When you think about Red Bull, the first thoughts are snowboard, motocross racing and skateboard. This austrian brand has taken branding to the next level. They are not anymore just an energy drink company, they rule an entire industry that is followed by millions of people around the globe.
Inspired by functional drinks from the Far East, Dietrich Mateschitz founded Red Bull in the mid 1980's. Red Bull Energy Drink was sold for the very first time in its home market Austria. This was the start of a very successful path of a company that masters the art of branding. It is exciting how this austrian entrepeneur started his venture and reached this peak of dominance in a market that never existed before, no one had thought about energy drinks, giving Dietrich Mateschitz the opportunity to invent a new product and "give birth" to a whole new industry.
What is fascinating about their branding strategy is their focus on creating content and events around the name Red Bull. The actual product is not the center of their branding, Red Bull creates events for they joy of people, creating in this way a fascinating brand value that goes beyond than just an energy drink.
Red Bull Rampage, Red Bull Air Race, and Red Bull Cliff Diving are just a few examples of the events that Red Bull organize around the world. At some point they can even seem like an event planner company instead of an energy drink firm. Neverthless, this is the great value of what they do, to relate all this activities to their brand, and let people think about Red Bull as "taking life to the edge". Professional athletes that are followed by thousand people are sponsor by Red Bull, in this way Red Bull is all around the place having a high brand exposure. Red Bull stickers can be seen on the helmets of Mark McMorris and Shaun White, two of the best snowborders in history, this strategy is implemented in every sport that has to be related to "risking your life".
However, Red Bull have studied their target market and have done a great segmentation of their potential consumers, because what seemed like a brand just related to risky sports, now is all over the place literally, taking advantage of different potential segments that would give them even a higher brand exposure. This segmentation enables Red Bull to open their horizon and go beyond to different target audience like Formula 1, Soccer and Music Festivals. Currently Red Bull Racing is competing in the number 1 racing competition in the world, Formula 1. Furthermore, Red Bull owns a few soccer teams including Red Bull New York in the United States. This is a powerful branding strategy that is taking Red Bull to the next level
Red Bull recognized a great potential on two magic words: party and music, they are present in most of the big festivals in the world like Tomorrowland, these events are attended by a massive number of people, and again, Red Bull is there to provide them that extra energy that you need to survive another night.
Red Bull started as an energy drink manufacturer, but now they are present in many recreational activities of society. Red Bull have been able to segment and target their marketplace in such a way that they have positioned themselves for years to come. They understand the wants of people and they will create and explore new events to enhance the Red Bull experience.
Lastly, in 2012 Red Bull went far beyond the standards, they went "crazy" with an idea that will give them exposure in all the news of almost every country with access to TV. Red Bull Stratos was the branding masterpiece that shock the world. Felix Baumgartner reached the stratosfere at a distance of approximately 120,000 feet from the ground. He was taken there with a helium globe, with the purpose of jumping to the Earth. Fortunately, it was a successful venture where Felix Baumgartner was the first human to break the barrier of the speed of sound without a motorized vehicle.
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