Elon Musk brand continues to grow: Heavy public profile and revolutionary products amplify Musk’s popularity

Elon Musk’s brand image has evolved strongly over the past two decades, and he is today one of the most recognizable and admired CEOs globally. Whilst some of the major companies he owns such as Tesla are still very small compared to their market competitors Musk’s popularity only seems to grow. This is primarily due to two major reasons. The first is that Musk’s companies are engaged in the manufacturing of products that do not only carry financial benefits to the owner, but also do the wider society some good, whether it be in the shape of fighting pollution or by sending manned missions to other planets and thereby provide human beings with access to an alternative, should the earth become increasingly uninhabitable due to the effects of climate change. Musk himself is an avid supporter of the fight against climate change and recently resigned from US President Trump’s advisory council as a protest over the President’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The second major reason for Musk’s popularity has been his ability to maintain a strong public profile by regularly engaging in public speeches, becoming active on social media outlets like Twitter, as well as making cameo appearances in a range of TV shows and movies ranging from the Big Bang Theory and South Park to Iron Man 2. His public profile has managed to make his face one of the most recognizable faces in the tech world, and this has all been done without the need to engage in any kind of an expensive marketing strategy. Rather Musk has very intelligently been able to utilize mediums already present for free, and thereby bolstered his public profile strongly, especially amongst the younger segments of society, which are more likely to use Twitter or watch TV shows such as the Big Bang Theory. Ultimately it is Musk’s strong public profile coupled with the fact that the products his company manufactures are perceived to provide a benefit to wider society that has propelled his personal brand to greater heights. His popularity with the youth also ensures that his brand will continue to remain popular for the foreseeable future.