
Why Red Bull has the best buzz among sports brands?
“Red Bull, one of the biggest global sponsors of sport, have stated that England is the next football territory on their radar during recent talks with clubs about players.” – Daily Mail
Maybe you have already seen this or maybe you haven’t, but I bet you have seen Red Bull being more involved in the sports world now than ever! Red Bull are involved with various sports from surfing, football and tons of more cool extreme sports such as, for example, Wingsuits Racing!
When the wings took off
Let me introduce to you how Red Bull has gone from a simple can containing energy drink into a global can containing lots of successful athletes and sports teams. It all goes back to when an entrepreneur, Dietrich Mateschitz, was inspired by an energy drink called Krating Daeng that was sold in Thailand and he wanted to introduce this drink to the Westerners. Krating is a bull from South Asia and Daeng means red and these two became Red Bull.
This drink is nowadays more than a can of Red Bull, the Austrian company has empowered the sports world with an incredible success of different sports teams and sporting athletes such as Marcus Hellner (Cross-country skiing), and sports such as Formula 1 (Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso) and football (Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Brasil, RB Leipzig…).


The success behind Red Bull’s buzz through sports
Mateschitz used an emotional model to encourage consumers to buy Red Bull. For example, in their advertisements, Red Bull’s ingredients or functions are not highlighted. Also, the message of Red Bull is focused on the image of Red Bull such as ‘Red Bull isn’t a drink, it’s a way of life’, and ‘Red Bull gives you wings’. This message stimulates people’s desire to adventure and highlights how much the athletes have an inner drive for continuous improvement.
Consumers who pursue adventures and like sports were attracted to values that Red Bull respresents such as sportsmanship, risk taking, excitement and passion. Those who are attracted to these values tend to have an open-minded, positive attitude, and Red Bull takes advantage of the emotional response to activate these followers and turn them into consumers.
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How to enter the evoked set of consumers and sports
I really enjoy their videos and I believe this is why Red Bull has been able to be successful in entering the evoked set of consumers.
Don’t these videos just give you goose bumps?
Brand Credibility
What Red Bull has managed to create is a strong brand image, and this strong brand image gave Red Bull a competitive advantage and encourages the consumer to make repeated purchases. For any brand to be succesful, they need Brand Credibility, which Red Bull has shown through their different sponsorships and athletes’ endorsements. They have established a trust and expertise that enhance the chance of being considered in the selection of an evoked set of a consumer.
Red Bull has gained a global recognition and is today a trustworthy brand, which is one of the most important aspects of creating brand loyalty. Red Bull has created a unique lifestyle and together with their extraordinary ways of using media and advertising, their brand name in the modern world is shown everywhere. Their results in maintaining a brand loyalty exist not only in the energy drink market but also in the sports market.

Conclusions
The success of Red Bull took 30 years through:
- Ambassadors and promotions staff
- The image of an Active Lifestyle “Red Bull Gives You Wings”
- Focus on Advertising through associations and sponsoring events
- Marketing of symbols and values which make the perception of the brand
- Brand image, built through:
- Emotions and Feelings
- Product Attractiveness
- Repeated messages
- Consumer Perception
We have seen Facebook and Twitter turning into a broadcasting media for live sports, but Red Bull has been even more advanced regarding their content sharing and the question might be if it is a beverage company or a media company?
Red Bull is not only a can anymore; it goes beyond the physical product and empowers the value and vision of believing in you.
So live your life with wings and strive for better than good.

Jakob Wikenstål
Overtime Sports Marketing
If you have any questions about sports marketing, feel free to contact me at jakob.wikenstal@gmail.com
Article sources:
http://www.redbullsalzburg.at/en
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/
http://www.redbullbrasil.com.br/
http://www.dierotenbullen.com/
Photo sources:
www.flickr.com
www.socialbakers.com screenshot