Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the electric car maker will dabble in advertisements, a major marketing departure for the 20-year-old company.
“We’re going to try a little advertising and see how it goes,” Musk said Tuesday at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in Austin.
Tesla has long prided itself on word-of-mouth among its fan base to sell its vehicles. It builds a formidable brand without paying for traditional advertising on television, radio or in newspapers or magazines.
Musk is used Twitter, which he now owns, as a marketing tool for Tesla. Social media sites depend on advertising as their main source of income, for one thing newly appointed CEO Linda Yaccarino is expected to focus on.