-------------------------------------------------
Red Bull Vodka
-------------------------------------------------
Developing Products and Promotion Strategy
Farhan Shah Ramlan (2168102)
Abstract
MK3UWA: New Product or Service Marketing Plan

Introduction
Red Bull Gives You Wings

Being a market leader in the market of energy drinks and being in the mature stage of the their product life cycle, RedBull constantly comes up with new ideas and strategies to stay at the top of the consumer business among its competitors. By having a variety of types of drinks to cater to different segments of the market, RedBull has introduced various editions of the internationally-renowned energy drink to cater to different segments of the market, such as Red Bull Cola for teenagers, Red Bull Zero Calorie & SugarFree for the health conscious, and flavored Red Bull Cranberry, Lime and Blueberry to meet the wants of the consumers who seek variety.

With the introduction of a new addition to the existing product line around the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a major sporting event and a worldwide phenomenon that is watched by millions around the globe at the stadium or at their local pubs or even on the television in their homes. Red Bull aims to increase brand awareness by associating the brand name to the event and increase market share by developing a unique selling point/product differentiation in order to obtain some of the competitors’ regular consumers. The introduction of this new product will not cannibalize the other products in the line as it caters to a completely different market with different lifestyles, thus another purpose of this marketing plan is to expand the number of market segments the brand could cater to that they have not reached yet. Competitors of Red Bull Vodka are other readymade cocktail brands such as Bacardi Breezers, Jolly Shandy, Jim Bean’s Bourbon Coke etc.

The Marketing Mix

Product
The new proposition by Red Bull is called Red Bull Vodka. This famous bartender-concocted cocktail is popular in nightclubs and bars and usually consumed at parties because of the clever mixture of alcohol and an energy drink as a mixer. The qualities of alcohol enable partygoers to be intoxicated for them to “loosen” up and the energy boost characteristics in Red Bull keeps them energized to stay active throughout the night on the dance floor. Instead of going through the hassle to mix these two beverage ingredients manually, it will come ready-made in a can for consumers to drink it instantly. Demographically, the likely customers that this product aims to target are youths and adults from the legal age of 18 to 35 years old, who drink for the occasion. It is almost a tradition for football fans to drink while watching matches, be it on TV, at a bar or at the stadium, which makes it more than fitting for this product to be launched during the worldwide football event. Furthermore, the intended target market of this new product is also similar to the main audience of the World Cup, in terms of demographics and psychographics.

Place
Red Bull is an existing brand that has manufactured other products in the product line - which means that they already have existing production factories. All Red Bull cans are manufactured in Austria, and exported worldwide. Red Bull Vodka will be manufactured at these existing production locations. Since the World Cup is a worldwide event, Red Bull Vodka will be distributed internationally, focusing more on countries where the program is highly watched on televisions in their households. To minimize unnecessary and redundant costs of distribution, the product will not be sold at countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan etc. that ban the drinking of alcohol among their citizens because of political and religious reasons. The product will be distributed intensively to appropriate marketing intermediaries such as supermarkets like Woolworths. Besides supermarkets, there are hypermarkets such as Giant & Tesco’s, superstores such as Carrefour and even convenience shops such as 7-Eleven. Convenience to consumers plays a huge part in deciding distribution places, as they would seek accessibility if they want to purchase alcoholic drinks near their homes. As victories in the World Cup event are often celebrated (when their favorite team wins a match), Red Bull Vodka can also be sold at nightclubs in the city, where people will head to most to party. This is also a convenience drink for partygoers, as they do not need to queue for very long at the bar for their drinks because it is a readymade cocktail. In addition, these drinks can also be sold at alcohol stores such as BWS, as most of the target audience will head down there if they are looking for alcoholic beverages.

Promotion

Red Bull Vodka will make use of all the four components in the promotional mix namely Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion. The purpose of promotion is to influence the awareness, attitudes and behaviors of the consumers in the target market. The general purpose of promoting the brand is to remind them of the Red Bull brand, and at the same time, inform them to increase awareness about the new addition to the product line, which is Red Bull Vodka. This will maintain, if not add to the reputation of the worldwide brand.

Advertising
Red Bull Vodka will be mass advertised via television, particularly in Pay TV channels where the World Cup event will be broadcasted in – target audience considerations. The reason why Free-to-air channels are avoided is because of the noise level caused by advertisements by other products Red Bull needs to compete with. The advertisement will be creatively produced in a unique way interesting enough to grab the attention of the viewers. It will have a continuous media schedule throughout the season and the ad will be shown in commercial breaks during half time and before/after the match starts. It can also air during the match highlights in the day. The TV advertisements will feature advertising appeals of convenience (ready-made version of the popular cocktail) and fun and pleasure (party elements with people are shown having fun) and also admiration (celebrity involvement in the ad – football stars). The cost per contact will be high, however Red Bull being a huge organization will most likely have a big budget to leverage on the hype of the worldwide event to market its new product. Advertising on television is crucial in the promotional plan as the reach is the highest since people will spend most of their time watching the matches on television, if they are not at the stadium.

Another advertising option is outdoor media advertising on public transport and taxis as it is cheap and it has a potentially large audience. Eye-catching advertisements can be placed on the exterior of the bus and it can reach to a big audience, as it is mobile. This can also reach people such as women and non-football fans who do not watch the matches but are still engrossed in the hype of the worldwide phenomenon (secondary audience). The print advertisement will feature the famous slogan “Red Bull Gives You Wings” and will feature a cross-section of a Red Bull can, where the audience will be able to see the presence of Vodka in it. This will capture the attention of the consumers because they have never seen such products before.

(Picture 1: The famous Red Bull & Vodka cocktail will be combined in a ready-made concoction in a can)

Public Relations Unlike advertising, which promotes the product, public relations uses written materials, sponsorships, giveaways to generate good publicity and goodwill to the company. In lieu to the promotions of Red Bull Vodka, Red Bull can sponsor the event as the official beverages sponsor, just like how Carlsberg beer was the official beverage sponsor for a similar football event (English Premier League). Because of that, the brand will be given a billboard space among the logos that border around the official football field where matches take place – which ties in with advertising. Also, by including a bottle/can of Red Bull Vodka in the goodie bags of ticketholders of the matches for free, word of mouth will spread and provide positivity to the company’s image if they like the drink. The drink can be launched at an official Red Bull Vodka Launch-cum-Concert event prior to the World Cup, where the press, special guests, food critics and the public is invited to enjoy the performances by A-List celebrities and have the privilege to taste the drink for free. Food and the Red Bull Vodka drink will be catered free-flow throughout the night to ensure the press, critics and invited guests get special treatment. This will create a huge amount of buzz and word of mouth by the press articles and consumer-to-consumer will spread if the event is successful, and will garner interest and create desire for people to check out Red Bull Vodka. Sales Promotion Roadshows can be set up in city centers around the world to remind the audience about Red Bull and increase awareness of the new product. Good-looking models wearing detachable wings can give away free samples of the drink (in a small cup) can be given to members of the public who meet the minimum legal age of alcohol consumption. Trialibility influences rate of adoption. When people get to try something for the first time and end up liking it, they will not hesitate to buy the product. Coupons to purchase the drink at a discount can also be given out at these roadshows so it will give people a chance to get them. Besides that, premium offers such as small World Cup official merchandise, which includes key chains or straws, can also be given away with every purchase of a carton of 12 Red Bull Vodka cans. People who purchase Red Bull Vodka are also eligible to enter a contest to win tickets to the finals of the World Cup. This will give consumers more reasons to get the Red Bull Vodka if they have to decide whether to get the drink over its competitors’. This links to advertising as giving away coupons is similar to giving away flyers with the product advert printed on them – just that people will keep coupons more than they would keep a flyer because of the discount advantage (e.g. “Present this coupon to enjoy 15% off a pack of 6 Red Bull Vodka cans”). Giving out freebies and coupons also links to public relations as it brings goodwill to the company because people simply love free giveaways. Price Red Bull Vodka will have a specific pricing marketing objective. By selling it a low price for its value-added characteristics (added alcohol) and relative advantage (convenience), and being a good quality alcoholic drink, as compared to house brand readymade alcohol cocktails, it will ease Red Bull in the penetration of the alcohol market. By having the volume objective to sell as many units as possible, Red Bull mainly aims to increase market share with the new product because the more the customers buy your product, the less the competitors’ products get sold. If the price of the drink is set high, the consumers may choose the competitors’ products instead as they would want to stick to their usual drinks they have been happy with, especially people who do not like to take risks and experiment with new products. Neither should it be the cheapest or at very low price, as a really low price will reflect the positioning of the drink in the consumers’ minds to be of a low quality. The high costs of promotion, manufacturing and distribution also need to be somehow covered by the profits, thus it should not be sold at a unreasonably low price. However, price is not a huge competition factor here as Red Bull Vodka is using other factors such as convenience, image, innovation and quality to differentiate and compete with other businesses in the market. An ideal price for a can of Red Bull Vodka should be between $4.50 to $5, which is within similar price range of other cocktail drinks in the market.

-------------------------------------

Reference List Elliott, G, Rundel-Thiele, S & Waller, D 2014, Marketing 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton. Recovering addict 2008, The dangers of vodka red bull. Red bull cocktails. Available from: <http://recoveringaddict.hubpages.com/hub/dangers-of-vodka-red-bull->. [1 September 2014].