriguez

C

Jaime Rodriguez

Thank you!