Case Study:
RED BULL: GIVING WINGS TO A WAY OF LIFE
When Red Bull was launched in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, it created a new beverage category: energy drinks. Since then, the energy drink segment has grown substantially, with Red Bull establishing itself as the undisputed market leader worldwide—it is available in 167 countries and has sold around 50 billion cans to date. Red Bull has not only created a new product category but has also cultivated a way of life that is widely admired by athletes, musicians, artists, and students around the world. The brand’s logo of two red muscular bulls and its iconic slogan promising to give the consumer “wings” are a statement for the thrill-seeking consumer. Red Bull fans are attracted to the brand’s proposition of fun, adventure, creativity, and challenge. It resonates well with the 18–35 age group by embracing the culture of extreme sports, music, and art. Over time, the Red Bull brand has become bigger than the product itself. Red Bull does not intend to bring the product to the people, but to bring people to the product. Red Bull’s strategy is to associate itself with experiences and events that are popular with its target customers and thereby create a unique brand identity. The company delivers such experiences by heavily sponsoring extreme sports events like motor racing, snowboarding, kite surfing, soapbox races, and Formula One races. Red Bull also creates its own events, like Red Bull X Fighters, Red Bull Air Race, and Red Bull Paper Wings, all of which attract huge audiences. The Red Bull Flugtag is one of their popular annual events, and the participants live the brand’s slogan: they construct their own homemade flying machines and jump into water. Another event that showcased the brand’s spirit of adventure was Red Bull Stratos, which was the company’s breakthrough space-diving mission. The event was streamed live on October 14, 2012, showing Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgatner in a Red Bull labelled costume take a free fall from the edge of space, breaking the speed of sound and landing on the ground in a Red Bull parachute. The company had heavily publicized the event and it was followed by avid Red Bull fans right from the planning stages. The live streaming of the event had 8 million views on YouTube, a new record in itself. Red Bull activities involve a mix of sports, games, athlete and team sponsorships, music events, and other sports culture events like Red Bull BC One (breakdancing), and Red Bull Art of Motion (free-running). The Red Bull Web site features more than 134 events and activities to engage its users. No matter what activity its users choose, one thing is shared among all— the Red Bull state of mind. Red Bull started its own Media House in 2007 to offer its followers more options to know and experience the Red Bull lifestyle. It produces content across multiple media: print, television, online, and feature films. Some of the productions of Red Bull Media House include the film The Art of Flight, the brand’s magazine Red Bulletin, and the TV show Red Bull Signature Series, in partnership with NBC. With the establishment of the media house, the Red Bull brand has actually transcended the original product and become a full-fledged creator of its own brand experience. Red Bull continues to hold autographed events across the globe and produce its own content, incorporating storytelling material that attracts readers, viewers, and listeners to the brand. Red Bull is not merely satisfying a functional need; it is offering its consumers a vision and promising values through which they can define themselves. Through this approach, the drink that vitalizes the body and mind becomes a consumer lifestyle choice of extreme experience. In addition, through the Red Bull Media House, the company is set to take content marketing to the extreme as well. Many in the marketing and advertising world are ready to hail Red Bull as a publishing empire that also just happens to sell a drink.
Q1. Based on your understanding of the personality attributes influencing consumer behavior, describe how consumers identify themselves with the brand personality of Red Bull. What goal and values are the consumers of Red Bull trying to achieve?
Q2. Discuss how Red Bull can be considered a lifestyle brand. Looking at the diverse activities that Red Bull associates itself with, is there a single way to define the Red Bull lifestyle?
Q3. Discuss the product complementarity of Red Bull’s energy drink and media house. Do you think that Red Bull as a lifestyle brand is strong enough to venture into publishing extreme content? What does this mean for its original product and the rising competition it is facing in different global markets?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.