Earlier this week a video was published on YouTube by a German marketing firm Jung Von Matt/Neckar advertises DHL through a prank. Packages labelled “DHL is faster”are sent with competing delivery services such as UPS. Since the video was published earlier this week, it has been viewed over 3 million times.

After reading the blog post Agency’s Ice-Cold Prank Turns DHL’s Rivals Into DHL Advertisers by Gabriel Beltrone I was surprised to learn that the prank by this German marketing firm was not coordinated by DHL. According to Beltrone, the marketing agency made the video for to differentiate itself from its own competitors in the marketing industry.

In this case the marketing firm advertised DHL, to many consumers it may seem like this is the primary goal of the advertisement, to show that “DHL is Faster”, this was in fact the external goal, but the internal goal was to showcase the creativity of the German marketing firm. According to the blog by Beltrone, the firm had no specific interest in advertising DHL but rather, showcasing its own abilities.

In my opinion, the marketing firm has successfully proved its marketing abilities with this advertisement, because it has achieved exactly what it wants, it gained many views and many rumours regarding if the video is real or fake. At a time where commercials are seen as “annoying” and advertisers are doing everything they can to appeal to viewers such as in the Super Bowl; It is my belief that the firm wanted people to discuss the video, whether they thought it was fake or not was irrelevant. By having people talk about it, it has achieved its goal.

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Tesla has charging infrastructure across the US, Canada, and Western Europe. Recently the company finished installing charging stations that allow customers to travel across the US from coast to coast. These charging stations are exclusive to Tesla’s customers and allow the car to be charged in around 20 minutes; the company suggests that with a range of around 300 miles you would usually stop for a 20 minute break anyway.

I am a huge fan of the company and its marketing techniques, I have written about its retail store locations in a previous blog, for COMM 101 – BLOG.

Situated near coffee shops and malls, the charging stations are a great way for these retailers to attract customers. Because of this advantage to retailers, Tesla is rarely charged rent for installing these chargers at the lots, a win-win situation!

In recent news, a team from Tesla made a cross-country trip to publicize the superchargers and the fact the trip is absolutely free! The team kept customers and Tesla fans in the loop by updating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #DriveFree. It has gained many followers and comments, and many people took the time to meet the team en route!

Tweets about “#DriveFree”

In my opinion, only companies that are so respected and produce quality products can benefit from social media as a free mode of advertising. The cross-country team showed consumers what the car is capable of, as well as how much respect it has. The followers on twitter that complimented the cars and were passionately writing about the progress of the road trip can be thought of as word-of-mouth advertisers, practically there were no negative comments made. I believe Tesla utilized social media (twitter, Facebook, Instagram) very efficiently to promote its cars and deliver the message of “free driving”. As reported by the New York Post, “Tesla Cars to Allow Owners to See US On $0 Gas”. This is the message that Tesla wants consumers to remember, as it is proprietary to the company.

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