Red Bull's Niche Marketing Strategy
Detailed analysis of the development process and strategy of choosing the target market of Red Bull. This is an example of success by choosing a niche, instead of going head-to-head with big players like Coca-Cola or Pepsico.
About Red Bull
As of now, one thing most of us can be sure of is that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the two companies dominating the other soft drink market. So how can small businesses stand firm in this market to be able to compete directly with the super giants? The most correct answer is: Small businesses will not choose to compete directly, but will through market segmentation to choose niche market segments, where the big guys are not stationed, but still has great profit potential. That is the strategy of choosing the target market of Red Bull, a famous name in energy drinks.
Searching for a niche in the vast market
Back in 1987, when Red Bull first introduced energy drinks in Austria (Austria), few could have imagined that Red Bull would become a successful brand with $5 billion in sales in one year. year like today. The key to Red Bull's success lies in finding a niche: energy drinks. Although Coca-Cola and PepsiCo then followed Red Bull into this niche, Red Bull still holds a 43% market share according to t4.tai's 2020 statistics. Despite having spent a lot of investment, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have not been able to catch up with Red Bull in this market. That's because Red Bull was the birthplace of energy drinks, and more importantly, because of its expertise in building and growing customer loyalty. We can see typical evidence for this conclusion through the number of likes on Facebook Fanpage. While Red Bull's Fanpage has 44 million likes, Coca-Cola's Fanpage for carbonated drinks only reaches 380 thousand likes, Pepsi's Fanpage for carbonated drinks also only reaches 40,000 likes, or the new name. Recently popular Kickstart (Mnt Dew) has only reached 1000 likes. It is clear that Red Bull has conquered this niche market with a very thorough Marketing strategy, with unique products and professional branding.
Biểu đồ thị phần nước tăng lực 2020 - Theo t4.ai
The niche market was found
Back in 1987, when energy drinks had never existed, Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of Red Bull, noticed unmet needs in customers who were active in sports. , physical or intense work. In addition to needing a drink for refreshment, they also need to supplement minerals and energy, stimulating alertness and refreshment. Since then, he has invented a new beverage containing high levels of caffeine, minerals that can help the body convert into energy in a short time. And so the name Red Bull was coined by Mateschitz to make his product more special than other drink products at that time. The first can of Red Bull is 250ml, with red and gold logos on a blue and silver background, priced at $2 per can. Of course, at this point, there aren't any competitors to Red Bull yet.
Marketing Communication Strategy for a market nicher
With the slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings" (roughly translated as Red Bull gives you wings), the message that Red Bull wants to convey to target customers is that this is not simply a beverage. Instead of using mass media, Red Bull focuses on promoting and communicating on grass-court activities and high-intensity sports. This business has sponsored sports related events, as well as famous athletes. Up to now, there are hundreds of sporting events around the world organized by this brand. Not simply sports matches, but each event brings to the participants excitement, excitement, strength and enthusiasm. What Red Bull aims at in each match is not simply to see the progress and results, but also to encourage participants to feel and live the moments with the brand.
One of the main standout events is the Red Bull Stratos, where participants set their own records. Felix Baumgartner, a participant and a space diver - skydiver, made an impressive jump from space. The event was broadcast live on 40 TV stations, with more than 130 channels and attracted more than 8 million viewers.
Photo of Red Bull's Fanpage in November 2020
Summary
Until now, Red Bull has maintained a strong investment in branding, with an estimated 40% of revenue spent on marketing and promotion. Although looking at the overall picture in the beverage market, Red Bull is still an ant compared to Coca-Cola or Pepsico, but in the energy drink niche alone, Red Bull is still the leader with 43% of the market. The estimated part and total brand value reached EUR 13.2 billion (According to the study on brand value of brands in Austria in 2019)
