Marketing Essays - Red Bull

Table of Contents
Introduction
Red Bull has created a strong brand image, using colourful icon with two bulls in opposition and a memorable tag line; ‘Red Bull gives you wings’. Through creative marketing and sponsorship it has linked itself with extreme sports, innovative music and art, all aimed squarely at the youth market
(Dahlen, Lange and Smith, 2010). This brief examines brand development, which strategies have helped it to success and where the brand goes from here as it faces the prospect of losing its cuttingedge image while continuing largely with only one product.
Red Bull is a European success story. The product was launched in 1987 in Austria. It faced opposition from the Food and Drink Administration (FDA), who refused to clear it for distribution but despite this it became an underground success through clubbers and snowboarders. This anti-establishment stance found synergy with consumers, even after it was cleared for sale. It quickly spread into neighbouring countries and into the US market (Franzen and Moriarty, 2009). Dahlen, Lange and Smith (2010) note that by 2004, it had gained 40% share of its market sector and 70% in Europe. However, the brand still faced problems; it was banned in Denmark and France following unsubstantiated rumours that people had died from drinking the product in Sweden and Ireland (Mail Online, 2001). The European market was stagnating, and it faced distribution problems from companies supporting their own-brand products. The ever-present competition from Pepsi and Coca-Cola limited the scope for expansion.
With these pressures, the company developed a marketing strategy that avoided mainstream advertising, instead focusing on grass-roots promotion. The product was sold in trendy nightclubs and bars, and the credibility of those held in high regard by the young target