Strategy of launching of Red Bull

Abstract

The story of a drink like no other

The origin of this strange brew goes back to the 80s, when a certain Dietrich Mateschitz [1] discovered in Asia's "energy drinks". This young Austrian entrepreneur who used to go on professional trips to Southeast Asian realized one day that Asian businessmen and drivers in Thailand consumed a kind of energizing potion before important appointments or trips to stay awake and alert for a longer time. This potion was called the "Krating Daeng" [2] .This discovery fascinated the Austrian businessman who decided to create a drink inspired by the Thai formula. For this, he refined the recipe of Krating Daeng and the syrup turned into a sparkling soda. The aim of Dietrich Mateschitz's marketing is clear: create an unusual drink and open a market that does not exist yet. His targets were many. They included managers, athletes, doctors, nurses and or course, the people who go to nightclubs In short, all age groups in need of energy and concentration were included. Its selling point was infallible: revitalize both body and mind with a product that can be drunk anytime and gives extraordinary energy and capacity.

To market his new novel potion, the businessman founded the company Red Bull GmbH in 1984, with headquarters in Fuschl am See, some twenty kilometers from Salzburg. It is 51% owned by TC Pharmaceuticals which produces the drink, and 49% by Dietrich Mateschitz himself. Red Bull GmbH launched the energizing potion in blue and silver cans in Austria in 1987. It was an instant success; sales doubled every year in Austria and in 1992, the product was exported. It became a leading seller in Hungary who saw the product conquer the market, followed by many other countries that were targeted such as Switzerland, where in 1998, four years after its launch, 25 million cans were drunk by a population of 7 million! However, these exports were not made without difficulty. Indeed, in early 1990, while the product was ready for distribution beyond Austria's borders, many European countries refused to allow the import of Red Bull. The reason was that the composition of soda with caffeine and taurine /among other substances had uncertain effects. Yet today, although it is always declared as prohibited distribution in France (excluding bars and nightclubs), the product is distributed in nearly 150 countries worldwide and about 2.5 billion cans are consumed each year [3] .

Here we focus specifically on the product launch in the UK market.

The specifics of a controversial product

Red Bull is an energy drink which is an isotonic drink and not recommended for athletes like Gatorade or Isostar. This soda is sold in a can of 250 ml with an elongated shape, which contains many ingredients [4] such as sugar, taurine, caffeine, vitamins or coloring agents. It provides the body with all the elements that constitute a unique composition, having never been experienced before. Although the product is legal in many countries, high levels of stimulants contained in a can, especially when combined with alcohol, may seem like a concern. Indeed, Red Bull would increase physical endurance, improve reaction time, would help one stay awake, improve a sense of well-being or stimulate the metabolism. Two ingredients are particularly singled out. On the one hand, since the caffeine in the drink contains a concentration 2.5 times that of Coca-Cola, we consider that a can of Red Bull has the effect of a liter of coffee swallowed in one gulp. Moreover the substance ‘taurine' is still poorly known and has unknown effects. Artificially reconstituted here, and originally discovered in the bile of the bull (and not as is the rumor, the hormones in the animal) it would favor transmission between neurons in the brain.


Tags: Red Bull, Energy drink, history of Red Bull