Red Bull: from energy drink to thought leader
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The year is 1982, Dietrich Mateschitz is on a business trip in Thailand and orders a drink in the hope that his jetlag will diminish. He likes it and suddenly notices that his jetlag has disappeared. This drink is the energy drink ‘Krating Daeng’, which is well-known in Thailand. Mateschitz has the feeling that such an energy drink would also do well in the Western world. He does not wait a moment and immediately makes an appointment with the owner of the energy drink, Chaleo Yoovidhya. Yoovidhya likes Mateschitz’s big plans and enters into a collaboration.
Mateschitz works with a pharmaceutical company between 1984 and 1987 to refine the formula. In 1987, a product is ready with which he enters the Austrian market. This product is the well-known Red Bull, the literal translation of the Thai Krating Daeng.
The marketing strategy Red Bull uses to take over the market
From the beginning, Red Bull has had one clear target group in mind: young and busy Europeans who could use a good ‘energy boost’. Mateschitz sees good opportunities for marketing his product in universities. He sends boxes filled with Red Bull to the largest universities in Austria, so that students can try the energy drink for free.
Mateschitz believed in the philosophy: “sell community, not products”. With this philosophy he meant that the experience of users and the creation of a community always comes first and the energy drink itself comes in second place. With this idea, Red Bull creates unique content to appeal to an ever-growing audience. In the content, the Red Bull brand is sold – and not the energy drink. In this way, Red Bull shows that they always put the experience and the fun of the target group first.
Red Bull gives you wings
The world-famous slogan “Red Bull gives you wings” has been used since the beginning. This slogan, together with extreme sports, seems to be the golden combination for the perfect marketing and PR purposes. list of malta consumer email By capturing the amazing performances that athletes achieve after drinking ‘a sip of Red Bull’, Red Bull creates the image that they are daring, ruthless and ambitious. “Red Bull gives you wings” is more than a slogan, it is a philosophy: with the right mindset and a little help, everyone can achieve their goals. And when you drink Red Bull, you belong to the community of all-rounders who will stop at nothing.
Red Bull gives you wings stunt source: LeonP Shutterstock
Sponsoring extreme sports gave Red Bull its own wings
Red Bull and its marketing and PR stunts
Red Bull’s unique marketing and PR have made them the top 5 key steps for the foundation of your marketing plan of their field and the brand is known all over the world. A great example of how big Red Bull goes with marketing and PR stunts is the Red Bull Strato’s project. This was a skydiving project in which Felix Baumgartner jumped from a height of approximately 39 kilometers . With this he broke three Guinness World Records at the time and he even became the first person ever to break the sound barrier without a aob directory vehicle.
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In addition to this project, Red Bull has many other projects that will make many jaws drop. Add to that the fact that Red Bull sponsors more than 800 athletes, owns multiple football clubs and has two Formula 1 teams. So we can say that Red Bull has done everything to become the thought leader that Mateschitz always envisioned.
Red Bull and the thought leader position
So what exactly does this thought leader position of Red Bull look like? Red Bull is the only company in the world that is active in so many different areas that it is difficult to compete with it. In the energy drink business, there are several competitors, including Monster Energy, Rockstar Energy and NOS Energy. These brands are all involved in extreme sports, festivals or motorsport events, but Red Bull is the only one that participates in all these branches and then also leads the market.