Are Red Bull Just A Media Company Who Happen To Sell Energy Drinks?

Advertising And Marketing November 24, 2011 12 Comments @niallharbison

I’m obsessed with alternative business models that are shaking the world up and regular readers of the blog will know I’m a huge fan of the marketing at Red Bull. What stuck me today was that they have morphed into a media company that uses a shrewd blend of old and new media to target consumers.

Before a meeting, I caught myself picking up one of their magazines. I then came home and stumbled on a brilliant 20 minute TV show they had created. The penny dropped when I opened my laptop and ended up watching one of their viral videos via a link I spotted on Twitter. People all over the world are buying the energy drink in increasingly large numbers, and it’s starting to feel as if they have come up with an entirely new business model; one that puts their media business first and actually making money from selling drinks after. An unusual but brilliant new business technique for a changing media landscape.

Movies

A couple of months ago, Red Bull launched a stunning full length feature filming about snowboarding. You really don’t see too many brands out there thinking about making their very own movies but you’ll be blown away by the the short clip of it here.

Traditional Media

It’s not all about the fancy new media tools for Red Bull either as the launch of their very own magazine and TV shows have shown. They have plenty of sponsorships to cross promote, but their traditional media offerings are genuinely well produced and it is content worth consuming.

Branded Online Content

This is where they really come into their own, producing hours of branded content online that is made for sharing. The branding is never too over the top but just enough to remind you who they are and to register with you.

Sponsorships

It’s not just the big sponsorships – like effectively owning two of their own formula 1 teams and a soccer team in the USA – but also delving deep into the worlds of extreme sports, music and youth activities. The sponsorships raise brand awareness and help with creating all that branded content.

It Really, Really Works

It might be an unusual business model but it certainly works because Red Bull sells over three billion cans of their drink per year. That is coming from a company that was founded just over twenty years ago which is meteoric rise to the top of the energy drinks business.

Owning sports teams, creating lots of content and focusing on media is an unusual mix but it great to see a company creating its own content rather than just paying to place their adverts on other non-relevant channels. Started by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, the company has a vibrant culture and despite its global presence, it looks like a start up from the outside which seems to breed so much innovation. It’s really great to see people trying to invent new business models.

Comments

Chris

Hi Niall,

Enjoyed the post. I am a lover of the Red Bull Brand too and what they do in the Content they produce. I think they’re the only company that have really grasped the importance of unique content creation. They put their necks on the line with heavy investment in this strategy we can see the success in their sales and growth.

If you don’t mind me picking your brains, what Brands do you see currently attempting similar strategies?

Cheers,
Chris

(longtime reader first time poster)

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

There are plenty creating branded content and doing bits and pieces but probably none to the sheer olume of Red Bull. Some of the big beer brands create a lot of content around sports matches but really can’t think of any others off the top of my head doing it on this scale!
http://twitter.com/shaneoleary1 Shane O Leary

It’s in a different manner, but not sure whether you’ve seen Monocle magazine guys? They begun with a magazine focused on great writing and just paper, no iPad apps etc, and have now expanded into a radio show and then a radio station, a weekly T.V. show, a clothing brand etc. They curate great video content and I think are also looking to move into becoming a design agency, all under the one Monocle brand.

As I say, it’s in a completely different way to Red Bull in that it’s not one product and lots of branded content, but good example of a brand mushrooming from interesting writing and multimedia content. When I read this post I too was trying to wrack my brains to think of another brand like Red Bull, and that’s the closest I’ve come up with. Skullcandy perhaps may be another one, although again, not on the same level? Here’s an interesting post on them http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/22/skullcandy/

Martyn Thomas

Nice post Niall, this is a great case history. As we preach content and context this will light up peoples’ imaginations of what can be achieved.
Onwards, Martyn

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Cheers for the kind words

Anton Mannering

Hey Niall. Good post and a great summary of Red Bull.

It’s not that they are a Media Company that sells drinks. They’re a drinks company that doesn’t have to deal with gate-keepers and lack of bandwidth from the big media companies anymore.

It was never too expensive for companies to produce content. The only problem ever was not having a pipe to put it down as there were a finite number of pipes owned by very few companies.

Digital television has seen an explosion of channels even in the traditional media. So it’s still not cheap to get in the pipe but much cheaper than before especially if you’re producing content that’s being sought out. Anyone willing to produce great content that gains eyeballs can get a piece.

Here’s the kicker Red Bull don’t actually sponsor anything. If you see red bull on a sports team, event or anything else, then they own it. This is massively important game changing view.

If you own the tournament or the team then you can’t be cut out of the coverage and you don’t have a pay-per-play relationship anymore with the media or the sports team.

Every single thing they do is in order to bypass existing media company hegemonies and gatekeepers wherever they exist and they’ve been doing it a long time. Red Bull music academy back in the day for instance.

They’re not becoming a media company they’re just in the vanguard of large companies who see the possibilities inherent in bypassing the old way of doing things.

They’re not becoming a media company their doing what every company would have done if the media companies had never existed.
Anton Mannering

Hey Niall. Good post and a great summary of Red Bull.

It’s not that they are a Media Company that sells drinks. They’re a drinks company that doesn’t have to deal with gate-keepers and lack of bandwidth from the big media companies anymore.

It was never too expensive for companies to produce content. The only problem ever was not having a pipe to put it down as there were a finite number of pipes owned by very few companies.

Digital television has seen an explosion of channels even in the traditional media. So it’s still not cheap to get in the pipe but much cheaper than before especially if you’re producing content that’s being sought out. Anyone willing to produce great content that gains eyeballs can get a piece.

Here’s the kicker Red Bull don’t actually sponsor anything. If you see red bull on a sports team, event or anything else, then they own it. This is massively important game changing view.

If you own the tournament or the team then you can’t be cut out of the coverage and you don’t have a pay-per-play relationship anymore with the media or the sports team.

Every single thing they do is in order to bypass existing media company hegemonies and gatekeepers wherever they exist and they’ve been doing it a long time. Red Bull music academy back in the day for instance.

They’re not becoming a media company they’re just in the vanguard of large companies who see the possibilities inherent in bypassing the old way of doing things.

They’re not becoming a media company their doing what every company would have done if the media companies had never existed.
http://info.cytrap.eu/articles/social-media-marketing-fur-den-kmu Urs E. Gattiker

Interesting blog post indeed. The advertising and branding by Red Bull is interesting yes. Amazingly the product is not that good (taste) and expensive but cool for some to be seen with.
Really good marketing. Thanks for sharing this.
http://info.cytrap.eu/articles/social-media-marketing-fur-den-kmu Urs E. Gattiker

Interesting blog post indeed. The advertising and branding by Red Bull is interesting yes. Amazingly the product is not that good (taste) and expensive but cool for some to be seen with.
Really good marketing. Thanks for sharing this.
http://www.i95dev.com Henry Louis

Hi Niall! Some useful information has been posted. Nice post.
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Are Red Bull Just A Media Company Who Happen To Sell Energy Drinks?

Movies

Traditional Media

Branded Online Content

Sponsorships

It Really, Really Works

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