Analyzing Red Bull's Marketing and Events Strategy: GSM London 2018

This report analyzes Red Bull's marketing and event strategies, emphasizing the importance of events in promotional activities. It introduces events, examines Red Bull's marketing activities, and performs a 4P analysis to outline the company's strategy. A proposed business event for Red Bull is suggested, along with risk management considerations. The report covers promotional events, word-of-mouth marketing, advertising, event sponsorship, and athlete endorsements used by Red Bull. It also details the company's product, pricing, distribution, and promotional strategies. The suggested event is a music carnival targeting urban residents aged 16-40 with medium to high incomes, focusing on risk management including weather, equipment, and event planning.

Running head: MARKETING AND EVENTS
MARKETING AND EVENTS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The given report throws light on the concept of events and its importance in relation to the
promotional activity of an organization. The report takes the example of the energy drink
company, Red bull. The first part of the report introduces the concepts of events, followed by the
marketing activities of Red Bull. The second part of the report performs a 4P Analysis of the
firm thereby outline its strategy. The last path of the report is a suggestion of a proposed business
event and its risk management. The report follows a systematic format and uses various
theoretical concepts to analyze the ideas.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Findings and Analysis......................................................................................................................3
Special events and purpose..........................................................................................................3
Marketing activities of Red bull..................................................................................................4
Marketing Mix of Red bull and related marketing strategy........................................................5
Proposed event.............................................................................................................................6
Risk Management Considerations...............................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Events can be defined as the program which aims to serve a special purpose. This
purpose may have various intentions behind to ranging from raising the funds of the company,
introducing a new product or to launch a new service (Bowdin 2011). The report will highlights
three primary areas of key interest whereby it will introduce the concept of special events
followed by the marketing activities undertaken by the company give in the case study known as
Red Bull. Red bull sells healthy and energy drinks to the younger generation. The 4Ps of
Marketing of the company will be discussed along with its use (Preston 2012). The last part of
the report concentrates on a suggested event and risk management and consideration for the
same.
Findings and Analysis
Special events and purpose
A special event can be described as an occasion which aims to generate target market
attention or to raise certain amount of funds for the company. Special events can be of various
types with each level having its own complexity level and suitability for different business types
(Masterman 2014).It is generally observed that large business enterprises try to target the small
consumer goods because they have a common belief that the integrity of the group is of utmost
importance. The special events can be classified as follows:
 Promotional events- These events are generally held to promote a good or a service.
 Dinners- These events are for the close clients and associates of the business in order to
make them feel valued (Getz 2018).

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 Fund raising events- The fund raising events may be held in order to gather some events
for the non-profitable organizations.
These events are generally held with the purpose of raising money, gaining publicity, raising
awareness about the brands, improving reputation of the business, to award the deserving
members of the society or the employees of the firm (McWilliams and Siegel 2017). With the
help of the special events, the company generally wants to get the message to the target audience
about a particular incident or achievement (Bowdin et al. 2017).
Marketing activities of Red bull
The marketing activities of Red Bull are as follows:
 Word-of Mouth the Company believes that the word of mouth is the best method which
can be used by a company to market its products (Redbullstudios.com. 2018). If a person
suggests the use of the product to its other customer then he will be successfully able to
sell the product of the firm indirectly.
 Promotional events- The events like Red Bull Rampage, crushed ice, Red Bull Flugtag
are generally used by the company to promote its goods into the given market. Through
the given events, red bull can increase their sales and increase visibility as well. They
often launch their new products through these events.
 Advertisement- the Company engages in print media and social media activities. It has
various promotional pages available on the internet that help a firm to market its products
(Baker 2014).
 Event sponsorship- There are various music concerts like the Sunburn event, which is
then co-sponsored by the firm. Red bull believes that through this method they will be

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able to position the firm in an appropriate manner and also increase the visibility of the
product (Redbull.com. 2018).
 Athlete Endorsing- Vey often the company uses athlete sponsorships.
As it can be reflected, events tend to form a critical aspect of the marketing activity of the
firm as it increases media coverage, re-enforce the brand`s positioning and enhance its visibility.
Marketing Mix of Red bull and related marketing strategy
The marketing mix can be described as the combination of the four essential aspects of
the given marketing strategy of any firm. The four components help the company to form the
base of their marketing strategy and it is on the basis of this that the primary marketing strategy
of the firm is formed (Redbull.com. 2018).Given below is the marketing mix of the Red Bull
company and a discussion of how the firm uses these to inform their marketing strategy.
Product
The company offers a non-carbonated energy drink which consists of western tastes. The
product comprises of caffeine taurine, Vitamin B, sucrose and glucose. The drink is available in
a silver package. The company has tried to improve its packaging in order to ensure that it
remains successful in the global market.
Price
Although red bull has various competitors in the market, the firm is a market leader.
Although the pricing system of the company is of a market leader, the firm uses competitor
pricing strategy. The company believes that they can charge high prices for its products, however
it does not indulge in such a practice and the demand might fall. By adopting this strategy the

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firm ensures that it is the number one choice of the customer (Plante et al. 2014). The bulk cost
of Red bull is much cheaper than buying a single unit. However, even though the company states
that its products are much cheaper than that of its competitors, the drinks are much costlier than
its competitors like Tzinga, Cloud9 and Gatorade.
Place
In the year 2016, Red bull was successful in selling 8 million cans worldwide owing to its
strong distribution network. The product is available in al convenient locations and stores like
the supermarket, retail outlet. The products are stored in special refrigerators. As these products
are placed with competitive products in a supermarket, it offers a choice to the customers.
Promotion
The promotion strategy of Red Bull is high defined and appears to the target market using
the line` Red Bull gives you wings` This helps them to identify with the target market who are
engaged in sports (McWilliams and Siegel 2017). The company sponsors in various activities
like Red bull Battle Grounds, Red Bull Cape fear, windsurfing, skating and others. The company
has its own merchandise stores and engages in print media and television advertising to help
customers in recalling their brands.
Proposed event
The segmented market of Red Bull is as follows:
 Geographical- The company generally TARGTES THE CROWD WHO are living in the
urban areas and both in domestic as well as international locations.

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 Behavioral- In the behavioral segment the company chooses to serve the customers who
are loyal, ambitious with a high rate of energy and who like to engage in physical
activities.
 Psychographic- The Company seeks after customers who have a good income and a
luxurious lifestyle.
 Demographic- The age group of the health drink is between the ages 16-40.
Target Market
From the segments targeted, it can be seen that the company aims to target the crowd
which is aged from16 to 40, lives in the urban areas and have an income level of medium to
high.
Positioning
The company wants to position itself as a leading company who provides energy drinks
to customers who have an active lifestyle
Event suggested:
For this reason, the suggested event is a music carnival. In the music carnival, Red Bull
can bring about a competition of local singers and hire judges who will be judging the given set
of singers (Kotler 2015). The firm can then sell their products in the carnival and provide offers
to the winners as well.
Risk Management Considerations
In the given scenario, the company, Red Bull has to prepare for the mis-happenings that
may take place.

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 Weather considerations- As the event being held is an outdoor event, the company needs
to ensure that it has made adequate arrangements, ensuring that the guests and visitors of
the concert do not get drenched in the rain during a term. They need to make facilities
accordingly.
 Equipments consideration- The electronic equipments which are necessary for the music
festival, need to be adequately arranged for and a backup plan needs to be ready which
will be looking after the various mishaps.
 Event management- All the components of the event need to be planned well from the
guests to the judges (Armstrong et al. 2015). There can be various risks associated with
this aspect and a backup needs to be made to overcome this.
When an event is being held, it becomes extremely important for the company to ensure that
all the prospects of the event are carried out efficiently and the company ensures that risk
associated with the given event is managed efficiently and that the events which are held are
successful.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis on the events and their importance along with a study
of the marketing plan of the Red Bull company, it could be analyzed that events are one of the
most commonly used modes of promotion of a company and an activity. A special event is
raised for special purposes and may be classified into various types. Red ball is an energy drink
company formed in order to provide a new and energetic experience to this given consumer base.
Red bull utilizes various marketing activities and the most commonly and regularly one is the
promotional events and sponsored events held by the company. The marketing mix which

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incorporates the base of the marketing plan has been discussed along worth the suggested event
and risk management considerations.

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References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bowdin G.K.,2011. Events Management. 3rd Edn. New York, Routledge.
Bowdin, G., Allen, J., Harris, R., McDonnell, I. and O'Toole, W., 2012. Events management.
Routledge.
Getz, D., 2018. Event tourism: Definition, evolution, and research. Tourism management, 29(3),
pp.403-428.
Kotler, P., 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.
Masterman, G., 2014. Strategic sports event management. Routledge.
McWilliams, A. and Siegel, D., 2017. Event studies in management research: Theoretical and
empirical issues. Academy of management journal, 40(3), pp.626-657.
Plante, J., Kasavaraju, R., Mauro, G. and Nickerson, A., SmartDrive Systems Inc, 2014. Vehicle
exception event management systems. U.S. Patent 8,868,288.
Preston. C.A. ,2012. Event Marketing. 2nd Edn. New Jersey, Wiley.
Redbull.com. ,2018. [online] Available at: https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/ http://ww

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Redbullstudios.com. ,2018. Red Bull Studios London. [online] Available at:
http://www.redbullstudios.com/london/studio [Accessed 11 Apr. 2018].
w.redbullstudios.com/london/studio [Accessed 11 Apr. 2018].