If someone asked you which car company is having the toughest time lately, you’d probably say Tesla without hesitation. Right now, they’re dealing with a bunch of problems, like messed-up recalls, Cybertrucks that don’t work, and fewer people buying their cars. And now, they’re even laying off workers, including their entire marketing team, after just a year on the job.
Last year, Tesla’s big boss, Elon Musk, said they were going to give advertising a shot. But now, Bloomberg says the whole growth content team in the U.S. has been let go. This comes after Tesla already cut jobs in its design team and Californian facilities. Elon Musk himself commented on the work of the content team, saying the ads were too generic and could have been for any car.
This move shows Tesla is stepping back from its early advertising efforts. Before, Tesla didn’t do things like TV, radio, or online ads. Instead, they relied on people talking about their cars to build up their brand.
But now, with electric vehicle sales slowing down globally and more competitors in the market, investors are pushing Tesla to do more marketing. Around the same time Tesla started advertising, Elon Musk bought a big share in Twitter, a social media platform. Twitter has been struggling with advertisers pulling out because they’re not happy with how the platform handles content and because of some of Musk’s own controversial tweets.
Now, Tesla has to find new ways to get people interested in buying their cars, especially with all the bad news lately. They’re dealing with a big recall for their Cybertruck, where the accelerator pedals are coming loose. Plus, they’ve scrapped plans for a cheaper model that could have convinced more people to switch to electric cars.
