Red Bull Case Study: Strengths, Risks, and Marketing Strategies

This case study provides a comprehensive analysis of Red Bull, a leading energy drink company. It explores Red Bull's strengths, including its unique integrated marketing communication mix and its ability to connect with young consumers globally. The study examines how Red Bull has maintained its market leadership through innovative pre-marketing strategies, event sponsorships, and a stage-wise approach to penetrate various consumer markets. Furthermore, the case study identifies potential risks, such as competition from other energy drink brands, the influence of major stakeholders like Coca-Cola, and the high cost of marketing. It also discusses the pros and cons of Red Bull's non-traditional marketing strategies and assesses the efficiency of its overall marketing approach, offering recommendations for future strategies. The conclusion reinforces Red Bull's established position and highlights the factors contributing to its dominance in the energy drink sector.

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Red Bull Case Study
Student's Name
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Red Bull Case Study
Red Bull is one of the largest energy drink companies worldwide, having been found in
1987 by Dietrich Mateschitz. Currently, the company is present in over 170 countries worldwide
with a worker base of 12,239 staff members. On average, the firm sells about seven billion cans
yearly. Notably, the company's "integrated marketing communication mix" has contributed
significantly to this massive success. In addition, it has become a market head globally, as it
skillfully links with young people around the world. Generally, the latter has sold over 40 billion
cans of energy drinks in more than 160 nations. Presently, R. Bull encounters competition from
other well-known energy drink corporations like Monster, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. This paper
provides an in-depth analysis of the firm's strengths, its advertising, and the multiple risks that it
engages in.
Red Bull's Strengths In The Presence of Rivals
Currently, Red Bull remains a primary player in the energy drink enterprise, even in the
presence of new contending companies due to its distinct market capturing skills. Importantly,
the critical feature of its approach is "doing the things differently," such that it can effectively
implement its "integrated marketing communication mix." Due to this fact, Red Bull utilizes the
technique to reach out to potential markets that are creative and unique to its corporate
framework (Keller & Kotler, 2016). Conversely, the firm directed its clients' reaching efforts in
such a manner that, it first caught the ethnic elite class. By doing so, Red Bull got the "word-of-
mouth" marketing strategy through these groups, which in turn assisted in influencing other
consumer groups.

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Another Red Bull's strength is that it utilized pre-marketing such as sponsoring events
like "red Bull's Snowthrill of Chamonix ski contest" to either attract new potential consumers, or
introduce a new segment of its drink. As a result, the company has managed to maintain its lead
ahead of other energy drink firms, as it explores better ways of engaging new markets and
launching products. Alternatively, the company has managed to change its audience by using its
stage-wise approach to penetrate different consumer markets. For instance, R. Bull shifted from a
regular drink served in bars to an energy drink present in gyms, restaurants, health food stores,
and supermarkets.
Another strength is that Red Bull created a refrigerated sales unit. Besides, it hired a
separate team of delivery van drivers who worked solely for its products. Thus, the company has
been able to assure clients that its products its delivers are of the highest quality. As a result, R.
Bull has been able to attract new customers due to its efforts to assure consumers that its
products are of the best quality (Andreasson, Ek Berglund & Svensson, 2018). Conversely, its
exquisite item trail approach has surpassed the traditional sampling technique, as it focused on
specific events, which has made it easier to reach out to potential and desired client base. Due to
these facts, Red Bull has captured its share of client groups, and developed itself as a productive
energy drink brand in the presence of other key players such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Monster.
Red Bull's Associated Risk
Various possible risks arise as the latter faces stiff competition from other industry
players. First, the risk of losing some of its consumer groups to other energy drink brands that
introduce healthy aggressive products. Generally, any enterprise focuses on maintain and gaining
new clients, and in the case of such a risk, it may need to re-invent itself such that the company
can bring better products that their rivals (McDonald & Wilson, 2016). Second, other major

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stakeholders such as Coca-Cola may have a better customer relation brand, and renowned for
delivering quality for a long time. These positive attributes of other competitors may hinder Red
Bull's market, as some of its clients may be attracted to their products.
Third, it may be a costly affair for R. Bull to compete with other established firms in the
long run. For instance, in 2019, the company spent about 100 million dollars on advertising on
national television, digital, and print. Additionally, they invested in premium ad units, and
broadcasted on more than 250 media properties across various media formats. Importantly, these
resources were all invested in a single year, whereby the company only launched nine new
products.
The Pros and Cons of Red Bull's Non-Traditional Marketing Strategies
The pros of R. Bull's non-traditional marketing strategies involve marketing their items at
momentous events, as most people attend them, and it is easier to advertise by giving out
samples. Hence, the company can easily attract many potential clients without spending much on
advertising. Importantly, the significant limitations of these marketing strategies are that they are
unpredictable and hard to gauge, as it is challenging to quantify a non-traditional event's failure
or success.
Generally, Red Bull must not do more traditional advertising, as it may encounter various
challenges. For instance, ads have a shorter life span because people tend to forget them, as soon
as the company stops advertising. Additionally, there are thousands of channels on televisions,
and more choices on the internet, which makes people's attention more dispersed across long-tail
choices. Due to this fact, Red Bull should not do much of traditional advertising like
commercials because not everyone may purchase their product after seeing them (Bremser,

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Walter & Goehlich, 2018). Lastly, as traditional media viewers become smaller, the efficiency of
a firm's advertising dollars has drastically fallen.
The Efficiency of Red Bull's Approach
R. Bull's sponsorships, individual selling approaches, public relations, promotion,
advertisements, and events are all based on the population of clients at locations or events. For
instance, on a military base, every corner store sells Red Bull, and the halls have customized Red
Bull refrigerators with a digital screen advertising its product. Consequently, they offer deals like
buying two for five at specific events where they place their logo on various equipment so that it
captures the public's eye. As a result, the audience will look in the direction they can purchase
their products. Generally, Red Bull has no emerging risks that need to be addressed; thus, they
should keep moving forward.
Recommendation
The latter's next step should be purchasing other smaller brands like Amp and Monster,
and focus on vamping up their items such that they are the only leading energy drink firm on the
market.
Conclusion
Red Bull is an established energy drink firm that has dominated the sector since its
inception in 1987. Its massive success can be attributed to its "integrated marketing
communication mix" that enables the company to reach out to potential clients who are unique to
its enterprise framework. Alternatively, Red Bull has various strengths that have boosted its
productivity and profitability. For instance, the company has perfected the art of pre-marketing

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through sponsoring events that attract many new potential buyers. Generally, the firm has
captured its share of clients, and established itself as a valuable energy drink brand globally.

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References
Andreasson, L., Ek Berglund, M., & Svensson, A. (2018). The Power of Innovation: Exploring
Innovativeness and its Influence on Brand Loyalty in a Saturated Market through the
Eyes of Generation Y. Jonkoping International Business School. Retrieved from
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1213131/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Bremser, K., Walter, N., & Goehlich, V. (2018). A comparative study on global commercial
advertisement perceptions-British and French viewers' responses to Red
Bull. International Journal of Comparative Management, 1(4), 333-354.
Keller, K.L., & Kotler, P. (2016). Marketing management. Pearson. Retrieved from
http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/825939119.pdf
McDonald, M., & Wilson, H. (2016). Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to profit from
them. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved fromhttps://books.google.co.ke/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=wBfkDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR6&dq=any+enterprise+focuses+on+
maintain+and+gaining+new+clients,+and+in+the+case+of+such+a+risk,+it+may+need+