A Fly-Away Success Story: Red Bull Gives You Wings
Author: Rosalind Masterson
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
Online pub date:March 06, 2016
Discipline: Brand Management & Strategy, Marketing Communications, Marketing Strategy
Length:976 words
Keywords: below line promotion, branding, flies, snowboarding, sponsorship, sponsorship
Abstract
Red Bull serves here as an excellent example of a company's successful brand marketing with a small
marketing budget.
Case
How do you become a market leader? One way is to create a whole new category and then launch
your brand into it with a bang. That's what Red Bull did back in 1987 and they are still leading the
energy drinks market that they created. In 2012 they sold 5.2 billion cans.
Strong brands like Red Bull don't happen by accident. The company has invested a lot into its
marketing: a lot of thought and effort, although not really such a lot of money. Compared to
companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, their marketing budget is tiny, yet a can of Red Bull can cost over
twice as much as a can of cola.
It all started in the 1980s when Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz visited Thailand and was
impressed and energised by a local drink. He adapted the ingredients to better suit Western tastes
and launched it in 1987 as Red Bull, Europe's first energy drink. The first press ad claimed that it was
so awesome polka dots would fly off your tie.
1988 saw Red Bull's first sponsorship deal: the Red Bull Dolomitenmann: “one of the toughest extreme
sport relays on the planet,” a marathon event combining mountain running, paragliding, kayaking,
and mountain biking. More extreme sport sponsorships followed: snowboarding, mountain biking,
and cliff diving but this wasn't enough for Red Bull. The brand wanted to be even more involved in the
exciting lifestyle represented by these high-risk challenges, and so they began creating their own
events. They became an integral part of the action rather than just standing at the sidelines.
Red Bull Flugtag
Red Bull runs a number of different contests and events such as a soapbox race and the Red Bull
Flugtag. Flugtags challenge contestants to build flight machines which are then launched (or crashed)
off a 30 foot platform into water. The flight record for one of these amateur machines is 207 feet,
their crashes are spectacular and prizes are awarded not just for length of flight but also for
imaginative design and humour. Flugtags have been held all round the world and attract huge crowds
at the actual event – though the bulk of the audience watches online via Facebook or YouTube. Two
years on, that record-breaking flight in Minneapolis had over half a million views on YouTube.
In 2012, Red Bull launched a man into space – and then threw him out. Felix Baumgartner set the
world record for skydiving when he fell approximately 39 kilometres, reaching an estimated speed of
1357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), or Mach 1.25. He was the first person to break the sound barrier without
being inside any form of vehicle. The event was watched live around the world – and then watched
again and again on YouTube. The space dive made sense both for daredevil Felix and for Red Bull. It
was a logical progression from what they had done before. Over the years, Red Bull's association with
daring stunts and extreme sports had successfully created an independent, edgy image that has served
it well. More recently, the brand has added creativity to its image with its involvement in
contemporary culture through events such as Word Clash street poems and Art of Can which invited
would-be artists to create sculptures using Red Bull cans – inspired recycling!
(http://www.redbull.com/en/stories/1331580470607/red-bull-art-of-can-inspired-recycling).
Red Bull Space Jump
Through these events Red Bull carries on an intense conversation with its youthful and independentminded
target audience. The brand is part of their lives, providing entertainment, excitement,
challenge. The buzz around Red Bull is regularly stoked by another high-risk brand experience but it is
the audience and their engagement that has really built that brand strength.
Red Bull has extended its do-it-yourself approach to events into media. Now they have an online TV
channel (www.redbull.tv/Redbulltv) where you can watch sports and entertainment programmes and
listen to music. It's all free – but it's also all heavily branded. The Red Bull Media House provides web
clips, documentaries and photos for other publishers. The official Red Bull website looks more like a
sports site with tabs for motorsports, biking snowboarding and surfing. It also has games and music.
The emphasis is clearly on what Red Bull does as a brand, not on the product itself. This is lifestyle
branding at its best.
Red Bull's promotional activities are so well integrated that they seem like one long, continuous
campaign. While their focus is on events and branded content, they do also make use of paid media.
The famous tag line, “Red Bull gives you wings,” is frequently seen on television, in the press and on
other web pages. They use the different promotional tools for different purposes. The adverts create
awareness and build brand image through their humour and consistency. Sponsorship of sports like
Formula 1 builds credibility by association and the Red Bull branded events and online content, e.g.,
the Red Bull Air Race and Last Man Standing 48-hour Motocross, differentiate the product and engage
the audience.
Red Bull promises to deliver energy. It will wake you up, enhance your performance. The universal
appeal of this brand promise helps the brand to cross international boundaries. The drink may have
started in Austria, inspired by a Thai tonic, but now it is boosting energy levels all over the world.
Discussion Questions
• 1.
Analyze Red Bull's marketing communications strategy in terms of objectives, target audience,
and brand positioning.
• 2.
Red Bull makes excellent use of paid, owned, and earned media. Identify examples of each
and discuss how they support each other to maximize audience reach.
• 3.
How well integrated are Red Bull's marketing communications activities? What pulls them
together?