The Big Tech Show: Why Elon Musk made me too embarrassed to buy a Tesla

This week on The Big Tech Show, Adrian is joined by Steve Dempsey, Group Director of Product at Mediahuis, to discuss how Elon Musk’s personal brand has affected Tesla.

Musk took over Twitter in October and Adrian Weckler says that in spite of the argument put forward that a company’s owner isn’t the reason people buy or don’t buy a product, ‘it’s very naïve to think I’m not buying a little into what it says about me.’

So when the choice came to upgrade the car, Tesla lost out.

“Now, the Tesla brand is associated with Elon Musk’s conspiracy theories and his disastrous tenure at Twitter,” Adrian said.

“I’m not a purist. I will buy things from Amazon. I’ll use Facebook or Instagram knowing the danger of misinformation. But this feels like something different.”

And Steve Dempsey described the change in brand perception.

“Tesla used to be a really strong challenger brand, and buying a Tesla was a sign that you were sticking it to the man,” Dempsey said.

“He’s a very polarising figure and no doubt how different people respond to his persona is having an effect on the businesses he’s working with.

“Part of the problem is that Elon’s strength in the past was building really strong corporate brands and Tesla was a really clear challenger brand, it was very clear what you were signing up for, it was a badge you were proud to wear.

“When it came to Twitter, it’s become a lot more unclear because aside from the commercial performance, there’s been an awful lot of corporate gossip.”

The Big Tech Show is in association with Square.