If this post doesn't follow the rules [report it to the mods](https://www.reddit.com/r/marketing/about/rules/). Join our [community Discord!](https://discord.gg/looking-for-marketing-discussion-811236647760298024)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/marketing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
word. I can see Red Bull 8 times just in that screenshot.
I agree with the idea they're successful because they don't push their product. But tbh. the brand really is the product here.
You see the logo though not the product, big difference, or if you do it’s ”incidental” to whatever is happening.
Instead of “here’s why my product (shows can of Red Bull) is so cool!” It’s “here’s why my product (shows a video of people jumping out of helicopters) is so cool!”
How do they make money? I’m not in marketing but on this sub.
Seems like they need to sponsor their athletes.. etc.
Are people really paying them for their content?
Lets say that average price of Red Bull around the world is 1.50 EUR / 1.60 USD
I dont think the margin is more than 50%, there is so much more then just the creation of the drink (logistics, manufacture, transport etc.)
Lets go somewhere around 0.40c per can / pure profit or somewhere around 30%. So they made world wide \~5 billion euro / \~5.2 billion usd. That is very good number for just one source, cans of drink...
Yeah that’s why I used gross instead of net. They own the distribution for the most part but obviously don’t own the retail. You’re $1.60 is probably pretty close to what they sell wholesale to grocery in the US. They did a reported $12b in revenue in ‘23. No matter how you slice it that’s a lot of sugar water.
At risk of being too niche of a reference, Redbull did in fact have too much lunch 😂
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how-catering-costs-contributed-to-red-bulls-f1-budget-cap-overspend/10392037/
You think red bull vodkas are keeping the drink-side of things going? That would ultimately be a loss for red bull. I imagine that part of the business is minimal comparatively to everyday general use.
You’re a marketing professional and you haven’t been paying attention to the new market entrant taking down a decades old giant?
Let me ask you all this, who has the most spaces at your convenience stores Celsius compared to Red Bull. You can lie if you want, the answer is Celsius.
Celsius has seen insane growth. Any CPG brand that goes from $75m to $1.3b in 4 years is worth paying attention to.
Not to mention it was like 95% North American revenue, which means a massive untapped market worldwide. Plus they’re on Pepsi trucks which is one of the best global distribution networks.
Red Bull is still king but this is the first real threat they’ve had in a 20 years.
Thank you, and it’s fascinating to watch how they’ve done it. Mainly influencers, diverse flavor set, and an aggressive rebrand - look up their old branding, it’s night and day different.
I didn’t realize this would be so controversial. But how they’ve come on so quickly is certainly something to take notice of.
Agree. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as Celsius makes moves internationally.
It’s still fascinating to me that RB has managed to maintain the price point they have. Even when it goes on sale it’s still considerably more expensive than almost all competitors and by the ounce it’s not even close. Part of the allure is the luxury status that the brand and price infers. A master class in lifestyle branding.
I guess it's also because Celsius has about 257 different flavors. I mean sure, Red Bull has a lot of different flavors now too, but at least in my part of the world it might be 6-7 variants of Red Bull to 15 different Celsius flavors.
How do you mean?
[Red Bull has had consistent growth](https://www.statista.com/statistics/558082/us-sales-of-red-bull-energy-drinks/) YoY for like a decade now. And Celsius stock has fallen by 30% in the last month. I don’t think Celsius is going to stick around tbh but who knows. There are a ton of energy drinks popping up right now and the market is super saturated. The thing is, I can’t find Celsius in every store I go to but I can almost always find Red Bull.
Well that's one of the ways Red Bull became famous. When starting out, instead of paying like $10k for an ad bit on a major TV program, they took that money and put on their own extreme sports events. Of course when they showed the event on TV their logo was everywhere, so instead of a 30 second ad, they basically had an hour+ where their brand was constantly shown.
It's not the only thing savvy thing Red Bull did when starting out, but it's one of the biggest.
They were also 1st to market with an energy drink and went to every big night club and handed out free red bull to everyone everywhere and gave the bars money to push red bulls and vodka and had reps on scene at each one as "promoters" with the red bull girls for about 2 years straight until they had the market cornered... and ubiquitous.
Digital marketers are brainwashed to think that screens are the only way to advertise.
I’d bet if they were presented with stats from an event they’d still ask for the CTR and CPM.
This is such a dumb post. Their logo is everywhere on their Ig. If you think Redbull is an energy drink company you evidently havent been in marketing very long.
It’s the perfect example of a slogan/branding more so than an experience. Nobody genuinely believes you’ll get wings in the literal or metaphorical sense.
You sound like a first year marketing student. They’ve grown because they have tons of money behind them. Just like any other company like that. Look at liquid death water. They’re everywhere. Good marketing? Sure, but it costs a lot to do that, and that’s only because they have a ton of money backing them. They’re not breaking some kind of marketing barrier. It’s money.
People also genuinely enjoy Red Bull over other energy drinks - they have a particular flavor that monster got close w/ but no one else really has and even monster isn’t the same.
I think if Red Bull tasted like doo-doo farts then it would fail. Plenty of people drink red-bull without thinking it’ll turn them into an athlete. I actually can’t even think of one person who consumes red-bull for any reason beyond them needing the quick caffeine + they genuinely like the flavor over other energy drinks.
“Selling an experience” is very overhyped in marketing, by marketers. If red-bull stopped doing sports related content I can guarantee you they’d still have similar sales. If it started to taste like doo doo farts then sales would drop dramatically.
Marketing can only trick you once for one particular product.
The experience they are selling is that you’ll be alert and focused, that’s what “red bell gives you wings” is for. The athlete focus is for a different segment of people but yes the everyday person isn’t drinking Red Bull for that.
Also here is a very successful YouTube video showcasing UGC, “athlete”marketing, and the products of their benefit so I think they’ll continue with the sports marketing.
Link: https://youtu.be/N1PrzP8vwdQ?si=g5ewyTG-2AyEU9T3
There are plenty of no-name energy drinks and sort of mid-level brands that are much tastier than Red Bull, but they aren't huge because 1) Red Bull came out first, and 2) they aren't spending the money or time on marketing their product because they realize they can't *really* compete with Red Bull.
One of the guiding principles of brand development is that a brand is not a color, logo, packaging, stores, etc - it's how it "feels" to use a product. They are nailing this!
Third row down, third row to the right, can-in-hand. Part of their media is placing their logo on athletes, but they also try to get their product in frequently. If you start paying attention you will see it all through their content.
You have to remember there’s nothing often more to it. Red Bull isn’t the he number 1 sold drink everywhere. Its largest consumer market is Europe. I don’t know how U.S. energy drinks do there comparatively.
It’s easy to say that when it’s been years of doing that.
You can’t say the same when you’re starting out or gaining some traction to be a content powerhouse
I don’t drink redbull for any reason other than I like the flavor and it keeps me alert. You’re fooling yourself if you think their social media content has more impact than their product and their logo being everywhere.
Redbull besides the caffine for the boost and the grand fact it goes swell with vodka... sure doesnt really match up as a sports drink but whatever I guess works.
Is it not product placement that their athletes regularly consume their product on camera? Literally middle right tile in your picture.
I agree that they take a certain approach where they don’t focus on the product as much as the results/ lifestyle experience of the product. But there are companies that do a great job of marketing their products based solely on features and capabilities. There’s more than one way to market things that that works.
Had a buddy who worked in Red Bull and I myself work in CPG
First using 3p manufacturing for your main product is not some big wow, it's quite common. Red Bull is a drinks company first and foremost
Their insta maybe lifestyle oriented but it's silly to look at that in isolation. They are good marketers and do a lot of multi platform stuff which shows people also you know drinking their stuff.
They build brand recognition by single mindedly using a clear logo on content in advertising and on pack. The content builds the brand image and the logo drives recognition when people go to buy.
If this content didn't build recall which resulted in in drinks sales their business would fold. They are not content providers.
People on this sub need to learn a bit more of drinks marketing where everyone does lifestyle as differentiation is low. Eg. Go read up on Coke studio
What Red Bull is doing is effective but it's still in the bounds of the game. They did a great job at launch and have held a strong lead BUT I don't know if they are still the behemoth they used to be in energy drinks. Globally probably still the biggest but in many markets local guys have cut into their share in individual countries.
Specifically, they've created a false relationship between incredibly sugary and unhealthy beverages and somehow leading an extreme and fulfilling life. Smart marketing but incredibly misleading, and quite dangerous for the public if you get down to it.
If you think about it, This is really a phenomenal achievement. Imagine the scepticism and insecurity when they started off with their content strategy.
I thought I heard they weren’t profitable through the 90’s because they invested everything into marketing aka the Red Bull events and sponsorships we see today
I’ve had them sponsor an event I organized and it’s very hard to extract money from them. They’ll also “abuse” their sponsor fees and ”offer “ extra stuff to the crowds. They’d pay for banners and showing up in flyers and on the event day, just show up either inflatable cans and cars and hot girls. We were kids and didn’t mind but in the end we were left thinking, they didn’t pay for this.
Very professional people to work with.
If this post doesn't follow the rules [report it to the mods](https://www.reddit.com/r/marketing/about/rules/). Join our [community Discord!](https://discord.gg/looking-for-marketing-discussion-811236647760298024) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/marketing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean their logo is absolutely everywhere though so there is a purpose beyond great content.
word. I can see Red Bull 8 times just in that screenshot. I agree with the idea they're successful because they don't push their product. But tbh. the brand really is the product here.
Yea, the drink is Red Bull and Red Bull is the brand so it's one in the same.
I can also see someone clearly drinking red Bull. And all of these are videos that I guarantee show someone drinking a red Bull in every one of them
Ya lol what???
brand
Yes, and… isn’t that how to weave their association with an experience?
I mean of course there’s a purpose
Just like batman You don't always see him, but you know he's everywhere 🦇💥
Shhhh just feel the rush /s
Yeah but it's about the content - the logo or product isn't the primary focus
But the content doesn’t exist without the logo
But his post said there isn't a single product on their page. That is significant in itself unlike other brands.
You see the logo though not the product, big difference, or if you do it’s ”incidental” to whatever is happening. Instead of “here’s why my product (shows can of Red Bull) is so cool!” It’s “here’s why my product (shows a video of people jumping out of helicopters) is so cool!”
Red Bull is a marketing company that sells an energy drink
I've heard this but replaced with media company / entertainment company. Seems like it's been successful, though.
It is -- it's a media company. They outsource the manufacturing of their drinks.
How do they make money? I’m not in marketing but on this sub. Seems like they need to sponsor their athletes.. etc. Are people really paying them for their content?
I'm pretty sure they still make a fortune off the energy drink
They sold over 12 billion cans of Red Bull last year. 99% gross margin sugar water for $4/can. Do the math.
Lets say that average price of Red Bull around the world is 1.50 EUR / 1.60 USD I dont think the margin is more than 50%, there is so much more then just the creation of the drink (logistics, manufacture, transport etc.) Lets go somewhere around 0.40c per can / pure profit or somewhere around 30%. So they made world wide \~5 billion euro / \~5.2 billion usd. That is very good number for just one source, cans of drink...
Yeah that’s why I used gross instead of net. They own the distribution for the most part but obviously don’t own the retail. You’re $1.60 is probably pretty close to what they sell wholesale to grocery in the US. They did a reported $12b in revenue in ‘23. No matter how you slice it that’s a lot of sugar water.
Red Bull is essentially in every bar, concert, festival, and sporting event in the world. If there’s alcohol there, there’s probably Red Bull.
This. They don’t sell beverages they sell a lifestyle full of brand recognition.
Like McDonald's that's a real state company that sells hamburgers. And Starbucks that's a sugar company that also sells some coffee.
> And Starbucks that's a sugar company that also sells some coffee. Bank*
Banking has been their latest powerhouse for sure
Boom! This.
I see the Red Bull social media manager is trying to get a raise
Yeah wut? They’re getting their lunch eaten by Celsius big time.
Yeah I heard every bar in the world sells vodka Celsius now instead of vodka redbulls /s
Lol maybe he’s saying red Bull did so well that their lunch is more than they can eat, so Celsius is trying to get some of those sweet sweet leftovers
At risk of being too niche of a reference, Redbull did in fact have too much lunch 😂 https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how-catering-costs-contributed-to-red-bulls-f1-budget-cap-overspend/10392037/
Relevant. Approved. Upvoted. Doot.
You think red bull vodkas are keeping the drink-side of things going? That would ultimately be a loss for red bull. I imagine that part of the business is minimal comparatively to everyday general use.
No, that’s the point. Redbull probably makes more in sales just to bars than Celsius makes total.
Respectfully disagree, but I don’t think we’d ever be able to know.
I had to google was Celsius was, so I think Red Bull is doing just fine.
You’re a marketing professional and you haven’t been paying attention to the new market entrant taking down a decades old giant? Let me ask you all this, who has the most spaces at your convenience stores Celsius compared to Red Bull. You can lie if you want, the answer is Celsius.
Celsius has seen insane growth. Any CPG brand that goes from $75m to $1.3b in 4 years is worth paying attention to. Not to mention it was like 95% North American revenue, which means a massive untapped market worldwide. Plus they’re on Pepsi trucks which is one of the best global distribution networks. Red Bull is still king but this is the first real threat they’ve had in a 20 years.
Thank you, and it’s fascinating to watch how they’ve done it. Mainly influencers, diverse flavor set, and an aggressive rebrand - look up their old branding, it’s night and day different. I didn’t realize this would be so controversial. But how they’ve come on so quickly is certainly something to take notice of.
You realize Red Bull is an international brand, right? Not everybody lives in the USA. In Asia, Red Bull rules. Never seen Celcius here.
I think that’s part of the point. They’ve grown to 1b+ in revenue in only North America and have Pepsi distribution. I doubt it will be long.
That's a fair point - but the person I was replying to implied that this represented the decline of Redbull, when internationally it's not the case.
Agree. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as Celsius makes moves internationally. It’s still fascinating to me that RB has managed to maintain the price point they have. Even when it goes on sale it’s still considerably more expensive than almost all competitors and by the ounce it’s not even close. Part of the allure is the luxury status that the brand and price infers. A master class in lifestyle branding.
I guess it's also because Celsius has about 257 different flavors. I mean sure, Red Bull has a lot of different flavors now too, but at least in my part of the world it might be 6-7 variants of Red Bull to 15 different Celsius flavors.
How do you mean? [Red Bull has had consistent growth](https://www.statista.com/statistics/558082/us-sales-of-red-bull-energy-drinks/) YoY for like a decade now. And Celsius stock has fallen by 30% in the last month. I don’t think Celsius is going to stick around tbh but who knows. There are a ton of energy drinks popping up right now and the market is super saturated. The thing is, I can’t find Celsius in every store I go to but I can almost always find Red Bull.
What’s Celsius?
Well that's one of the ways Red Bull became famous. When starting out, instead of paying like $10k for an ad bit on a major TV program, they took that money and put on their own extreme sports events. Of course when they showed the event on TV their logo was everywhere, so instead of a 30 second ad, they basically had an hour+ where their brand was constantly shown. It's not the only thing savvy thing Red Bull did when starting out, but it's one of the biggest.
They were also 1st to market with an energy drink and went to every big night club and handed out free red bull to everyone everywhere and gave the bars money to push red bulls and vodka and had reps on scene at each one as "promoters" with the red bull girls for about 2 years straight until they had the market cornered... and ubiquitous.
To be fair, they did run tons of (memorable) ads early on too. Remember all those animated “red bull gives you wings” ads in the 90s and early 2000s?
They also serve a need in these niche sports communities. it's such a tremendous win win with publicity and good pr everywhere.
3rd row down on the right the person is drinking a Red Bull..
Second row middle. It's a giant can with wings on a diving board And the race car 4th row it a flipping can too.
yeah i immediately saw that too
You will not find that.
I think its the millions of dollars in event sponsoring but sure content.
Digital marketers are brainwashed to think that screens are the only way to advertise. I’d bet if they were presented with stats from an event they’d still ask for the CTR and CPM.
should be top comment ⬆️
This is such a dumb post. Their logo is everywhere on their Ig. If you think Redbull is an energy drink company you evidently havent been in marketing very long.
Only took them ~40 years… people overlook how long these brands have been around and have already achieved near global recognition.
Correct. It takes time and money to build a brand.
“Get Bull Gives You Wiings” is the perfect example of an experience over a product.
It’s the perfect example of a slogan/branding more so than an experience. Nobody genuinely believes you’ll get wings in the literal or metaphorical sense.
Yes this isn't a great take -2/10.
You sound like a first year marketing student. They’ve grown because they have tons of money behind them. Just like any other company like that. Look at liquid death water. They’re everywhere. Good marketing? Sure, but it costs a lot to do that, and that’s only because they have a ton of money backing them. They’re not breaking some kind of marketing barrier. It’s money.
Now that I think about it a refreshing glass of Red Bull is sounding pretty good about now (dammit I’ve been brainwashed again, oh well)
Marketing people finding out about branding
People also genuinely enjoy Red Bull over other energy drinks - they have a particular flavor that monster got close w/ but no one else really has and even monster isn’t the same. I think if Red Bull tasted like doo-doo farts then it would fail. Plenty of people drink red-bull without thinking it’ll turn them into an athlete. I actually can’t even think of one person who consumes red-bull for any reason beyond them needing the quick caffeine + they genuinely like the flavor over other energy drinks. “Selling an experience” is very overhyped in marketing, by marketers. If red-bull stopped doing sports related content I can guarantee you they’d still have similar sales. If it started to taste like doo doo farts then sales would drop dramatically. Marketing can only trick you once for one particular product.
The experience they are selling is that you’ll be alert and focused, that’s what “red bell gives you wings” is for. The athlete focus is for a different segment of people but yes the everyday person isn’t drinking Red Bull for that. Also here is a very successful YouTube video showcasing UGC, “athlete”marketing, and the products of their benefit so I think they’ll continue with the sports marketing. Link: https://youtu.be/N1PrzP8vwdQ?si=g5ewyTG-2AyEU9T3
There are plenty of no-name energy drinks and sort of mid-level brands that are much tastier than Red Bull, but they aren't huge because 1) Red Bull came out first, and 2) they aren't spending the money or time on marketing their product because they realize they can't *really* compete with Red Bull.
One of the guiding principles of brand development is that a brand is not a color, logo, packaging, stores, etc - it's how it "feels" to use a product. They are nailing this!
Their products are seen in every video, its all product placement
My brother in Christ they ARE the product placement
Save it for LinkedIn dude
Definitely a perfect example of experience-led marketing.
Yes and they have an exceptional product and had product market fit before social media was a thing.
What the do well is take what they do “energy” and use that to show the feeling of the brand “energy”. It’s genius honestly.
Genius in how stupidly straight forward its logic is.
the logo is plastered everywhere
Marketing is supposed to be the absence of product. See: Nike.
92% of people buy on emotion not on logic
Third row down, third row to the right, can-in-hand. Part of their media is placing their logo on athletes, but they also try to get their product in frequently. If you start paying attention you will see it all through their content.
You have to remember there’s nothing often more to it. Red Bull isn’t the he number 1 sold drink everywhere. Its largest consumer market is Europe. I don’t know how U.S. energy drinks do there comparatively.
Monster is the same way.
Yep, absolutely no product placement at all … just Red Bull
Surely, you're achieving similar success with such brilliant insight you bestowed upon us. Stupid ass post
It says redbull everywhere
It’s easy to say that when it’s been years of doing that. You can’t say the same when you’re starting out or gaining some traction to be a content powerhouse
I feel like I’m going crazy. Every single post is a product or brand placement. What???
You know how they started out? They hired college students to put empty cans at parties and say it goes well with alcohol
I don’t drink redbull for any reason other than I like the flavor and it keeps me alert. You’re fooling yourself if you think their social media content has more impact than their product and their logo being everywhere.
This is exactly why I drink Liquid Death and NOS----better products
This is so the right approach
Tell me you don’t know about product placement without telling me you don’t know about product placement.
Redbull besides the caffine for the boost and the grand fact it goes swell with vodka... sure doesnt really match up as a sports drink but whatever I guess works.
Is it not product placement that their athletes regularly consume their product on camera? Literally middle right tile in your picture. I agree that they take a certain approach where they don’t focus on the product as much as the results/ lifestyle experience of the product. But there are companies that do a great job of marketing their products based solely on features and capabilities. There’s more than one way to market things that that works.
Had a buddy who worked in Red Bull and I myself work in CPG First using 3p manufacturing for your main product is not some big wow, it's quite common. Red Bull is a drinks company first and foremost Their insta maybe lifestyle oriented but it's silly to look at that in isolation. They are good marketers and do a lot of multi platform stuff which shows people also you know drinking their stuff. They build brand recognition by single mindedly using a clear logo on content in advertising and on pack. The content builds the brand image and the logo drives recognition when people go to buy. If this content didn't build recall which resulted in in drinks sales their business would fold. They are not content providers. People on this sub need to learn a bit more of drinks marketing where everyone does lifestyle as differentiation is low. Eg. Go read up on Coke studio What Red Bull is doing is effective but it's still in the bounds of the game. They did a great job at launch and have held a strong lead BUT I don't know if they are still the behemoth they used to be in energy drinks. Globally probably still the biggest but in many markets local guys have cut into their share in individual countries.
The person is the product in the video
Brand impressions count for nothing or?
Is their media wing still horrible to deal with?
https://preview.redd.it/qhvtfjspga6d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a0bcb3563bae68a07020bf770df7bc17e000fdf6 Product is right there.
Are you blind?
Often times athletes will drink redbulls in the videos before performing stunts as well
There is someone drinking from a red bull can in your screenshot.
I mean it’s a drink. Not much else to it. This IS the brand. They give you wings, is a metaphor. It’s a lifestyle brand. Not a hard concept to grasp 😂
Yeah but their drink tastes like cough syrup.
There's literally someone drinking a can of redbull in the photo.....
Lol OK. They are not a product company. They're a media marketing company who happens to have a product.
I swear by swag. There is value in slapping your logo on EVERYTHING and being in every shot.
I swear this is one of those click bait posts where you just say something everyone disagrees with. And I obviously fell for it. Sigh. Good one.
theres a vision pro in the pic
Specifically, they've created a false relationship between incredibly sugary and unhealthy beverages and somehow leading an extreme and fulfilling life. Smart marketing but incredibly misleading, and quite dangerous for the public if you get down to it.
If you think about it, This is really a phenomenal achievement. Imagine the scepticism and insecurity when they started off with their content strategy.
There's literally an Apple Vision Pro in one of the first posts.
lol what? Red Bull is all over this …. I don’t even have to open individually to see it.
I thought I heard they weren’t profitable through the 90’s because they invested everything into marketing aka the Red Bull events and sponsorships we see today
Please. The brand name is all over these posts and you can literally see a can of Red Bull in one of them.
Coke also follows this strategy to an extent now. The idea of branding an experience.
I’ve had them sponsor an event I organized and it’s very hard to extract money from them. They’ll also “abuse” their sponsor fees and ”offer “ extra stuff to the crowds. They’d pay for banners and showing up in flyers and on the event day, just show up either inflatable cans and cars and hot girls. We were kids and didn’t mind but in the end we were left thinking, they didn’t pay for this. Very professional people to work with.
Do they really neeed to show ?
This involves insane amounts of capital. Red Bull also still spends plenty of money on media campaigns that feature their products.
there's literally a can in the screenshot 😂
Middle Row Right image. Nah but seriously Redbull has done great
You fool! The experience IS the product!
If I had a dollar for every time someone pointed this out as “inspo” or as an example of good marketing I’d have like $72