Product details

Founded in Austria in 1984, Red Bull was credited with creating the energy drinks category. In 2004, the worldwide energy drinks category was worth 2.5 billion euros and Red Bull commanded a 70% market share. Sold in over 100 markets, Red Bull was the market leader in the USA as well as in 12 of the 13 West European markets where it was present. Central to Red Bull's success was the use of word-of-mouth or 'buzz' marketing. Through its sponsorship of youth culture and extreme sports events, it developed a cult following among marketing-wary Generation Y-ers, (18- to 29-year olds) who perceived it as an anti-brand. While it purported to be a sports drink, Red Bull was mostly sold in clubs and bars as an alcohol mixer, where its caffeine doses helped revive clubbers into the early morning hours. By playing on associations with energy, danger and youth culture, Red Bull carefully cultivated its mystique, which earned it nicknames like 'liquid cocaine'. The company used additional non-traditional marketing techniques, such as consumer education teams who drove around handing out free cans of Red Bull to those in need of energy, and student brand managers who promoted the product on university campuses. In 2004, Red Bull found itself at a crossroads, challenged with defending its market share. It faced a maturing market and an onslaught of competitive brands, some of them promoted by beverage industry giants such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, others as private labels by mass retailers such as Asda (part of Wal-Mart). Red Bull needed to determine whether it was outgrowing its anti-establishment status. As a mature brand, it needed to assess whether the time had come to transition to a more traditional marketing approach. But this raised a critical question: would this move toward a more mainstream approach fundamentally destroy Red Bull's anti-brand mystique?