An Austrian entrepreneur, Dietrich Mateschitz, started a humble brand 30 years ago as the first energy drink company in a market saturated with soft drinks. Over the years, Redbull carved its brand’s success story through the intelligence of its marketing strategy to reach billions of sales annually. Its untraditional approach enabled it to dominate with over 43% of the market share in 2020. Their secret recipe has positioned the brand in a well-secured place in their audience’s brains rather than pushing the products on them. They mastered a unique strategy, which was entirely based on entertaining their target market and making them the first priority- a key factor that made their target audience associate what they love with Red.
The insanely famous tagline, “Redbull gives you wings,” makes people want to get out of their comfort zone and push their boundaries. They do a great job of engaging their audience by featuring action sports that encourage people to be unique, performance-oriented, active, and to always accept challenges. Every aspect of their marketing revolves around content and experiences that make people attracted to them even if they aren’t into energy drinks. They tell their brands story through content creation on the web, TV, media, magazines, events, and music.
Redbull is more than just an energy drink, it is indeed, a media company. They have established a true media presence that provides informational value, enjoyment, and entertainment. They create TV shows, magazines, movies, books, music, and also distribute these creations to newsstands, theaters, TV, YouTube, mobile apps, and the web. This holistic approach has made the brand a true pioneer, consistent with its creative message.
In 2012, Red Bull – in collaboration with GoPro – produced the Red Bull Stratos Project AKA a “ Mission to the edge of space,” which was a high-altitude skydiving project involving an Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from 24 miles above earth’s surface. Baumgartner was lifted high into the atmosphere in a specially-made capsule attached to one of the largest helium balloons ever used for human balloon flights. By doing this, the 43-year-old from Austria became the first person to break the speed of sound wearing only a high-pressure suit. A top speed of 833.9 mph was reached!
Werner Brell, managing director of Red Bull Media House, said, “We were creators, producers, and distributors of Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking leap from outer space to Earth, which got 9 million concurrent views on YouTube. We owned the entire project”.
Red Bull has utilized sponsorships, branded content, and endorsements to nurture the brand in a position that is synonymous with adventure and sport. Their marketing and sponsorship strategy has allowed them to differ from many other brands and provided a new avenue in sponsorship and marketing for others to follow, sponsoring not only sports-based facets but also art shows, breakdancing, and video game events. One of Red Bull’s most valuable and well-known collaborations has been their involvement within Extreme Sports, supporting and creating high-octane events such as the Red Bull Air Race, Red Bull Soap Box Racing, as well as motor-cross events, snowboarding, and cliff-diving. Not only has Red Bull invested heavily in creating events, but they’ve played a major role in supporting extreme sports from youth levels, enabling extreme sports to become increasingly accessible.
Redbull Air Race
The Red Bull air race was founded through a 2003 international series in which competitors had to navigate a challenging obstacle course quickly. Pilots fly individually against the clock and have to complete tight turns through a slalom course consisting of pylons known as “Air Gates”. Millions of spectators were keen to attend the race each year until its final season in 2019 when they collaborated with Apple to create the latest augmented-reality technology that let Red Bull Air Race fans get creative with animated 3D race planes – in the Red Bull Air, Race Augmented Reality Challenge. High-quality animated AR files of actual Red Bull Air Race planes are available to download for free at www.redbullairrace.com/AR exclusively and work on any Apple mobile device running iOS 12 and higher – no app or plugin needed.
Red Bull SoapBox Race
The Red Bull Soapbox Race was first held in 2000 as a creative and entertaining competition. Each year since, the race is held in cities across the globe attracting thousands of spectators. Originality and extravagance play a greater role in the competition as each team is rated for their showmanship. The soapboxes are often inspired by folklore, pop culture, motorsport, or everyday-life themes in their creation. Amateurs challenge one another by presenting hand-made, motorless vehicles, which are judged for their aesthetic, speed, and road-holding abilities.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series was another international event introduced in 2009 by the energy drink brand. The series held cliff diving events in which the best-of-the-best came to compete for the coveted spot of Cliff Diving World Series Champion. Divers would jump from a platform at a height ranging from 26 to 28 m (85–692 ft). Competitions are held in a limited number of venues around the globe.
“With a fixed set of rules for the athletes to get prepared for, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series has been providing a platform for the high-class competition from great heights. Introduced in 2009 with 12 male athletes, the World Series has featured 56 men and 22 women up until now with a lot of free talent pushing into the Series. At each stop, up to four wildcards (men and women) get the chance to prove their talent. The current age range is from 16 (Aidan Heslop, GBR) to 44 (Orlando Duque, COL). The youngest ever female diver is Maria Paula Quintero from Colombia, who finished in second place in the competition in Italy earlier this month”. Hassan Mouti – Red Bull Cliff Diving competition director.
Red Bull Is No Less Crazy When It Comes To OOH Advertisements
Launching New Flavours
Red Bull created an ‘80’s OOH ad of a pinball table to introduce its new flavors by entertaining commuters. Located in the heart of Oslo station, the Red Bull Organics pinball table attracted and entertained bored commuters waiting for their train to arrive. People who won the pinball game were awarded a cold can of Red Bull’s new organic flavors: Cola, Bitter Lemon, Ginger Ale, and Tonic Water. Red Bull Organics is a premium range of Certified Organic soft drinks made with ingredients from natural sources. The company says shifting consumer preferences to health and environmental concerns are prompting a more inquisitive consumer and as a result, encouraging people to substitute conventional items with organic products. Each variant is Certified Organic and features its well-known organic bud logo. Certification is said to increase confidence in a product and is seen as a guarantee of authenticity regarding socially responsible production methods, biodiversity, and freedom from chemicals and pesticides.
Formula 1 In Graz City
In 2018, A tram in the Grand Prix cruised into the Styrian capital, Graz showing a Red Bull ad for the top motorsport classes Formula 1 and MotoGP on the Red Bull Ring. The tram had drawn attention to the Austrian Grand Prix – for Formula 1 (GP weekend from June 28th to July 1st) and MotoGP (August 9th to 12th). Numerous initiatives were being launched throughout the entire city area for both Austrian GPs at the Red Bull Ring.
Countdown For The Race
Red Bull took to Out-of-Home (OOH) to promote its Racing Showrun Event, which took place at Belfast City Hall. The event showcased performances from Irish motoring royalty and 13-time Grand Prix Winner David Coulthard in a magical RB8. To amplify anticipation in the lead-up to the event, a combination of classic OOH formats was deployed, along with a live digital countdown timer that ran on Clear Channel’s Adshel Live.
Mary-Anne Byrne, Red Bull’s Brand & Culture Brand Manager at Richmond Marketing said, “The Adshel Live really allowed us to bring to life the ferocity of the Red Bull Racing F1 Belfast creative. The countdown timer helped build excitement and marked the event as a must-see, resulting in over thirty thousand people attending. This was the perfect advertising format for this event”.
Red Bull Music Festival In Berlin
Over the course of five weeks through September and October 2018, the Red Bull Music Festival brought a characteristically wide mixture of concerts, club nights, and public talks to Berlin. Highlights included world premieres from Oneohtrix Point Never, Jlin, Sevdaliza, and Robot Koch- also talks with Janelle Monae and Pusha T and performances from Tony Allen, Nina Kraviz, Dixon, and many more. The festival took place concurrently with the 20th-anniversary edition of Red Bull Music Academy. According to the announcement, 61 music-makers selected from around the world came together at the Funkhaus, a historic recording complex In East Berlin, where they collaborated in custom-built studios and attended lectures with artists that have shaped the contemporary musical landscape.
In The End
Red Bull has gone through a long journey to reach its current position in its respective market. It took hard work, creativity, and commitment to create a successful brand that lives within its target audience. Their usage of content marketing in their advertisements is above and beyond creativity and proves that they put their customers before their products. Red Bull’s success can largely be attributed to their creative advertising efforts, and in many ways, any brand looking to stand out amongst their competition can learn a lot from this iconic energy drink brand. Red Bull is a success story that turned out to be a marketing reference to other brands.
