Essay on Marketing

The Red Bull is a global energy drink brand founded in Austria. The strength of Red Bull lies in its product and unconventional and unique marketing strategies that have helped Red Bull to compete against giant soft drink brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Monster (Kotler and Keller, 2016). In addition, Red Bull offers a range of flavors, such as Red Bull sugar-free, Energy Shots, Cola. Also, its vast distribution network provides an edge in the energy drink sector. The significant risk for Red Bull energy drink from giant powerhouses is losing the sales figure to energy drinks introduced by such powerhouses as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Monster. The threat of these powerhouses introducing an energy drink is always there.

There are always two sides to a coin; similarly, the non-traditional marketing strategies of Red Bull have advantages as well as limitations. Advantages are the product of the company is well-differentiated from usual soft drinks. Therefore, a brand can be set up at low cost, and well establishment of brand image, as Red Bull has successfully differentiated and established its energy drink brand in the market. However, Red Bull is yet to reach more people than other soft drink brands; Mass marketing could help reach more people, unlike unconventional marketing. Although, establishing a brand is a difficult job as it requires hours of thought process and creativity to place the product, services in the market efficiently. Many companies spend a considerable amount of time, money, and physical resources to build a brand (Akdoğan and Altuntaş, 2015); on the other hand, few companies like Red Bull make branding of the product look easy. Therefore, Red Bull should focus on unconventional marketing rather than usual, conventional marketing as for the last 20 years, Red Bull has been immensely successful by using these methods, and they have the results to prove its effectiveness. Similarly, once the brand and market are established in the targeted territory, then traditional marketing is being used by Red Bull to strengthen their brand and sale (Kotler and Keller, 2016).

Red Bull uses many non-traditional marketing practices such as sponsorships, personal selling, events and promotion, and public relations. No other soft drink company has effectively marketed through sponsorship like Red Bull and proved to be one of the greatest and successful marketing stunts by Red Bull. For example, Red bull Sponsoring racing events. Red Bull is also associated with many celebrities such as athletes, artists, teams. Along with the sponsorships and associating with celebrities, Red Bull also arrange notorious events such as Flugtag, in which contestants produce a flying machine weighing less than 450 pounds, including contestants’ weight. The contestant jumps from a ramp constructed 30 feet above the water body. Red Bull also focuses on the Seeding program by microtargeting clubs, bars, and trendy shops as people do not hesitate to try new things, which helps the Red Bull energy drink (Abdullah Saif, 2015). All these marketing tactics are immensely successful; however, Red Bull should draw a line while sponsoring dangerous events that could result in causality. For example, it is possible to gain colossal publicity, brand image, and sale through an event such as Bull Stratos if everything goes well according to plan, on the other hand, a slight mistake can lead to irreversible tragedy, and the brand name of the Red Bull can be destroyed forever. Therefore, Red Bull must create awareness amongst the customer along with using these strategies. Red Bull also needs to be selective while sponsoring the event and distributing the energy drink amongst college kids due to its high caffeine content (Mpolokeng Sephapo, 2017).

Red Bull has been successful in its non-traditional marketing strategies. However, there is a continuous threat from its competitors. Also, changes in consumer preferences considering health and dietary awareness may reduce the market share of the Red Bull. Therefore, it is advised that Red Bull should increase the range of products focusing on the range of age groups and genders. In addition, Red Bull should continue to practice its non-traditional method; however, for some age groups, such as older adults, Red Bull might need to exercise traditional marketing methods, such as billboards and advertisements in newspapers.

Work cited

Abdullah Saif, N. (2015). How does Marketing Strategy Influence Firm Performance? Implementation of Marketing Strategy for Firm Success. International Journal of Innovation And Economic Development, 1(3), pp.7-15.

Akdoğan, M. and Altuntaş, B. (2015). Covert Marketing Strategy and Techniques. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 207, pp.135-148.

Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2016). Marketing management. 15th ed. Harlow: Pearson, pp.581-582.

Mpolokeng Sephapo, C. (2017). Sponsorship investments: do they deliver brand awareness for all sponsors? Management & Marketing, 12(1), pp.103-123.