Dietrich Mateschitz launched the Red Bull Energy Drink in 1987 Red Bull Uses a Progressive Marketing Strategy: Marketing Case Study, SUSS, Singapore

Dietrich Mateschitz launched the Red Bull Energy Drink in 1987. Red Bull uses a progressive marketing strategy. There are several traditional approaches to promotion. Perhaps the best known is advertising. This is a key element of what is known as above-the-line promotion.

This type of promotion usually delivers messages to a wide audience using the press, television, radio, and the internet. Although this makes it easy to reach a large audience, it is more difficult to deliver a memorable message that is tailored to a specific target market and it can be costly.

Below-the-line promotions encompass all other forms of promotional activity. To reach targeted groups of consumers, Red Bull focuses heavily on developing inventive below-the-line promotions. Unlike other businesses, Red Bull creates and organizes its own events around the world. These events provide a platform for talented athletes to showcase their skills and ambition. Sporting events include Red Bull X-Fighters and Red Bull Air Race, where the world’s top FMX riders and pilots respectively perform world-class flips, turns, and tricks in front of tens of thousands of spectators. These events help to establish the brand values.

Push marketing uses above-the-line promotional techniques to put products in front of consumers in order to generate sales. In contrast, word of mouth (WOM) promotion is based on the principle of pull marketing. It relies on the transmission of a positive marketing message from person to person through conversation or a personal communication such as email or text message.

Red Bull extensively uses pull marketing. This approach involves getting consumers excited about the product and conveying this excitement to their family and friends. It is also about trying to get coverage of Red Bull events in the press. This coverage can encourage consumers to find out more about the product.

The founder of Red Bull used pull marketing to promote his original product in the 1980s. He hired a Red Bull Wings Team to go out and talk to people one-to-one about the product. As people experience the drink and appreciate its qualities, they become advocates for the brand. They share their opinions with other consumers when they talk with friends.

Explain how information technology has made WOM promotion easier