Marketing Research: Red Bull Strategy
Executive Summary
Red Bull is the pioneer in the energy drink category worldwide. Founded in 1984 by Dietrich Mateschitz in Austria, the product was formally launched in 1987. Mateschitz originally became aware of products called “tonic drinks”, which enjoyed wide popularity in Asia. He brought this effective product in Austria and developed a unique marketing strategy. The drink mainly targets young students and urban professionals. It is exclusively produced in Austria and then distributed around the world via a network of local subsidiaries and external importers and distributors.
The key factor of the brand’s success is Red Bull’s marketing strategy, mainly known as “buzz marketing”, an art that involves the trendsetters in any community to carry the brand’s message. This exclusivity in selling their product helped to retain the credibility and uniqueness of the brand. A brand image was cultivated which associated the drink with youth culture and extreme and adventure-related sports, such as motor sports, mountain biking or snowboarding. By 2004, Red Bull had achieved a clear market leading position, with a 70% market share.
The lure of fast-growing profits of the market and the legendary success of Red Bull brought many competitors into the functional drink sector, including global key players such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Several competitors started to imitate Red Bull’s marketing tactics in order to grab market shares from the energy drink leader. Red Bull soon lost its uniqueness and began to suffer from a decrease in its customer perceived value, also affected by negative publicity associated with taurine-based energy drinks, claimed as unhealthy.
Red Bull has become a mature brand within a saturated market, and needs to figure out how it can keep its market leader position. A marketing research design could be used to identify the possible actions the brand should undertake with regards to its marketing strategy and product mix in order to keep its
Red Bull is the pioneer in the energy drink category worldwide. Founded in 1984 by Dietrich Mateschitz in Austria, the product was formally launched in 1987. Mateschitz originally became aware of products called “tonic drinks”, which enjoyed wide popularity in Asia. He brought this effective product in Austria and developed a unique marketing strategy. The drink mainly targets young students and urban professionals. It is exclusively produced in Austria and then distributed around the world via a network of local subsidiaries and external importers and distributors.
The key factor of the brand’s success is Red Bull’s marketing strategy, mainly known as “buzz marketing”, an art that involves the trendsetters in any community to carry the brand’s message. This exclusivity in selling their product helped to retain the credibility and uniqueness of the brand. A brand image was cultivated which associated the drink with youth culture and extreme and adventure-related sports, such as motor sports, mountain biking or snowboarding. By 2004, Red Bull had achieved a clear market leading position, with a 70% market share.
The lure of fast-growing profits of the market and the legendary success of Red Bull brought many competitors into the functional drink sector, including global key players such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Several competitors started to imitate Red Bull’s marketing tactics in order to grab market shares from the energy drink leader. Red Bull soon lost its uniqueness and began to suffer from a decrease in its customer perceived value, also affected by negative publicity associated with taurine-based energy drinks, claimed as unhealthy.
Red Bull has become a mature brand within a saturated market, and needs to figure out how it can keep its market leader position. A marketing research design could be used to identify the possible actions the brand should undertake with regards to its marketing strategy and product mix in order to keep its