The Power of HyperHype - How to Bottle Tesla's Brand Magic

The Tesla Effect
No one needs premium, no person's life depends on luxury, but people crave it, desire it and will do anything to get it. They want to be seen living in it, carrying, wearing, eating, drinking, driving and riding it. When a woman borrows money at very high rates just to pay for an insanely expensive handbag that she can't afford, that's the result of a successful hype. The fact that she and all her friends crave that particular brand is the proof, even though she can only afford to cover the interest for the indefinite future.

Welcome to true definition of premium, where the only driving force is hype or the perception of "must have" for select brands. Without hype, a premium brand might as well join the bargain basement category and try to win buyers with constant discounts and bogo offers. All the most desired premium brands have understood the power of hype otherwise they wouldn't rank in the "must have" category. There is no exception to this rule.

GM has announced they'll end production on their plug-in hybrid Volt. Meanwhile their all-electric Bolt that's much cheaper than a Tesla Model 3 isn't selling well. All the while Tesla is breaking sales records and showing incredible demand for their expensive EVs.

Mr. Hyperhype
Elon Musk's nickname is "Hyperhype." He along with Steve Jobs and Willie G. Davidson understood that it's never just about the product, it's about the image, which hot celebs are using it and what that image conveys about the person seen with the product.

You can sum up my popular Woes Series in three words, Up The Hype. In BMW's Not So Woes, I explain in detail many of the marketing efforts that we did during the crucial 5-year period ('03-'08); but all of that can be distilled to this: we upped the hype of the BMW motorcycle brand for the US market.

Not A Compromise
Tesla's successful track record is due to Musk knowing that popular premium is never about compromise. You don't spend $130K on a Mercedes S Class because it's a compromise over cheaper sedans.

People would never spend so much on a Tesla or line up for one, if they thought it was a compromise over petrol.

In direct contrast Bolt and Leaf are clear compromises, they aren't faster, don't look great, they have run of the mill interiors with basic tech, do not turn heads and no one pays attention if you're seen in one. In short: zero hype.

No car brand does marketing like Tesla. All the current EVs (as of 2018) are a major compromise over petrol. Bolt sales are down by 41% yet the much more expensive Model 3 set a record for best selling luxury car.

The most crucial lessons here are that a premium product will never become popular if:

1. The buzz it generates doesn't point to a superior product.
2. It doesn't covey the feeling of elevated experience.
3. It doesn't make the owner appear to have heightened public appeal.

(What do you expect, humans are vain and insecure; otherwise there wouldn't even be a need for premium.)

Why Every Premium Brand Should Follow Tesla's Marketing Direction
The Tesla's pitch is that it's better than petrol in every way. It's way faster, hotter, sexier, turns more heads, has much more tech, unique interiors and oodles of customization (oh and there is something about the environment too). Your friends may not care if you drive a BMW but they'll certainly take notice if you show up in a Tesla. That is the biggest take away from the massive marketing success of Tesla vs others. People who don't even care for EVs want to be seen in a Tesla.

How To Bottle Tesla's Magic
Attempts at trying to create hype vs successfully creating long-term hype are light years apart. Almost all brands try to create some type of hype but only a handful exceed at it. So what's the catch? Talent!

Is Motorcycle Marketing Dead?
If you pay attention to how motorcycles are marketed in the US, you'll notice that there is a total absence of hype (successful or otherwise). On the other hand the only strategy all brands are using are cash backs, sales incentives and giveaways; all of which are sales strategy and not marketing. So in essence marketing is dead! Is it any wonder that our new bike sales are shrinking year after year?

In the Woes Series I cover 5 specific brands plus an overall US market analysis and in all cases provide suggestions in how they can expand US growth. I also mention that many motorcycle brand or accessory managers don't get Marketing at all, their only focus is to promote their motorcycles or gear as an industrial product (boring). This strategy may work for mass-market items but it's fatal for premiums.

Why Racing Doesn't Sell
I reported in Issue 55 that Yamaha is in trouble, so much so that they are moving their HQ from SoCal to the South. And Yamaha invested heavily into racing. If racing equated to sales, Ducati should be selling 40K units in the US, instead of 8K. If just getting motorcycle press coverage translated to more sales, Ducati again should be delivering lot more units in the US. Successful hype is not about a lot of press coverage and certainly not about racing at all. It is only about instilling a "must have" desire for the brand and eliminating stigmas. (Ducati's Woes)

Simple Analysis
Victory motorcycles never took off even with Polaris backing due to lack of marketing talent and absence of hype. Indian may go that direction if Polaris doesn't invest more on building a "must have" feel for the brand. I explain more in Indian's Woes.

If you're a brand manager, look at your marketing efforts for 2018. If all you show are posting nice pics on your socials, buying banner ads promoting incentives, or maybe you sponsored some bike events; you're not going to win this game.

Up The Hype

• Focus on creating rider engagement.
  
  
• Banners and socials can only do so much.
  
  
• You need content and reasons for riders to come to you.
  
  
• Visit my BMW's Not So Woes for a long list of marketing ideas.
  
  
• If you only do 20% of what we did for BMW in the mid '00s, you'll be golden.