Elon Musk’s out-of-this-world marketing stunt

The Tesla Roadster, which was launched on top of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, is going farther out into the Solar System than originally planned.

Trust Elon Musk to come up with this. With a $0 ad budget, Tesla just pulled off one of the greatest marketing stunts ever.

Musk pulled off a double marketing coup two days ago with the first successful test launch of his Falcon Heavy rocket, the flagship of his private space-flight company SpaceX, and the subsequent debut of its payload - a Tesla Roadster driven by a dummy nicknamed Starman - as the first car in space.

While the launch was clearly one of the most dramatic moments of livestreaming in recent memory, it’s the live YouTube feed of Musk’s own cherry-red Roadster circling the Earth that will perhaps generate the biggest publicity boost for Musk’s emerging electric-car company. With a famously non-existent ad budget, Tesla just secured a place in auto marketing history.

The original plan was to go 250 million miles from Earth and approach Mars, according to Space.com. However, a rocket carrying the car overshot, meaning it’ll pass Mars’ orbit and enter the asteroid belt. Musk wouldn’t mind going those extra miles.

Source : http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/with-a-0-ad-budget-tesla-just-pulled-off-one-of-the-greatest-marketing-stunts-ever/