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ORGANIZATION
Date
Session
Content
5/3/2013
1
Competitive positioning and branding strategies
6/3/2013
2
Brand specific activities and buying behavior (The
Henkel example)
20/3/2013
3
Corporate communication / advertising (The Red
Bull example)
21/3/2013
4
Exam
Weight
Activity
30%
Participation/Attendance
30%
Practical cases
40%
Multiple Choice Exam
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |1
Universidad de Córdoba
Facultad de Ciencias y Empresariales (ETEA)
CASE STUDY 3:
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION / ADVERTISING
(THE RED BULL EXAMPLE)
Johannes Stolz ([email protected])
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |2
RED BULL
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Founded in 1984 by Dietrich Mateschitz after discovering
the widespread popularity of tonic drinks in the Far East.
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Development of the Red Bull Energy Drink, launching the
product on the Austrian market in 1987
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First introduced in Thailand under brand called Krating
Daeng (eng: Red Bull)
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Today: World’s best-selling energy drink
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Product range: Red Bull Cola, Red Bull Energy Shots
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Sales 2011: > 4.6 billion cans in 160 countries.
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> 7.700 employees
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |3
THE MARKETING MIX
To meet the needs of its customers, every organization seeks a
distinctive marketing mix / 4Ps (McCarthy, 1960).

Product – the specific features and benefits of the product
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Place – where and how the product is sold
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Price – setting the right price in each market
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Promotion – using the most suitable form of promotion to reach
customers.
The Red Bull Energy Drink
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Distinctive product - the taste of the product is unlike any other, it also has a functional effect in comparison
to other soft drinks

Sold in a variety of places – including retail outlets and food and drink establishments
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Premium pricing strategy. The product is priced above that of competitors’ products. Consumers will pay a
premium for Red Bull due to the quality of the product and the product’s benefits.
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Promotion – using the most suitable form of promotion to reach customers.
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |4
COMMUNICATION – PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
Problem
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In today’s society, consumers are bombarded with promotional messages
Reception through radio, television, newspaper, commute to work or simply walk around a city centre.
Many messages make it difficult for a business to reach its target audience.
Effective promotion relies on the message reaching the consumer in an accurate and timely way.
Promotional messages crowd the marketplace and make everything more confusing for consumers.
 Creation of a marketing problem
Solution
 Marketers look for new ways to communicate with consumers.
 Breaking of traditional marketing by reaching consumers in innovative ways
 Digital and Social Media, Word of Mouth (WOM)
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |5
PROMOTIONAL APPROACHES (1)
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Aim of promotion: Growth of the business and increasing market share
Development of a promotional strategy in order to increase sales
Strategy is often based on AIDA principles (stages in a sales process)
Red Bull bases promotion on events, creating awareness and interest for
their products
A
Awareness
I
Then stimulate interest
D
This creates a desire for the product
A
Action occurs when the customer purchases the product
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |6
PROMOTIONAL APPROACHES (2)
Above-the-line (ATL)
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Key element: Advertising
Usually delivers messages to a wide audience using the press,
television, cinema, radio and the internet.
Easy to reach a large audience but impersonal to customers
Difficult to deliver a memorable message that is tailored to a specific
target market.
High costs: Television adverts at prime time
No complete control over viewership and their response.
Red Bull

Primarily helps to increase top of mind brand awareness amongst
consumers.
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |7
PROMOTIONAL APPROACHES (3)
Below-the-line (BTL)

Promotions encompass all other forms of promotional activity
 Unconventional brand-building and promotional strategies such as direct
mail, flyers, brochures, promotions, events, sponsoring, etc.
 Reach targeted consumer group
Red Bull
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Heavy focus on developing inventive BTL promotions
 In a few cases traditional sponsorship
 Sports events around the world provide a platform for talented athletes to
show their skills and ambition (i.e. Red Bull X-Fighters, Red Bull Air Race, etc.)
 Sponsoring and events help to establish the brand values
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |8
PROMOTIONAL APPROACHES (4)
BTL effects
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Events support the brand ethos and contribute to the Red Bull experience
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Focus on local activities can have a big impact and create interesting media coverage
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An annual activity plan, based on a three-year overview of promotional work
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Advantage:
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Quick and inexpensive change is possible.
Repetition and development of ideas that seem to have good public appeal.
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Achievement of mass awareness without big budgets (Exception Sponsorship: The Red Bull
Formula 1 team, Football teams: New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg)
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Sponsorship = Cornerstone of the promotional strategy? Activities are focused on building talent
and pushing the sport to new levels through innovation
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |9
PULL vs. PUSH MARKETING
Push strategy
Pull strategy
• Consumers receive corporate information, although they
have no need for new products
• Is used to create awareness of the product
• Companies try to reduce information asymmetry through
sales promotion, i.e. advertisements
• Latent need is converted into urgent need / demand
through aggressive price politics, personal selling or junk
mail
• Used for new products in existing markets and products in
need of explanation
• Companies adapt strategically their offer to the demands
of selected / targeted consumers
• Corporate image and brand awareness  Pressure on the
commerce through the demand  commerce needs to offer
products in their range
• Less marketing activities are necessary to force the sell of
the goods
• Creation of a demand: Only big companies can afford a pull
strategy by investing great amounts in branding
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |10
INNOVATION IN PROMOTION
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Word of mouth (WOM) promotion (based on pull marketing)
 Transmission of a positive marketing message from person to person
 Getting consumers excited about the product and conveying this
excitement to their family and friends.
 Coverage of Red Bull events in the press can encourage consumers to find
out more about the product and talk about it
Innovative initiatives
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Red Bull Wings Team
Student Brand Manager Program
Red Bull Bedroom Jam
Red Bull Reporter
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Digital and social media
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Constantly creating new ways of reaching its audiences online.
Facebook, Twitter and online blogs  easy for people to exchange
information quickly
Smart phone applications to promote campaigns
Promotion techniques are easy to adapt and refine
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |11
EVALUATING PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
For promotions to remain effective, Red Bull has to analyze the impact of
different campaigns
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Problem: Difficult to measure the effectiveness of Word-of-mouth (WOM)
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Although healthy sales are an important measure, Red Bull uses other
measures to evaluate the effectiveness of its activities
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Amount of the editorial coverage of the activities received by media
Number of blogs related to Red Bull products and the frequency of comment on
these blogs
Online influence of Red Bull activities in the social media such as Twitter (934.000
follower) and Facebook ( > 27.000.000 “likes”)
Annual brand health-check with consumers to ensure that they like the brand
Country comparisons (example: Red Bull wings team)
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |12
CONCLUSION
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Red Bull adopts a progressive marketing strategy which
is constantly evolving to push the brand forward.
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Allows to adapt its promotional activity to reflect
technological and social changes (i.e. increasing use of
smart phone apps as a communication channel)
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Social and digital media is the heart of all of its
promotional campaigns.
 New innovative marketing techniques minimize the risk
of noise
 Achievement: Consumer awareness, brand loyalty and
brand value  Increasing sales
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |13
PRACTICAL CASES (1)
CASE 1
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Apply the marketing mix to a new Apple product such as the iPhone 5. Furthermore, explain how
Red Bull applies and measures digital and social media. Mention an example for social media
apart from facebook and twitter supporting Red Bull’s marketing and explain your decision.
CASE 2

Which communication strategy does Red Bull mainly use in order to communicate with its
customers; the push or the pull strategy? Which are the advantages and disadvantages of both
strategies? Why do you think Red Bull mainly bases its communication on one strategy?
CASE 3
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Please explain the difference between the below-the-line and the above-the-line approach.
Which approach does Red Bull apply? How can the success of the marketing campaigns be
measured in the long term?
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |14
Universidad de Córdoba
Facultad de Ciencias y Empresariales (ETEA)
CASE STUDY 3:
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION / ADVERTISING
(THE RED BULL EXAMPLE)
Johannes Stolz ([email protected])
20 March| Seminar Strategic Marketing |15