Red Bull : integrated marketing communications plan

Abstract

Some have labeled Red Bull the "anti-brand" due to its unconventional advertising strategy. In the 24 years since the original launch, Red Bull has made a concerted effort to shy away from mainstream advertising in order to keep up an alternative brand persona. This strategy has worked exceedingly well for the company and the brand now dominates the energy drink market with nearly 40% market share. Changing attitudes among consumers and shifts in perception necessitate an adjustment in Red Bull’s marketing strategy. Currently Red Bull marketing efforts focus on the 18-24 year old male extreme sports enthusiast. This segment has the benefit of attracting other consumers to Red Bull due to its outward attractive appearance. The halo effect Red Bull attains-by marketing to the outspoken young athlete draws in a multitude of buyers. Through exploratory research conducted during the preparation of this report, several key marketing characteristics were found to be missing from Red Bull's overall IMC plan. The primary subjects focused on in this report were blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, and young professionals. Each user class fills a different niche that can benefit by Red Bull's product, but are not being targeted during marketing efforts. Each of the surveyed user groups expressed that they had interest in the functional benefits offered by Red Bull, but were either turned away, or not persuaded to purchase Red Bull as a result of the current marketing platform. Members of each user class felt that personalizing the advertising efforts toward members of their unique demographic would have a positive influence on Red Bull consumption. In order to appeal to differing consumers values, while still maintaining Red Bull's core user demographic a two-pronged IMC plan was developed. The current strategy, which focuses on extreme sports and activities, would remain unchanged. Rather than risk alienating Red Bull's current loyal customers, a second IMC strategy was designed to run concurrently targeting new consumers while maintaining Red Bull's core message. A budget of $25 million was allocated towards the new IMC plan to be focused on a revitalized television, print, radio, and outdoor campaign. At the core of the strategy lies a redesigned point of purchase display designed to tie in elements of both IMC campaigns and unify Red Bull selling activities. The POP display also serves the purpose of competing directly with energy drink alternatives such as 5-Hour Energy, who are beginning to gain serious traction in the energy product market. Included in this budget is-an aggressive monitoring program to assess the success or failure of each of the new IMC elements.