Red Bull, trendsetter and dream-maker

Every year, Red Bull takes part to almost 500 spectacular events in the world, regarding sports records or any kind of thrill. The brand owns football clubs, Formula 1 racing stables and sponsors many other sports.

A remarkable fact is that Red Bull also invented new sports. For instance, Red Bull Crashed Ice is a world tour in the winter extreme sporting event, that involves downhill skating in an urban environment. It is similar to ski cross and snowboard cross, except with ince skates on an ice track, instead of skis or snowboards on a snow track.(*)

 

By making the choice of attributing a significant part of its profit to organizing such events, Red Bull’s communication is able to create its own content and doesn’t need additional advertising.

To remain at the top of the entertainment, the project Red Bull Stratos succeeded in pushing back the limits of what is possible. 

A man, Felix Baumgartner.

A goal: to jump from the stratosphere, at the limits of space (36,000km from the ground).

Extreme conditions of temperature, pressure.

And that is what happened on the 14th of October, 2012.

And this is the  same jump a year after, filmed with the GoPro technology. Or how to make this record trendy...and even more breath-taking!

Red Bull succeeded in creating that amazing event from A to Z. In terms of marketing, the brand also innovated. The emotional impact, the physical and mental achievement…but also the implications for science!

Because, for this event, Red Bull positioned itself not only as an entertaining energy drink company but also as a scientific pioneer. The brand communicated a lot on the scientific dimension of the project, involving professional scientists.

This success would not have happened for another brand. Actually, Red Bull historically conveys values of endurance and surpassing oneself for customers. Since Felix Baumgartner jumped, it actually shows that the brand believes in human self-transcendence, in the ability of mankind to push back its own limits to become better.

For Red Bull Stratos, Red Bull made the choice of committing for years and engaging millions of dollars in the project. It is the core of Red Bull DNA: to dream big and push back the limits to reach your goals.

Pierre

(*) Wikipedia definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crashed_Ice

Sources:

-       D. Bigman: 2012, “Big Risk, Big Reward: Felix Baumgartner and Red Bull Deserve All The Marketing Buzz They Get”. Retrieved from www.forbes.com

-       D. Pilato: 2012, “RED BULL STRATOS. Le saut de Baumgartner? Un coup marketing sous couvert de science”. Retrieved from www.leplus.nouvelobs.com