Red Bull Integrated Marketing Mix

Case Study: Red Bull’s Integrated Marketing Mix

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Case Study: Red Bull’s Integrated Marketing Mix

What are Red Bull’s greatest strengths and risks as more companies (like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Monster) enter the energy drink category and gain market share?

I think Red Bulls greatest strength is its unique marketing strategy and alignment with distributers. Red Bull’s unique marketing strategies have seen the company establish itself as the best energy drink producer in the world (Donovan & Henley, 2010). Following Red Bull’s success soft drink giants such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Monster have launched their own energy drinks. This development will surely diminish Red Bull’s market share. According to Kotler & Keller (2012), this development will affect the company’s profitability because in addition to the lost market share, the company will have to devote more resources in marketing its products.

Should Red Bull do more traditional advertising? Why or why not?

I do not think Red Bull should use more traditional advertising strategies. The company has been very successful following its unique marketing strategy. At the heart of Red Bull’s strategy is its uniqueness. If Red Bull adopts a traditional marketing strategy like its competitors, it will lose this uniqueness. The use of sponsored events and “buzz-marketing” has helped the company’s product stand apart. As such, the company should not use traditional advertising strategies particularly to establish markets; they should stick to their current “buzz-marketing” and sponsored events strategy (Donovan & Henley, 2010).

Traditional advertising should be used only to reinforce the company’s brands in mature markets. Although sponsoring extreme events is expensive, it brings a special kind of brand awareness particularly to the Generation Y and Millennials, which is the main market of the Red Bull’s products. This group of consumers has little time with traditional marketing strategies; they go with the “cool” trends in the market (Cornwell, 2014). Extreme events attract young people and thus present Red Bull a great opportunity to reach out to them. Therefore, I would suggest Red Bull to maintain their non-traditional marketing strategy. Donovan & Henley (2010) point out that the current strategies are unique and consistent with Red Bull’s brand image; adopting traditional methods will “water down” the company’s unique proposition.

Discuss the effectiveness of Red Bull’s sponsorships, for example, Bull Stratos. Is this a good use of Red Bull’s marketing budget? Where should the company draw the line?

I think Red Bull excels at sponsoring events. The company’s sponsorship programs are spread over a range of extreme sports, artists and athletes. The events the company sponsors range from dancing, motorsports to extreme sailing. These sponsorship programs have attracted many of the current and potential consumers of the company’s products (Cornwell, 2014).

According to Kotler & Keller (2012), sponsoring events is actually a form of advertising for the company where attendees, usually teenagers and young adults get to experience the company’s products, sometimes for free or for subsidized prices. From here, these people spread the word about the company’s products, thus becoming Red Bull’s brand ambassadors. These marketing strategies though unusual have proved to be very effective for the company. Bull Stratos is one example of the success the company achieves with these sponsorship programs. This program for example provided young people with a dream to look forward to. Cornwell (2014) argues that such events tap into the critical part of young people minds showing them that they can achieve what their dreams. As such, when the Bull Stratos made a safe landing, it provided a sign to these young people that anything is possible. As a result, many young people associate Red Bull with those people who do the impossible. Therefore, I think these sponsorship programs are a good use of the Red Bull’s marketing budget and they should continue carrying them out.

It is however important for Red Bull to regularly evaluate its marketing programs to ensure they are effective and relevant. The company needs to draw the line when the strategies become ineffective. When this happens, the company needs to be ready to change its marketing approach to remain competitive in the market. Thus, the company should monitor the market continuously for emerging trends to help it change quickly when need be (Cornwell, 2014).

References

Cornwell, T. B. (2014). Sponsorship in marketing: Effective communication through sports, arts and events. Routledge.

Donovan, R., & Henley, N. (2010). Principles and practice of social marketing: an international perspective. Cambridge University Press.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing management. New Jersey, US: Pearson Education.