Introduction
The company that is the focus in this paper is Tesla and the brand or product is Model X. Model
X is a product that Tesla made available in the year 2012 and that represents a mid-sized sports
utility vehicle that is all electric. Apart from being user and environmental-friendly, the vehicle is
also attractive to potential customers because of the falcon-wing doors that it has in the
passenger side. This assignment involves development of an integrated marketing
communications framework for Tesla Model X to re-position the product in a manner that will
ensure that the brand gains competitive advantage, increases market share and develops into a
product of choice among customers in the market.
Image 1: Falcon-wing Doors (Deslauriers, 2018)
Marketing communications objectives and
budgeting
Advertising
In a majority of organizations, ‘advertising’ is the marketing tool that is used most of the times
with the objective of influencing the purchasing behavior of consumers. There are scholars and
professionals who have criticized this marketing tool because of its impersonal nature and that in
the past, it has been characterized by one-way communications. Digital technology has caused a
dynamic change whereby one-way communication has been replaced with two-way
communication. Through digital media, firms can now engage in advertising efforts that involve
engagement of consumers by creating conversations that can be maintained for longer periods of
time and that reach out to a larger volume of current and potential consumers – compared to
previous approaches.
The use of an advertising agency may be preferable because while tesla as a company has inhouse advertising expertise, the efforts that will be linked with the advertising efforts for Model
X will be significantly high therefore, it would be recommendable for the company to combine
efforts with an advertising agency. As opposed to a full-service advertising agency, Tesla would
use ‘agency compensation’ where negotiations will have to be made in relation to the payment
system. Since it is a long term objective and the product offered falls in the luxury category, the
most appropriate structure for the agency compensation would be the monthly fee structure.
There are other options such as the ‘job-by-job status’ and the ‘outcome-based system’ but the
choice of the ‘monthly fee structure’ is justified because of the flexibility it provides in relation
to evaluation of the progress and outcomes in a month by month basis.
Advertising should not be perceived to be simply a current expense but rather, the marketing
team and the senior management in a company need to realize that it is an investment that
promotes achievement of success in the long term. Success of advertisement efforts is linked
with consistent investment spending. In the case of Tesla, these elements should be integrated
into the integrated marketing company that has been proposed for the company. The IMC would
therefore involve development of an advertisement plan that not only takes into consideration the
current market needs and trends but also incorporates flexibility and sustainability in its program.
The budgeting done for the advertising activity would also have to be designed in a manner that
accommodates consistent investment spending.
Establishment of an advertising budget often involves taking into consideration three key factors,
namely; ad objective, competitor’s advertising activity and funds available. Regarding the ad
objective of Tesla Model X, the most important consideration being made is that the marketing
team seeks to re-positon the brand, improve its brand image and create increased awareness
among consumers regarding the product’s features and benefits. The budget established may not
have to be too high because the advertising activities may not have to be too comprehensive or
take up a high volume of resources. Re-positioning a brand and essentially, advertisements
involving an existing brand often use up less budget compared to those of a new brand. There are
consumers in the market who are already familiar with the Model X brand and there are
networks through which Tesla initially connected with relevant business partners and potential
consumers. As such, the re-positioning efforts that Tesla will be making for their Model X brand
will not incur high advertising costs. Taking into consideration the ad objective in developing the
advertising budget can be linked with preference for the “objective-and-task approach” in
practical budgeting. Under that approach, procedures that are followed apply sequentially
starting with establishment of marketing objectives. Upon establishment of marketing objectives,
communication objectives get assessed and then the advertising’s role is determined. The final
procedure is the establishment of specific advertising goals.
The marketing objectives have already been established for Tesla as is illustrated by the
individual goals or objectives that have been linked with the efforts of the proposed integrated
marketing campaign. The objectives are re-positioning the Model X brand in the market, creating
greater awareness regarding the brand to consumers and establishing a positive brand image for
the product. The second procedure, assessment of communication objectives, then follows in the
next section.
Tesla Model X is an existing brand that is offered by Tesla and that will be re-positioned through
the IMC being created in order to make it attractive to consumers, cover a wider market segment
and increase the profits of the company among other objectives. Advertising would help achieve
those objectives because ‘informing’ is one action that is done through advertising. Consumers
get to be educated regarding features and benefits that an existing brand offers them. In addition,
through advertising, positive brand images can be created. Tesla’s Model X would benefit from
these two issues because the consumers would be educated regarding the benefits and features of
the brand and the brand image of Model X would be improved. In the current market, Model X is
not a very popular utility vehicle despite the benefits and features that it has. Educating the
consumers would make them aware that it is an all-electric car model that id both user and
environmentally friendly in addition to the attractive appearance that may suit consumers who
prioritize that factor in their purchase decisions.
Apart from informing, the other steps included in the functions and process of marketing
communications are persuading, reminding, adding value and assisting other company efforts
(see image 2 below).
Informing
Persuading
Reminding
Adding value
Assisting other company efforts
Image 2: Marketing communications functions and process
The objective that will be achieved in the ‘persuading’ function of advertising is convincing
consumers to try purchasing and using the Model X vehicle. In order to convince the consumers
to engage in such behavior, it is essential to first make them aware of the distinct, beneficial and
innovative features that the product has and that will create value to the consumers. Fortunately,
the Model X brand of tesla has several key features that position it as a product that adds value to
both the consumer and the environment. It’s all-electric nature makes it environmentally friendly
and benefits the consumer in relation to cost, sustainability efforts and sense of pride. A
consumer who uses products that mitigate environmental destruction can be proud of the
contribution that they are making towards environmental preservation.
The third procedure under the “objective-and-task approach” is determination of the
advertising’s role. The advertising’s role in this case will be ‘reminding’ the customers of the
brand’s value through re-positioning or as is explained by Sansell (2019), keeping the brand
fresh in the memory of consumers. An additional aspect of the ‘reminding’ function in
advertising is that it can encourage or facilitate brand switching because when consumers get
reminded that Model X is available and that its features are favorable and beneficial, they are
prone to switch from their current model and brand of vehicle to the Tesla Model X. It can
hence be asserted that in the case of Tesla Model X’s IMC, one of the roles in advertising will be
reminding the consumers about the brand’s availability and features.
The final procedure is the establishment of specific advertisement goals. This phase can be
conducted through reliance on the IMC management process as is illustrated in image 4 below.
Image 4: The IMC management process
In establishing individual advertising goals, it would be essential to engage in the first two
phases under the IMC management process – marketing communications and strategy
implementation. Strategy implementation, though, may prove to be more valuable in later phases
during the process of implementing the chosen integration marketing campaign. Marketing
communications is the most importance phase in which to engage in establishment of particular
advertising goals especially because in this phase, creation of ad messages is covered and
selection of ad media and vehicles is included.
Develop message strategies
The unique selling proposition of Tesla Model X in the proposed IMC is “With Model X, you
will not only be getting an opportunity to actively participate in environmental preservation, but
will also enjoy luxury, physical appeal and adequate space to accommodate four to six
passengers. This value proposition clearly informs consumers (and the target audience) what the
brand offers and what they should expect from the brand. The relevance of the USP to the Tesla
Model X brand is evident in the individual features of this brand. From the USP, a promise is
made to consumers regarding their participation in environmental preservation. Since Model X is
an all-electric vehicle, it is environmentally friendly and any consumer using the car is
participating in reducing GHGs and enhancing achievement of SDGs on environmental
pollution. Luxury and physical appearance are observable features in this brand of Tesla vehicle
whereby features such as its Falcon-wing doors increase its appeal to consumers.
In developing the advertising message, the appeal that will be used will encompass three factors;
environmental preservation, luxury and physical appearance. The choice of this appeal is
founded on the USP created and the individual phases followed to reach to determine the
advertising objectives of Model X’s IMC and the market trends in the automotive industry.
Companies in the automotive industry have been under significant pressure in the past decade to
reduce their carbon emissions and as such, a growing number of consumers require vehicles
whose carbon emissions are low or that use alternative fuels which do not negatively impact on
the environment. The use of vehicles that are all-electric would result in a significant decline in
carbon emissions to the atmosphere therefore it represents an appeal to the high volume of
consumers across the globe who share the same values in relation to environmental preservation.
Physical appearance is partly linked with luxury as the Falcon-wing doors are an example of a
feature of the Model X brand that has caused consumers who prefer luxury vehicles to be
attracted to this brand of cars.
Prior to creation of an ad message, it would be appropriate to identify the theme that will be a
foundation on which the entire campaign (IMC) for Tesla Model X will be based. The
consistency triangle will be used in order to ensure that a consistent theme is maintained
throughout the campaign. The argument that is provided by Duncan (2005, p. 335) is that the
influence of IMC extends beyond marketing communications to include all the operations in an
organization. In order to ensure that inconsistencies are identified early enough and addressed,
three messages can be used, namely; ‘say’, ‘do’ and ‘confirm’. When holes are identified in the
consistency triangle, they should be treated by the marketing communications team as red flags.
In applying the consistency triangle to the case of Tesla Model X throughout the entire IMC
process, it will be essential for each of the selected actions, procedures and steps to be prioritized
based on the three messages that have been mentioned. In practice, it would mean that if
Facebook will be chosen to be used as the media through which to broadcast the advertisement
message that shows the environmentally friendly nature of the brand, then marketing
communications will have to clearly outline the ‘say’ (the individual activities that will be done),
followed by the ‘do’ (ensure that each of the stated activities have been done) and then ‘confirm’
will finalize the process by evaluating the implementation process to ensure that each of the
required activities have been performed in the appropriate manner in order to achieve their
desired objectives.
Media Planning and Analysis
Social media has developed into a significant means through which brands can conduct their
marketing activities and reach out to both prospective and current consumers. Among the social
networking sites that are utilized in the contemporary society are Facebook, Twitter and
Youtube. In order to determine which of these media would be most suitable to utilize in the
Tesla Model X IMC, the media planning process can be applied (see image 7 below).
Several sections or phases in this planning process have been covered in the areas that have been
covered above in this paper. The advertising objectives have already been developed and an
estimate has been provided regarding the advertising budget. In addition, a brief overview of the
strategy has been provided. The chosen media strategy selected covers four main priorities;
target audience selection, objective specification, media and vehicle selection and media buying.
Under target audience selection, the consumer values and lifestyles will be utilized to identify
and choose a target audience. In Australia, as is the case in numerous countries across the world,
consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the threats posed against the environment.
According to a study conducted by Nielsen, 77% of households in Australia consider
environmental issues to be a significant concern (CPG, FMCH & Retail 2019, para. 4).
Carbon emissions (GHGs) from industry activities and other sectors such as transportation
constitute one such threat to the environment because the emissions cause the air to be polluted,
acid rain to occur and climate change to develop. The values and lifestyle of consumers have
hence changed towards a pro-environmental preservation stance which includes both
championing for and engaging in practices that reduce carbon emissions and generally promote
sustainable development in the society. Since Model X is an all-electric car, it would be
attractive to environmentally conscious consumers in the Australian market and in foreign
markets across the globe.
Specification of media objectives will involve addressing two major issues – reach and
frequency. The percentage of environmentally conscious consumers in Australia who are
exposed to Model X vehicles can be estimated to be between 50% and 60%. This estimated is
associated with the statistics that has identified that 77% of Australian households are
environmental conscious and since not the entire group will have access to information on Tesla
Model X, an estimate of 50 to 60 percent is practical. While a large volume of people in
Australia own or drive a vehicle and consumers of environmentally friendly vehicles are
similarly high, Model X vehicles have gradually declined in popularity since the release of the
first product under this brand in 2011. Consequently, not many environmentally conscious
consumers are aware of or exposed to Model X vehicles. In order to ensure that that a reach of 50
to 60 percent is achieved, consideration would have to be made regarding when best (time of
day) to communicate the message, whether more than one media will be applicable and their
degree of diversity and the degree of diversity that would be appropriate within one particular
media vehicle. In the proposed Tesla Model X IMC, achievement of a 50 to 60 percent reach
would not require a high number of media to be used or for their diversity to be high. One media
that is characterized by diversity in the media vehicle would be preferable and the suitable time
of day may be influenced by the nature of the chosen media and media vehicle. For instance,
posting ad on Youtube would mean that reach is not influenced by ‘time of day’ because the
visitor would view the ad anytime that they click on and view a video.
Frequency is considered to be the number of times that consumers will be exposed to the selected
media vehicles in a particular period of time. Regarding ‘frequency’ the recommendation made
is for higher frequency rates to be prioritized because they impact more on the consumer’s
decision to purchase the brand. Similarly, in the case of Tesla Model X, the advertisements that
will be posted on the selected media vehicle will be posted repeatedly (frequency will be high).
Through use of GRPs (Gross Rating Points), the advertising weight will be determined. GRPs
illustrate the gross weight that is delivered by a specific advertising schedule. Since a duplicated
audience may be involved in the proposed media strategy for Tesla Model X, GRPS would
constitute an appropriate approach because gross weighting accommodates a duplicated audience
if it is present. The formula for calculating GRPs is
Reach (R) X Frequency (F) = GRPs
Regarding the allocation of budget, one first needs to consider one of three schedules, namely;
continuous, pulsing and flighting. A discontinuous allocation often applies in a campaign that
lasts for a longer period compared to a continuous one that lasts for a short period of time. The
proposed IMC for Tesla Model X will be conducted for a three-month period. Consequently, it
would be preferable for a continuous schedule to be adopted. Employing a continuous schedule
means that “a relatively equal amount of advertisement expenditure is spent throughout the
campaign” (Module 6, Slide 20).
The selected media for the Tesla Model X brand is social networking sites (or social media). The
media vehicle for this campaign is Youtube. The choice of just one media vehicle is founded on
the reach that has been determined. The need to include different videos in the ads that will be
posted on Youtube is founded on the frequency that has been determined to be appropriate.
IMC Elements
The IMC element that will be used for the Tesla Model X campaign is social media marketing
particularly because current statistics illustrate the increasing popularity of the platform in
attracting the interest of consumers. The amount of time spent online by Australians is growing
every day and presently is estimated to be 24 hours per month. This statistic shows that since
Youtube is one of the social networking sites visited by Australians, posting the advertisements
of Tesla Model X on Youtube would result in the message reaching a large volume of current
and potential consumers.
The promotion mix elements for the Tesla Model X IMC are linked with use of just one media
vehicle but the content posted on this platform will be diverse. The alternative may be to choose
one advertisement message and promote it in more than one media vehicle. However, based on
the reach and frequency discussed in relation to the IMC of Tesla Model X, it would be
recommendable to stick with just one media vehicle. Use of Youtube also allows for targeted
advertising to be achieved because the Tesla advertisement videos will be shown to visitors who
click on Youtube content that is associated with auto-motives, luxury, environmental
preservation (or green initiatives) and mobility (such as family vacations).
Mock-up
List of needed items:
-
Filming crew, filming props, actors, voice over and several Model X cars of different
design and appearance.
Storyboard:
Image 1: In order to avoid lawsuits against Tesla, a normal sized SUV that has no brand name
and is in the form of a prototype can be shown driving on the road.
Image 2:
References
Deslauriers, M 2018, 2018 Tesla Model X: Space-age Family Commuting, The Car Guide,
viewed 4 September 2020, <https://www.guideautoweb.com/en/articles/45591/2018-teslamodel-x-space-age-family-commuting/>