Business Management 1B Case Study R
Red Bull case study
Red Bull overview
The beverage-industry company Red Bull entered the market for the first time in Austria on 1 April 1987. Red Bull introduced its new product, and arguably a new product category, Red Bull Energy Drink (Red Bull, n.d. c). The inspiration for the founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, were functional drinks from the Far East (Red Bull, n.d. a). Without any doubt, the idea of a carbonated ultra-premium energy drink was successful because after almost 25 years on the market, Red Bull is an employer for 8,966 people, its product can be bought in 165 countries all around the world, and the company still keeps growing (Red Bull, n.d. c).
At present, there are four categories of Red Bull products: Red Bull Energy Drink (‘Gives you wings when you need them’), Red Bull Sugarfree (‘Wings without sugar’), Red Bull Zero Calories (‘Zero calories, 100% wings’), and flavoured Red Bull Editions (‘Wings for every taste’). Even though each category has its own motto and a distinct feature, they all consist of the same basic formula and promise identical effects: concentration, alertness, mental performance, and reduction of tiredness and fatigue (Red Bull, n.d. b).
The aim of this essay is to understand consumer behaviour of Red Bull’s customers, and explain marketing communications for Red Bull in terms of the roles in the buying decision process, target market, potential choice criteria, social influences on consumer behaviour, and sports marketing.
Marketing communications and roles in the buying decision process
Marketing communications can be characterised as ‘a management process through which an organisation enters into a dialogue with its various audiences’ (Fill, 2002: 12). Verity (2002: 162) distinguishes between active (incentives for purchase) and passive (mass media coverage) communication with target audience. The aim is to promote both the brand and its product(s) (Fill, 2002: 13).
In terms of audience, Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (in
Red Bull overview
The beverage-industry company Red Bull entered the market for the first time in Austria on 1 April 1987. Red Bull introduced its new product, and arguably a new product category, Red Bull Energy Drink (Red Bull, n.d. c). The inspiration for the founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, were functional drinks from the Far East (Red Bull, n.d. a). Without any doubt, the idea of a carbonated ultra-premium energy drink was successful because after almost 25 years on the market, Red Bull is an employer for 8,966 people, its product can be bought in 165 countries all around the world, and the company still keeps growing (Red Bull, n.d. c).
At present, there are four categories of Red Bull products: Red Bull Energy Drink (‘Gives you wings when you need them’), Red Bull Sugarfree (‘Wings without sugar’), Red Bull Zero Calories (‘Zero calories, 100% wings’), and flavoured Red Bull Editions (‘Wings for every taste’). Even though each category has its own motto and a distinct feature, they all consist of the same basic formula and promise identical effects: concentration, alertness, mental performance, and reduction of tiredness and fatigue (Red Bull, n.d. b).
The aim of this essay is to understand consumer behaviour of Red Bull’s customers, and explain marketing communications for Red Bull in terms of the roles in the buying decision process, target market, potential choice criteria, social influences on consumer behaviour, and sports marketing.
Marketing communications and roles in the buying decision process
Marketing communications can be characterised as ‘a management process through which an organisation enters into a dialogue with its various audiences’ (Fill, 2002: 12). Verity (2002: 162) distinguishes between active (incentives for purchase) and passive (mass media coverage) communication with target audience. The aim is to promote both the brand and its product(s) (Fill, 2002: 13).
In terms of audience, Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (in
References: Fill C. (2002) Marketing Communications: Contexts, Strategies and Application, 3rd edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Heelas P. (1994) The limits of consumption and the post-modern ‘religion’ of the New Age, in Keat R., Whiteley N., and Abercrombie N. (ed) (1994) The Authority of the Consumer, London: Routledge. Jobber D. and Ellis-Chadwick F. (2013) Principles and Practice of Marketing, 7th edition, Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Mowen J. C. (1988) Beyond Consumer Decision Making, Journal of Consumer Research 5 (1), 15-25. O’Shaughnessy J. (1995) Competitive marketing, 3rd edition, London, New York: Routledge. Red Bull (n.d. a) Red Bull History, [Online], Available: http://energydrink.redbull.com/red-bull-history [26 February 2013]. Red Bull (n.d. b) Red Bull Energy Drink, [Online], Available: http://energydrink.redbull.com/red-bull-energy-drink [26 February 2013]. Red Bull (n.d. c) Red Bull Company, [Online], Available: http://energydrink.redbull.com/company [27 February 2013]. Tsiotsou R. H. and Wirtz J. (2012) Consumer behaviour in a service context, in Wells V. and Foxall G. (ed) (2012) Handbook of Developments in Consumer Behaviour, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Verity J. (2002) Maximising the marketing potential of sponsorship for global brands, in Kitchen P. J et al (ed) (2005) A Reader in Marketing Communications, London, New York: Routledge.