this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2025
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I specifically know who these guys are because of their massive youtube advertising campaigns.
Please. Walk outside. Or watch cable for a bit. Just because you don't personally see them doesn't mean they don't also have budgets for advertising as well. Tesla in particular straight up gave up on the strategy of word of mouth once their product stopped being known as quality, or at least, higher tech than anybody else.
https://teslanorth.com/2024/03/29/tesla-advertising-spend-6-5-million-2023/
https://ingenuitydisplay.com/what-is-krispy-kreme-s-advertising-budget.html
Exceptions to the rule, like Stardew valley, which prove the rule. They are famous as not having a marketing budget because not having a marketing budget is weird and unheard of.
While some now invest in some level of traditional advertising, it's not what made them big. As you said with Tesla, they only started advertising when people started realizing they were crap, and even then compared to other vehicle manufacturers they spend little. Go Pro used influencers and content marketing by their customers, the Dollar Shave Club made it to fame through viral videos.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/viral-branding-10-brands-got-big-without-advertising-kent-lewis/
Tesla were advertising long before then, just not in the traditional sense.
They let YouTubers and influencers borrow their cars, and gave them a commission on every car they helped sell.
They purposefully stirred up controversy to get news article clicks.
They had a very outspoken CEO making outlandish claims and cosplaying as the saviour of humanity, bringing lots of attention to Tesla.
They launched a Tesla into space.
That stuff doesn't show up on Tesla's books as marketing, but it absolutely is marketing.
All of that is marketing.
Yeah. The companies you mentioned are rare novelties because they chose to advertise very little. That means the thing that is normal is when a company advertises. Ergo, having a good reputation usually requires marketing.
Ya I get what you mean, it doesn't always work out for everyone without getting the word out traditionally, but it does happen.
Personally I think advertising only goes so far before a company just starts looking desperate by saturating the landscape with ads. Maybe that's just me tho lol