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Red Bulls Brand Equity

Jason Miller
West Virginia University

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Red Bulls Brand Equity
Cleary, Red Bull is the undisputed leader in the energy drink category, a category
that it basically invented back in 1987 using the catchy slogan Red Bull Gives You
Wiings. Since Red Bull is a privately held company, exact sales figures are hard to
come by but in 2002, the company grossed $1.2 billion in worldwide sales, says David
Rohdy, Vice President of Marketing for Red Bull America, Inc (Todd, H., 2002). In order
to gain this status as the energy drink category leader, Red Bull has done a masterful job
of building brand equity. The following will analyze Red Bulls rise to the top by
answering the following questions: Describe Red Bulls sources of brand equity. Do these
sources change depending on the market or country? How does Red Bulls marketing
program contribute to its brand equity? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this
marketing program? How can Red Bull maintain their marketing momentum? Should
Red Bull develop any brand extensions? If so, what would these brand extensions be and
should the same marketing strategies be used?

Sources of Brand Equity

According to Keller, the power of a brand lies in what resides in the minds of
customers and customer based brand equity occurs when the customer has a high level of
awareness and familiarity with the brand and holds some strong, favorable, and unique
brand associations in memory ( 2008, pg. 48). From the beginning, Red Bull creator

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Dietrich Mateschitz had the customer and building brand equity in mind when
determining the brands design and packaging, attributes, positioning, and price.

Packaging
Red Bull comes in a single silver and blue 250 mL can that features the Red Bull
logo and the words Energy Drink that signal its uniqueness to customers (Richey, 2001,
pg. 70). This uniqueness stems from Red Bull being the first energy drink to hit the
market, and the two bulls colliding with one another signify strength and energy to its
consumers while the phrase energy drink sums up exactly what Red Bull is and does.
The packaging and logo create unique brand associations between Red Bull and its loyal
consumers that go a long way in creating and maintaining brand equity.
Attributes
Never before had any product been created that featured the attributes of Red
Bull. These distinctive benefits include a combination of caffeine for energy; taurine for
energy, as an essential amino acid, detoxifying agent, and for increased metabolism; and
glucoronolactone for increased metabolism and detoxification (Richey, 2001, pg. 69). So
while soda or coffee can provide energy and other drinks may help with detoxification
and metabolism, Red Bull features in all in one option with many unique benefits in one
drink. These many benefits that also include improved physical endurance, improved
overall feeling of well being, improved reactions speed and concentration, and increased
mental alertness (Richey, 2001, pg. 70) combined all in one drink create strong,
favorable, and unique brand associations in the minds of Red Bull aficionados.

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Positioning
Perhaps the most influential aspect of Red Bulls brand equity stems from its
positioning. The tag phrase Revitalizes body and mind is used to convey the tangible
benefits of Red Bull (Richey, 2001, pg. 70). Who doesnt need a revitalization of body
and mind on a daily basis? This author usually needs one every afternoon at about 2:00
pm. The ingenious tag line allows for infinite opportunities to consume Red Bull. A few
of the many instances for consumption that come to mind for the average consumer are to
perform better at school, work, or in sports. This positioning allows for anyone to need
and use Red Bull at any time and in any place and creates multiple segmentation
opportunities for Red Bull marketers. Along with effective positioning tactics, Red Bull
also uses its pricing structure to foster brand equity.
Price
Red Bulls premium pricing structure is another aspect of its significant brand
equity. Red Bull is more expensive than a cup of coffee or a bottle of soda. This makes
sense in the mind of consumers who are looking for more benefits as described above. If
this premium pricing strategy were not used and Red Bull was prices almost identical to
coffee or soda, consumers may wonder how the two are different or if there even any
difference. So the premium pricing structure suggests a superior product with many more
benefits than other drinks and creates a feeling of superiority amongst consumers. In
other words, one gets what one pays for. And Red Bull lovers want to pay more to get
more.
These unique and powerful sources of brand equity remain consistent in each and
every country or market Red Bull has entered. Furthermore, the marketing tactics for

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entering and succeeding in various markets throughout the world remain consistent at
Red Bull. Next will be an analysis of these marketing tactics and how they helped further
strengthen Red Bulls brand equity.
Red Bulls Marketing Program
From the beginning clever marketing tactics have been at the heart of Red Bulls
rise to the top. Perhaps the most significant and most used tactic used to create and
maintain buzz about Red Bull and build brand equity among its followers is word-ofmouth. Other successful tactics include sampling, event marketing, sports marketing and
point-of-purchase marketing.
Word-of Mouth
Red Bulls strategy while entering each market it is currently in throughout the
world was brilliant and one of the pillars of its strong brand equity. The strategy involved
micro-targeting hip and cool locations and hangouts and flooding them with
opportunities for influencers to consume Red Bull. After consumption, these influencers
would start the WOM campaign. How many people are influenced by others? There is
no way to quantify the answer to this question. But it is safe to say that once something is
considered cool, it usually is consumed by the masses and Red Bull is no exception. This
tactic also led to an underground market for Red Bull in places around the world where it
was not yet available. Creating a huge demand and satisfying this demand created a buzz
where Red Bull was sought after almost anywhere and everywhere. And without clearly
defined target markets, Red Bull consumption could be prevalent in any number of
segmented groups as long as they were persuaded enough by influencers. This created
brand equity in many cases before the product was even consumed. And then, as more

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and more people consumed it, there was a snowball effect increasing WOM and creating
brand equity.
Sampling
Another tactic used to create and build brand equity for Red Bull is sampling.
After all, as noted above, once people tried the product, they told their friends who then
tried it and told their friends, and so on. While traditional sampling usually takes place in
retailers where products are sold and is executed by people with limited product
knowledge, Red Bull takes a different approach. Red Bull employs sampling teams or
Red Bull Student Brand Managers throughout the world that set up sampling programs in
strategic locations. The idea behind these locations is to catch people when they may
need Wiings. Some instances may include sporting events, concerts, or any place where
people are tired. These Student Brand Managers have a vested interest in a career with
Red Bull and will work hard to promote the brand and build brand equity.
Event Marketing
Another influential and important tactic used by Red Bull is event marketing. Red
Bull has made an art of creating and sponsoring events, all of which are designed to
enhance its brand image and build brand equity. To view some of the most recent events
orchestrated by Red Bull, click here. The Red Bull logo and plenty of products are
prevalent at each of these events and have created a sort of underground following
aligning Red Bull with unique events like bull riding and snowboarding among many
others. Each event is another opportunity to develop and increase brand equity.

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Sports Marketing
Red Bull has also ventured into sponsoring athletes to build brand equity. This is
an especially powerful tactic as many athletes are perceived as successful and powerful.
So aligning with athletes like snowboarder Shaun White or skier Lindsey Vonn to name a
few goes a long way in strengthening the Red Bull brand. The type of extreme sports and
extreme yet wildly successful athletes that are associated with the Red Bull brand
coincide with the slogan Red Bull Gives You Wings and contribute to even stronger
brand equity.
Point of Purchase
Another nifty tactic employed by Red Bull to reinforce and build brand equity is
setting up Red Bull refrigerators and other signage in many nightclubs and bars. There is
a team of dedicated Red Bull employees who are responsible for going out in vehicles
covered with the Red Bull logo and servicing these locations ensuring a full stock of Red
Bull and making sure all necessary advertising is up. This reminds party goers that Red
Bull is available and as soon they start yawning or feeling a little sluggish, they should
head to the bar and order some Wiings.
All of these marketing tactics described above have been successful in building
brand equity at Red Bull and this author would not change any of them. They are all
integrated with the one another and suggest the effectiveness and uniqueness of Red Bull
that made it the best. Other tactics that Red Bull is currently implementing should prove
to strengthen the brand even further as we progress through the 21st century. Currently,
there are over 2 million Red Bull Facebook fans. It seems as though everyone uses social
networking these days, especially many of the people associated with extreme sports and

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night life. So Red Bull is wise to branch out into the social networking world. Although it
seems to this author that Red Bull is using Facebook for primarily one-way
communications, meaning they post something every other day or so and that is it. All
communications after that are from fans. Red Bull is missing a huge opportunity to
strengthen its brand equity by engaging its customers and talking to them and listening to
their responses. Red Bull has a presence on Twitter and Youtube with many of the same
strengths and weaknesses present.
Brand Extensions
Currently there are only four products made by Red Bull and they are Red Bull
Energy Drink, Red Bull Sugar Free, Red Bull Energy Shots, and Red Bull Cola. Each
product is in line with the original tagline that makes Red Bull so successful- Red Bull
Gives You Wiings. And each is focused on providing increased performance and all of
the other attributes of the original Red Bull. This author does not recommend any
additional brand extensions unless they too align with these products and provide users
with the same benefits. Branching out into any others product categories may weaken the
brand equity already established by Red Bull being synonymous with energy and
endurance.
Conclusion
The three main factors that contribute to brand equity include: brand elements or
identities, how the brand is marketed, and associations transferred to the brand by linking
the brand to some other entity (WVU, IMC, 2010). The Red Bull brand has done a
masterful job of managing each of these factors to build a brand leader. The tactics
described above explain how Red Bull has been successful and with new tactics

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combined with some old ones the future will be bright for the energy drink creator and
leader.

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References
Keller, K. (2008). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing
brand equity (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, West Virginia University (2010). Lesson 2
Brand Equity, Positioning & Values Retrieved March 28, 2010, from the WVU
eCampus Web site:
https://ecampus.wvu.edu/webct/urw/lc5116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Todd, H. (2003, May 15) Red Bull North America, Inc. Beverage World. Retrieved
March 28, 2010 from http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/eating-drinkingplaces-eating/4130114-1.html
Richey, K. (2001). Red Bull: Building Brand Equity in New Ways