Red Bull are one of the best brands in the world. I am
aware that is a very bold statement in which to start a blog post but please
allow me to continue. I would argue that they, for a long time now haven’t been
a drinks brand. They are a lifestyle.
Red Bull have fingers in an extraordinary amount of high-energy
pies. Any sport that has an element of extremeness tends to have an element of
Red Bull.
They have their own football team, their own Ice Hockey
Team, two Formula One teams, A Nascar team, they also sponsor a host of
sportsmen and sportswomen from snowboarders to American Football players, from
downhill mountain bikers to all-round all-sporting legend Travis Pastrana.
They are a company that children and adults alike want to
be part of. Whether that is just sticking a Red-Bull sticker on their skiing
helmet or painting their bmx in Red Bull’s livery of silver and blue.
This shows how tremendously aspirational they are and why
they are so much more than just a high-caffeine drinks company.
By running invitation-only events such as Red Bull Cold
Rush, Red Bull X-Fighters and Red Bull Metro Pipe they are held in high-regard
as the pinnacle of sporting achievement. Yet anyone can be part of the company
by purchasing a beverage costing a little over £1.
It is this for reason that they such a great brand. I
have spoken before about how a piece of communications shouldn't tell you what
to think or feel but get to you to think or feel it.
Red Bull do this in everything they do. They live energy.
They haven't just badged some sports teams (well they kinda have) but they host
competitions, they put on events, they live energy and a lot of it for that
matter.
Everything they do shouts extreme. Well… apart from one
thing which you would think they would get right.
Their television advertisements.
For years Red Bull, have been running
silly little cartoons drinking red bull and then a consequence ensues of Red
Bull giving the protagonist wings.
They didn't make sense. Red Bull do all this great stuff
and by-association would have access to a huge amount of content which for an
energy drinks company would be so much more compelling than a flying stickman.
Well it seems they have now chosen to remedy this. And to
be honest the resulting television advert is exactly what I wanted. This is
what Red Bull can enable to you to do.
Red Bull are no longer an energy drinks company. They are
an energy company.
If I am correctly informed, the decision to start buying and owning sports teams rather than simply sponsoring was a conscious decision that was made by the execs as they realised that the team being called "Red Bull(s)" was a much stronger form of advertisement and got the word said compared to sponsorship in which it was rarely, if ever, mentioned.
ReplyDeleteSo basically the strategy became, if we think this activity fits our brand we want to slap our name on it.
I also would like to point to the Record Label and Film Company that has also become a part of "the brand".
Personally, it blows my mind as a brand for being so cool and inventive with it's marketing strategy.
Thought you might like to know too :)