[andrenotgiant]

Right, but Tesla is using a really effective story:

"Space cowboy thinks other car companies are bloated and old-fashioned, builds the future with a scrappy group of dreamers"

As an awareness multiplier that's in some ways more effective than the $3B+ that GM spends on advertising each year. Because GM doesn't have a good story to tell.

[indymike]

Tesla is a great example of this maxim: "a good story is worth a thousand spreadsheets." While Tesla is busy getting ridiculous valuations, their competition is focused on traditional corporate measures of performance. It even permeates their marketing - other auto makers are so focused on segments that their stories are segmented (see Ford's rollout of the new Mustang SUV). Meanwhile, Tesla is telling a very visceral "better animal" arrives and re-terraforms the world story.