Tesla made a car fly. What does that have to do with your business?
Tesla unveiled a Roadster that lifts off the ground, drives through the air, and jumps over other cars. The car isn’t expected to arrive until 2028, but many people are already talking about it. This article shows what a business can learn from this approach to gaining attention.
On October 15, Tesla unveiled the new Roadster at the SpaceX facility in Texas. It wasn’t just a car on stage and a list of specifications. It was a car lifting off the ground with thrusters, spinning in the air, jumping over other cars, and climbing a ramp until it was upside down.
Within a few hours, the videos were everywhere. And on the very same day, Tesla opened reservations, including in Portugal.
There’s still a lot to learn about this car. Production is scheduled for 2028; there’s no final price or delivery date yet, and the “flight” was a short, controlled demonstration. But there’s one thing Tesla achieved right away: generating a huge amount of attention around the brand.
No small company is going to make a car fly. But the way Tesla garnered this attention offers lessons that any business can apply.
1. Show, don’t tell
Tesla could have announced that the new Roadster accelerates from 0 to 96 km/h in less than a second. It would have been impressive, but it would have been just another number on a spec sheet.
Instead, it showed the car doing something no one expected to see. A video just a few seconds long communicated more than any spec sheet ever could.
The same is true in business. Saying that a service is “high-quality” or “fast” isn’t very convincing. Showing the before-and-after, the process in action, or a satisfied customer is much more convincing.
Before writing yet another piece explaining what you do, ask yourself: How can I show this?
2. Seize the moment when people are paying attention
Tesla didn’t wait for the excitement to die down. It opened reservations on the very day of the presentation, capitalizing on the launch’s peak visibility.
Many companies do the opposite. They publish something that goes well, receive comments and messages, and don’t have a next step prepared. By the time they finally respond or launch the offer, the interest has already faded.
Whenever you’re planning a high-profile event—whether it’s a launch, a campaign, or special content, make sure you also prepare what comes next: a page to direct people to, a simple way for them to leave their contact information, and someone ready to respond.
Attention spans are short. What you do with that attention in that moment is what counts.
3. Have something that gets people talking
The Roadster is a hypercar that hasn’t even hit the road yet. But that was enough to get a lot of people talking about Tesla in recent days.
Even a small business can have its own “flying car,” on its own scale. It could be a service that’s different from the usual, an offering that no one else in the area has, an interesting behind-the-scenes look at day-to-day operations, or a unique way to showcase what it does.
It doesn’t have to be the best-selling product. It just needs to be interesting enough to make someone stop, comment, and remember the brand. Then, when they need the main service, that’s the brand they’ll think of.
The question is simple: what does your business have that makes you want to show it to someone?
4. The show needs substance
The Roadster also comes with high expectations: it was originally announced in 2017, with deliveries initially scheduled for 2020, and production is now slated for 2028.
This shows the other side of the spectacle. Grabbing people’s attention is the first step, but what they find afterward has to live up to those expectations.
For a business, this means that content that generates buzz must lead to something tangible: a service that actually exists, a clear offer, and a quick response to those who show interest.
The bigger the promise, the higher the expectations for what will be delivered.
What is your business’s “flying car”?
The Roadster presentation shows that attention isn’t won solely through information. It’s won with something people want to see, talk about, and share.
But attention is only valuable when it’s part of a system: the content grabs attention, the page or offer turns that attention into interest, and the team follows up on the lead.
No business needs to make a car fly. It needs to find what makes it hard to ignore—and be ready for the moment someone takes notice.
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