Ch.4 The Marketing Enviroment

Red Bull, who is originally from Austria where it is still produced, distributed their energy drink in over twenty countries. Countries like USA , New Zealand , South Africa , Eastern and Western Europe . So it would be not very useful to restrict the target market to the geographic areas as well as the psychographic segmentation for the targeted consumer that’s because for a product like Red Bull it would be far to narrow as it cuts across lifestyles, demographics and socio-economic boundaries. So the best solution would be to set the target market as a behavioural segmentation. The reason for that decision is because in a behavioural segmentation the individual’s relationship with the product and the use and benefit sought from the product. Red Bull is not just an energy drink it is primarily a utility drink to be taken against mental or physical weariness or exhaustion. It’s use helps to increase endurance and heighten alertness as well as reactions and generally spoken the use of Red Bull helps to cope with the challenges of every day life, which includes work, leisure and sports.

Red Bull Target Market

The Athlete
It is usually a person who takes his sport very serious, what means he wants to get the best out of his body. Therefore you can say that Red Bull is part of his diet and sport life. So in this case Red Bull is for him a very good and easy way to improve his endurance or speed.

 The Worker          
This could be anyone who has to work hard such as a manager or a street worker. Anyone who wants to get pushed up and would rather like to have a Red Bull than a coffee.

 The Clubber
This category is fairly new, in recent years the people found out that Red Bull can be used as a very good mixer with alcohol. Red Bull sells now 34% of its units on premise. It is almost impossible to find the right target group, the reason for that is because of the various applications of Red Bull. Hence a clear cut categorization in age groups and socio-economics groupings is not feasible. But what we can be sure of is that the typical Red Bull drinker is dynamic and active, the gender does not play any role at all. But it is more likely that more less younger people who really like to go out fall for Red Bull. Research (PHT, 11/97 Smith Kline Beecham Energy & Sports Drinks Report) has shown that 53% of the people who drink energy/ sports drinks are within the age between 14-34 years. Moreover they found out that the main reason for purchasing energy/sports drinks were to quench thirst (37%) and give boost.


Some observers say that Red Bull's branding is evolutionary, calling it an 'anti-brand' strategy. The company faced additional problems in Pakistan where there were already many established drinks available.

The firm avoided usual methods of marketing , relying more on what is called 'buzz marketing' or word-of-mouth. A brand image was created and cultivated which associated the drink with youth culture and extreme and adventure-related sports, such as motor-sports, mountain biking, snowboarding and dance music parties. In other countries Red Bull's target consumer segment began to adopt nicknames for the product such as 'liquid cocaine' or 'speed in a can', thus spreading its 'left-field' appeal.
Red Bull then worked to ensure that their brand was visible on the street:

• Using pick-up trucks as mobile displays, painted blue and silver with a giant can of the drink mounted on top of the vehicle.
• Designed to be eye-catching, these devices were aimed at promoting the red bull brand as youthful and slightly 'off-the-wall'.
• Cans of the drink were also given out free to people on the street who had been identified as being in need of energy
• Red Bull was given to club DJs, empty cans would also be left on tables in hot spots such as trendy bars, clubs and pubs.

The company also set about promoting the Red Bull brand directly to Generation Y, the so-called 'millennial': people born after 1981 who were believed to be cynical of traditional marketing strategies . Part of this idea involved recruiting 'student brand managers' who would be used to promote Red Bull on university campuses. These students would be encouraged to throw parties (as if encouragement was needed!) at which cases of Red Bull would be distributed. The brand managers would then report back to the company, giving the firm a low cost form of market research data.