Cybertruck Design Is A Distraction

Tesla’s business and marketing strategy is far more interesting.

Rick Kettner
The Startup
Published in
5 min readNov 27, 2019

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Modified image from Tesla.com

Tesla did NOT set out to create an iconic new design with the Cybertruck.

In fact, I think it’s safe to say that the unique appearance was the biggest obstacle that came up during its development. It had to be creatively sold by the marketing team AFTER Tesla came up with the REAL breakthrough.

And that breakthrough is far more interesting than just a bold new look.

In short, Tesla’s Cybertruck is a picture perfect example of value innovation as described in Blue Ocean Strategy, a very popular business book written by W. Chan Kim and Renée A. Mauborgne.

“…instead of focusing on beating the competition, you focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers…” ~ Blue Ocean Strategy

The Bloody Red Ocean of Competition

All of the other pickup truck manufacturers operate within long established market boundaries. They compete on standard industry metrics like towing capacity, payload rating, and fuel efficiency.

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Rick Kettner
The Startup

Sharing the business and marketing insights that I’ve learned over 21 years as an entrepreneur, founder, and marketer. — https://www.youtube.com/rickkettner