Tesla Inc.'s Sustainable Marketing Strategies: A Report

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SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT & MARKETING
ASSESSMENT TASK 2
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................3
Background of the company..........................................................................................................4
Key strategies................................................................................................................................ 5
Fundamental principles of sustainable marketing and management practices.............................6
The concept of sustainability.........................................................................................................8
Analysis of the situation...............................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 11
References................................................................................................................................... 12
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Introduction
In this report, the importance of sustainable marketing for the organization to a stay, in the
long run, will be discussed in the context of Tesla Inc. which is one of the world’s leading
electric car manufacturers. The report explains that the concepts and principles of sustainable
marketing play an essential role in the success of the company. Company’s key strategies and
their impact on the company will be discussed in this report.
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Background of the company
Tesla Inc. is an American automotive and Energy Company based in California. It is one of the
leading electric automobile manufacturers. The company was founded in 2003 by a team of
two innovative entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. They named their
company Tesla Motors after Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla. The company was formed to
develop an electric sports car. The roadster was the first completely electric car released by the
company in 2008. Roadster could reach at speed from 0 to 60 miles (96KM) per hour in less
than 4 seconds. In the starting of 2012, Tesla built charger stations called Superchargers which
called Tesla Stations later in the United States and Europe. The company then started some
products based on solar energy. Now they are offering some batteries to store electric power
from solar energy. Then Tesla bought the solar panel company named SolarCity in 2016. The
company later changed its name from Tesla Motors to Tesla Inc.
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Key strategies
Tesla follows a mission statement which is “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable
energy”. For achieving this following are the key strategies which the company is using for their
marketing:
Innovative technology – Tesla has very innovative approaches towards its products. It is
ultimately a technology-based company. Tesla represents the face of the future which
customers can rely on. The innovative and unique approaches made the company to develop a
loyal customer bank.
Branding – Tesla is the world's renowned brand in the world. It needs no introduction which is
the company's one of the biggest strengths. Company has been getting many big auto awards
for its excellent products.
Diversity – Tesla doesn’t just sell cars. After changing its name from Tesla motors to Tesla Inc.
because the company started dealing in solar energy products which again show the innovative
approach of the company.
Online distribution – Tesla has only 17 showrooms worldwide which make it easy to
understand that the company often uses its online sales model. It is beneficial to the company
itself because the online sales model efficiently reduces its selling and distribution cost.
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Fundamental principles of sustainable marketing and management practices
Sustainable marketing and management practices are the process of planning sustainability in
both training and products of the organization. It is a practice of not worrying about short term
profit and able to be a focus on long term consumer value and benefits (Kim & Schellhase,
2015). The following are the fundamental principles of sustainable marketing and management:
 Consumer satisfaction – It is the base of this sustainable marketing. No organization can
survive in this competitive market without making their customers satisfied. Sustainable
marketing helps to understand the importance of consumer satisfaction (Reinecke &
Sven, 2014). Tesla' founders and management always give preference to providing their
customer with some fantastic and unique automobile experiences (Sun et al., 2018).
Company is offering its customers the facilities of charging stations and other unusual
things (Sun & Co, 2016).
 Reduce waste – It is one of the most important principles of sustainable marketing to
reduce the trash at the best possible for the company. The core principles of the
sustainable marketing that an organization should focus on the long term profits and for
making long term focus, it is required to reduce waste (Dabija, 2015). Reducing wasting
is the process where company have to focus on planning the costs and smartly manage
the costs (Kwak et al., 2014). Cost efficiency is the most important thing to achieve
profit in the longer run (Sun et al., 2018).
 Plan for longevity – for achieving sustainable marketing, it is required that company
plan and invests everything for survival (Naor et al., 2016). The organization has to clear
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with their goals, targets and try not to spend it those things which fluctuate and
increase over the time which will help the organization to bring back the continued
returns to them (Serbanica et al., 2015). Tesla is following the same; the company is
investing in solar energy products which are a need of the future (Eagle et al., 2016).
 Use Barter vs. Buy – This principle explains that word of mouth always plays an
important role when it comes to sustainable marketing for the organization (Kim et al.,
2012). Creating a network of loyal customer bank not only help the company to reduce
cost but it also helps to develop new opportunities for the company (Lapinskaite et al.,
2013). Tesla itself believes in this theory, and they have a loyal customer bank. Company
doesn't prefer paid promotions (Lavinia et al., 2015).
 Company profits – At the end, for sustain in the longer run, making sustainable profits is
the requirement for the company (Musonera & Cagle, 2019). The core principle of
sustainable marketing explains that the company should focus on making profits by
providing consumer satisfaction at the same time (Sun et al., 2016). Tesla following this
principle very well which lead the company to one of the leading electric automobile
manufacturer in the world (Hardman et al., 2015).
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The concept of sustainability
Sustainability mainly focuses on managing the needs of the present without compromising to
the ability of future generations to meet their needs in future as well. The concept of
sustainability has three critical components which are the following:
 Economical
 Environmental
 Social
Social sustainability often depends on economic, and those both depend on ecological
sustainability. Ecological sustainability is the core pillar and comes first when any organization
decides its sustainable goals.
Environmental – For achieving sustainability in a company's goals and targets, it would be
required that the company give preferences to environmental responsibilities not focusing on
short term profits or cost reduction. The environment will go to make a negative impact on the
company and customers in the longer run. Tesla is founded by the concept of not harming the
situation more. They are making a 100% renewable grid which is affordable too. Company is
dealing with sustainable energy which is good for the environment and as well as for the
customers. Company is using wind and solar power in their cars and products which will be
helpful to reduce pollution and good for the environment as well.
Economic – for achieving sustainability economically in the organization, it is required that
company role would help boost the economy of the country and the economic level of the
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company. Long term sustainability cannot be achieved without sound financial stages for the
company and land itself. Tesla itself understands the importance of the high economy rate for
their business to grow and become successful. They export over half of the world, and their
import/export rate plays an essential role in boosting the economy. Tesla is using advanced
technology rather than old power production which is one of the critical factors which drag the
economy down. The company helped countries to survive even in downfall phase in the
marketplace.
Social – For achieving social sustainability, it is imperative to understand the social
responsibility of the organization towards its communities and employees as well. If society and
employees become satisfied, it would be easy to maintain in the long run for the organization.
Tesla understands it very well; that's why the company's strategies often inspire from the
welfare of its employees and society. Company is following high-end safety standards for
ensuring the safety of its customers. The organizational culture of the company helps to
improve employee morale and to offer them the right working environment so the company
would deal with fewer employees' issues at work and increase their productivity as well. It
would be very beneficial to think first about the associated communities and society.
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Analysis of the situation
Tesla is one of the most successful electric car manufacturers in the world, and the company is
not old enough, it just founded in 2003. The company achieved a huge success and created
goodwill in the market because of its innovative approaches and sustainable marketing.
Company is following these sustainable marketing concepts since it was founded which were
very helpful for the company to achieve success in such a short time.
Sustainable marketing helps the company to develop significant and long term goals in the
beginning, and the company's strategies helped it to manage its sustainable marketing plans
which help them to achieve success. Sustainable marketing helps the company to become
aware of the responsibilities and roles of the company in a social, environmental and economic
context in the organization. Company is developing big innovative goals for the future, and the
company is finding creative solutions to its customers and earning profits with fulfilling its
responsibilities towards environmental, social and economical.
Overall, sustainable marketing and management not only helps the company to achieve success
in such a short period but it also helps them to be able to stay in the longer run by following the
concepts of sustainable marketing. It helps the company to make its innovative strategies and
implementing them in their organization.
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Conclusion
Sustainable marketing is the process which helps the organization to run successfully in the long
run without compromising on its profits as well. The importance of sustainable marketing
concepts in the success of Tesla Inc. has been discussed in this report. It explained that it played
an essential role in developing their strategies and achieves success in such a short period.
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References
Sun, Y. & Ko, E., 2016. Influence of sustainable marketing activities on customer equity. Journal
of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 26(3), pp.270–283.
Sun, Y., Weng, C. & Liao, Z., 2018. Product innovation and sustainable marketing: effects on
consumer innovativeness. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, pp.1–11.
Kim, J. & Schellhase, R., 2015. Sustainable Marketing in Asia and the World. Journal of Global
Scholars of Marketing Science, 25(3), pp.195–197.
Sun, Yang, Garrett, Tony, C., Phau, Ian, Zheng & Bing, 2018. Case-based models of customer-
perceived sustainable marketing and its effect on perceived customer equity. Journal of
Business Research,
Sun, Garrett & Kim, 2016. Do Confucian principles enhance sustainable marketing and customer
equity? Journal of Business Research, 69(9), pp.3772–3779.
Kim, Hoon, K., Jeon, Joo, B., Jung, Seob, H., Lu, Wei, Jones & Joseph., 2011. Active employment
brand equity through sustainable competitive advantage, marketing strategy, and corporate
image. Journal of Business Research, 64(11), pp.1207–1211.
Dabija, D.-C., 2015. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MARKETING. Amfiteatru Economic, 17(40), pp.851–
853.
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