Marketing Mix Evaluation and Recommendations for Red Bull

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Red Bull's marketing mix, evaluating the company's strategies across the 8Ps: product, price, place, promotion, processes, physical evidence, people, and partnerships. The analysis begins with an executive summary and introduction, outlining ...Read More

Marketing & Management

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Executive Summary
In the today’s time, marketing is an essential concept that every organisation has to deal with.
In this environment, the use of marketing concepts in an effective manner can give
competitive advantage over the rivals. Marketing mix is a similar concept that allows a
company to gain competitive advantage over the rivals. In the long term it helps the company
to extend their reach to new set of customers. It is found that Red Bull has products that are
best in the market and it is suggested that they enhance their product range to deal with
challenges like competition. In terms of pricing they are using premium pricing but they need
to lower down their prices for fighting situation such as globalisation. They offer their
products through both online and offline channels. Sports marketing have been their major
source of marketing and they should concentrate more on online marketing. They are using
advanced processes at their workplace. They have highly skilled staffs and they continuously
invest on their trainings. This company has partnerships with many companies all across the
globe in different sectors. At the same time they offer their customers the things that they
have promised.

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Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................1
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Company.....................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Product and Location...................................................................................................................2
1.3 Consumers...................................................................................................................................2
2. Analysis.............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Product........................................................................................................................................3
2.2 Price.............................................................................................................................................4
2.3 Place............................................................................................................................................4
2.4 Promotions...................................................................................................................................5
2.5 Processes.....................................................................................................................................5
2.6 Physical Evidence........................................................................................................................6
2.7 People..........................................................................................................................................6
2.8 Partnerships.................................................................................................................................6
3 Recommendation................................................................................................................................7
4. Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................9
References.............................................................................................................................................9
Introduction
Marketing has become an essential component in the modern day business and it has become
crucial for the marketing teams to design their marketing strategies in such a manner that they

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can gain competitive advantage over the rivals. It has also become essential for the
management to improve their marketing mix as it is the core to their business model (Gorse,
Chadwick & Burton, 2010). For a company that aims to achieve long term benefits it is an
important thing that a company needs to manage. An organisation must be able tackle all the
issues faced by them in the process.
1.1 Company
Red Bull is an energy drink firm that sells Red Bull GmbH. It is an Austrian firm generated
in 1987. It is having the biggest market share among all the energy drink companies in the
world. This company sold 6.790 billion cans till 2018 (Harris, Schwartz, Brownell,
Javadizadeh & Weinberg, 2011).
1.2 Product and Location
Product of the company is non-carbonated energy drink. They are carbonated and have
western taste (Brasel & Gips, 2011). They offer the drinks in a can version. It is
headquartered in Fuschl am see, Salzburg, Austria.
1.3 Consumers
Their major consumers are the people of young age. In that also their main focus is towards
the people that are the part of any kind of sports event (Bughin, Doogan & Vetvik, 2010).
Their marketing is also designed towards these consumers only.
Figure 1: Red Bull Target segment
2. Analysis
It is crucial for any firm to ensure that they have an effective marketing mix. This is because
it ensures that the company will be able to improve the way in which they deal with different

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aspects of marketing. These 8p’s of marketing has a larger impact on the individual and also
strengthens the position of the company in the market.
2.1 Product
The things that are offered by the individual in their portfolio to the customers in exchange of
the money are known to be as the product. Red Bull draws its idea from Krating Daeng which
is also a non-carbonated energy drink which found its origin from Thailand. Its ingredients
are such that it is able to accommodate the western taste and also became carbonated. This
energy drink contains Vitamins, glucose, caffeine, sucrose and taurine (Brown, 2010). These
are the products that were developed for the people who are workaholic or related to sports
background to give them instant energy. The drinks area available in the tall blue-silver can
with 2 red bulls on the front and Krating Daeng is available in gold short can. Their products
are at maturity phase hence a slow growth in their sales can be noticed.
Figure 2: Product life cycle of Red Bull
Their Products are at adoption stage in many markets i.e. consumers are testing and are not
sure whether they are going to purchase it again or not. Their products fit to their overall
strategy as the product contains ingredients that are actually able to increase the energy levels
of the people taking it. Their products comply with their STP strategy and it is highly capable
of providing desired benefits to their consumers (Buchanan, Kelly & Yeatman, 2017). The
use of cans for packaging of their products makes it more for the people who are involved in

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different work. This is because the product looks stylish and is able to handle easily. It is
good because it helps them in gaining the actual benefits from the product.
2.2 Price
Price in marketing is understood as the value or quantity of payment being done in exchange
of one unit being purchased by the consumers. Pricing has an important role in attracting
customers whom actually they want to target. Red bull has wide range of competitors in the
energy drinks industry who are trying to dethrone them from becoming the market leader.
The quality that Red Bull offers to its customers enables them to set the prices to be on the
premium side. The pricing used by them is generally based on their competitors pricing (E.
Kunz, R., Elsässer, F., & Santomier, 2016). This company also has a bulk pricing and
consumers also prefer to buy it in bulk because it is cheaper than buying a single can. They
have higher prices when compared with their competitors like Tzinga, Monster, KS, Cloud 9
and Rockstar. They sometimes also use price skimming as a strategy to improve their sales.
This fits in their overall strategy because they wanted to create an image for them is of
premium pricing product that offers the full value for the price they are available at. At the
same time they have also ensured that the pricing remains feasible for the public that they
actually want to target. Their pricing is good when it comes to making very different kinds of
image in the market.
2.3 Place
It refers to location through which they make their product to sell. The easily accessibility of
the products can ensure that products can be sold easily to larger set of consumers. This
company has been able to sell 5.9 billion cans due to its vast distribution network all across
the globe. Red Bull is conveniently available at different locations such as convenience
stores, retail outlets, bars, supermarkets, casinos and even in the night clubs. Their products
are most of time stored in the exclusive Red Bull refrigerators that further attracts consumers
to buy energy drinks even when they went for doing some other kind of shopping (Davis &
Hilbert, 2013). Red Bull is also available through online mediums where they can purchase it
in bulk. This is also available at the bars and night clubs to ensure that they are awake late at
night and do not feel less energetic while doing partying. This company do not directly deal
with retailers rather takes the help of intermediaries for selling.
This fits their overall strategy as they aim to use multi-channels for selling their products.
Selling products through different channels help them in reaching to maximum possible

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customers that increases its profits and revenue. Placing the products at the bars or night
clubs improves their chances to reach to their actual targeted consumers.
2.4 Promotions
In today’s time promoting through various channels is the only thing that can make them
succeed. Promotions play a critical role in the success of the marketing campaign. It also
depends on selection of the promotional strategies so as to how much the marketing will be
successful. Promotions must be done with the help of both online and offline mediums.
Promotion is generally understood as a concept where companies showcase their qualities
and characteristics to their audience so that they can be attracted. They have used a very
catchy line i.e. “Red Bull gives you wings” that is able to attract people from different
cultural backgrounds. They sponsor many of the sports events such as BMX. Windsurfing,
Formula 1, Red Bull Foxhunt, Red Bull Battle Grounds, surfing, Red Bull Cape Fear,
motocross, Red Bull BC one, mountain biking etc. They are sponsoring so many events from
different sports that they are now one of the most famous products of their celebrities and
athletes. They are also doing social media marketing so as to improve personal selling and
public relations (O’Brien, 2012). They facilitate reseller support as a part of their promotions.
At the same time, Red Bull has invested a lot in creating large numbers of online
communities. They also do promotions through the help of brand ambassadors.
This helps them in their overall strategy as it helps them in creating an image in front of the
wider audience especially among the people that they actually want to target. This promotion
by the company is good as it has an appeal.
2.5 Processes
Red Bull is utilising different kinds of processes so as to ensure that their quality remains
high. It is also to be noted that they have used quality standards for ensuring that quality
remains on the higher side. Processes have been made in such a manner that they are able to
improve the overall functioning of the company. Technology is given higher preference while
conducting different processes (Carù & Cova, 2013).
This is according to the overall strategy as it enables them to produce products that are of
higher quality and also helps them in maintaining the balance between supply and demand.
The processes are good within the organisation.

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2.6 Physical Evidence
This company has a product that is tangible and according to way in which they have
promised to their customers. They provide all the information about the ingredients that is
present in their product. This is the major reason why they are able to develop huge customer
base (Roy & Chattopadhyay, 2010).
It is also according to the overall strategy of the company as it helps them in retaining
consumers and also improving all the people faith of the people in their products. This is
good for their marketing.
2.7 People
The have high quality staffs working under them who are experienced in their fields. At the
same time, they are providing training to the staff members on the regular basis so that their
skills remain as per the industry standards. They work on maintaining the levels of
professionalism at the workplace so that employees can perform as per the need of the
company (Andreea & Anca, 2014).
This helps them in their overall strategy as highly skilled employees help them in
implementing all their strategies in an appropriate manner. It is good as it gives them
competitive advantage over the rivals.
2.8 Partnerships
Red Bull has made many partners in different parts of the world. Their partners are
companies from different industries. This helps them in creating huge customer base
especially when it comes to management of investments and marketing (Miller, 2013).
Large numbers of partners helps them in improving their overall business model. This
ensures that all their strategies are properly designed, funded and implemented. This
marketing mix is also good.
3 Recommendation
Product: It is recommended that this company adds a numbers of products that they offer. It
will help them in adding the numbers of consumers in their fan base. Since Red Bull is facing
issues related to environment sustainability hence they need to work on the ingredients used
in their product and also on the packaging so as to make their packaging 100% recyclable.
Since health related concerns have increased in the last few years hence this company needs

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to work towards improving the quality of products so that it might not harm the health of the
people (Gerritsen & van Olderen, 2014).
Price: It is also recommended that Red Bull puts a price towards slightly on the lower side.
This will help them in targeting the economy class within the society. This will enhance their
revenue. Red Bull also faces the problems related to globalisation hence competition has
reached to higher levels. In this environment, it is crucial that company designs its pricing
strategy appropriately so that maximum possible section in the society can be targeted
(Purswani, 2010).
Place: It is also recommended that company takes the use of third party online vendors such
as Amazon to enhance their sales. Since technological advancements are going at much faster
rate hence it has become a major challenge for the company especially in the areas such as
selling of products. This is because due to technological advancements, it has become easier
for the consumers to purchase things online. It is due to this, that companies like Red Bull
also concentrate on selling their products through online mediums and hence they will have
to invest money in digital strategies (Andreea & Anca, 2014).
Promotions: For promotions company needs to utilise online mediums as their primary
promotion strategy. This firm also need to improve their social media marketing campaign so
as to regularly interact with their consumers. This company is facing issues in the social
media interactions and hence they need to improve their social media strategies so as to
achieve the desired benefits. In this regards this company needs to create larger fan pages at
Social media platforms where they can discuss about the products and will also be able to
improve their visibility about the products (Gerritsen & van Olderen, 2014). Collecting
feedbacks will be easier for the company when it comes to redesigning the social media
campaign. With the help of social media campaign, company will also be able to reduce the
interactions at these platforms. They must also ensure that negative promotion about the
ingredients do not happen as in the past they have faced similar issues.
Processes: They should focus towards automation and data management systems for
improving the processes in different organisational units. They area also facing issues related
to ethical concerns in such an environment, it is crucial that they design their processes in
such a manner that they can avoid any kinds of ethical issues arising in their processes. It can
also be understood in terms of the fact that processes must not violate the ethics that is
designed in the industry. They must also look in the areas such as disposal of waste and

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improving the effectiveness in the work process. Through this they can achieve the
sustainability which is again a problem for the company of which this company is dealing
with (O’Brien, 2012).
People: Ethics and Corporate social responsibility are another problem for this company.
This is another major problem that cannot be dealt by the company without the help of
people. Improving the quality of the people that exist in the company enhances the chances of
the success of the strategies. Since due to cost cutting strategies by the company and
implementation of automation at the workplace there is subsequent reduction in the numbers
of employees at any unit. In order to deal with this problem Red Bull needs to continuously
update their training modules and must focus towards online trainings so that they might be
able to improve the overall productivity and quality of their operations. Effective training
towards the way in which people associated with the company can utilise their resources can
be beneficial (E. Kunz, R., Elsässer, F., & Santomier, 2016).
Physical evidence: This company also faces the problem related to competition where there
are continuous product developments being made by the competitors. These products might
have better physical evidence than that of the Red Bull hence it is possible that they can lose
some of their customers. In this regards, it is essential that company invests their money on
the new product development so as to remain competitive (Davis & Hilbert, 2013).
Partnerships: Red Bull is facing tough competition from different companies all across the
globe. In this environment, it is crucial that Red Bull improves their resource base. This is
easily possible by increasing the numbers of partners in different areas (Roy &
Chattopadhyay, 2010). This will also improve their risk taking ability. This is because the
company will help them to have different types of capabilities added in their portfolio which
is necessary for achieving competitive advantage over the rivals.
4. Conclusion
From the above based report, it can be concluded that Red Bull is one of the biggest Energy
Drinks Company in the whole world. They need to improve their marketing. This can be
easily done with the help of marketing strategies. The improvement in the marketing mix of
the company allows them to enhance the performance of their whole marketing. 8p needs to
be made according to the issues faced by the Red Bull. Red Bull can concentrate on the areas

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such as marketing through digital mediums which will improve the effectiveness of their
marketing campaign and improves their visibility.

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References
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edged impact of brand exposure on consumer performance. Journal of Consumer
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Brown, S. (2010). Where the wild brands are: Some thoughts on anthropomorphic
marketing. The Marketing Review, 10(3), 209-224.
Buchanan, L., Kelly, B., & Yeatman, H. (2017). Exposure to digital marketing enhances
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Bughin, J., Doogan, J., & Vetvik, O. J. (2010). A new way to measure word-of-mouth
marketing. McKinsey Quarterly, 2, 113-116.
Carù, A., & Cova, B. (2013). Consuming experiences: An introduction. In Consuming
experience (pp. 17-30). Routledge.
Davis, J. A., & Hilbert, J. Z. (2013). Sports marketing: Creating long term value. Edward
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Gerritsen, D., & van Olderen, R. (2014). Events as a strategic marketing tool. CABI.
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Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

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Miller, P. (2013). Energy drinks and alcohol: research supported by industry may be
downplaying harms. BMJ, 347, f5345.
O’Brien, J. (2012). How Red Bull takes content marketing to the extreme. Mashable,
December, 19.
Purswani, G. (2010). Advergames, their use and potential regulation. Asia Pacific Public
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