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Elon Musk has been at the forefront of historical paradigm shifts for decades. Innovating across a broad band of sectors including financial, transport, space and social media. As one of the founders of electronic payment gateway PayPal, which was sold to eBay in 2002 for US$1.5 billion, the mythology of Musk has become part of the zeitgeist. And, he’s got plenty of lessons to offer marketers. Here, Niche Content head of content Jessica Agoston Cleary muses on what marketers can learn from Musk’s antics.
Love him or loathe him, there is no denying that his unrelenting pursuit of excellence and wild, ambitious visions for the future of what’s possible have redefined multiple industries and led to him becoming one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.
Not even a multi-billionaire is immune from public backlash. His recent antics have resulted in Tesla stocks taking a nose dive, and owners taking matters into their own hands to form the ‘Anti Elon Tesla Club’ with bumper stickers declaring ‘I brought this before Elon went Crazy’ going viral.
Setting aside ‘the money can’t buy’ viral content and excellent watercooler office chat (‘Did you see Elon wielding that chainsaw?!’), this situation raises several questions that deserve serious attention from content marketers. By the nature of their roles, marketers must understand human behaviour and the psychological forces at play for consumers. As we all know, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In the case of Musk, it appears that he believed he was coated in Teflon – or at least, blessed with an invisible forcefield that made his companies impervious to the real-world consequences of a CEO behaving in extremely polarising ways.
Talking about the ‘Elon Musk effect’, InsideOut Public Relations CEO and founder Nicole Reaney, says: “A CEO who delves into controversial topics beyond their direct industries can have a string of consequences for their personal and commercial brands. Being forthright in divisive topics, like political views, creates a divisive audience and clouds the distinction between personal opinion and the values of an organisation. Musk should weigh up the consequences of his extreme views and acknowledge the impact it could have on a number of stakeholders he relies on.”
As Australian marketers and PR experts observe the circus from a distance, what can we learn from the situation as a whole? The first takeaway is that no one, not even a wunderkind billionaire is immune to the collective decision-making powers of the consumer.
Consumers exercise their democratic rights daily every time they click, add to cart, and check out. As the saying goes, the customer is always right, and in the case of Tesla, the customer has decided that the founder and the product are one and the same.
It would of course be impossible to reign in a personality and ego as large as Musk’s. Much has been written and said about his resolute belief in doing what he wants, when he wants and how he wants. But, when it comes to leveraging a bold personality from a marketing point of view, care needs to be taken to ensure that the public persona aligns with the values of the corporate brand.
The second takeaway for marketers is always having one eye on the competition. No matter the market share your client’s brand has right now, there is always room to move. As we’ve seen with Tesla in particular, the controversy swirling around Musk presents an opportunity for competitors to make a calculated move, capitalising on a misstep and growing market share.
There is a fine line between being vindictive and clever when launching a campaign calling attention to a competitor’s gaff and your own excellence. Marketers must tread carefully. The key is to lean into humour and use the situation to play up your own values and offerings in an authentic, positive light. Punching down is never going to fly. Genuine wit and incisive Jerry Seinfeld-level observational humour will help your client’s brand soar.
The third and final takeaway is the old adage that no publicity is bad publicity. While the market reacted swiftly, shaving 48 percent off its mid-December 2024 peak, nothing lasts forever. And, more importantly, nothing happens in a vacuum.
It would be foolish to believe that this massive sell-off is purely down to the public actions and political leanings of the company founder. There are many other economic factors that play into the decline in Tesla’s stock price – increasing costs of input materials, declining sales globally, and the broader impact of Trump’s tariffs, which have stoked a global trade war and murmurs of a recession in the US.
What goes up must come down, and everything swings in roundabouts. Making sure you’re poised and ready to act when the right opportunity comes around is what matters most in life and in marketing.
