WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BRAND COMMUNICATIONS FROM MY TEN YEARS AT RED BULL
Mention Red Bull to a room full of consumers and the reactions can be polarizing. The actual energy drink can cause people to draw sides, but no one can deny the power of personality that the brand has built through the years. I worked for Red Bull in the Marketing Communications department from 2009 to 2019 during crucial years of growth for the brand in the US.
With Red Bull being such an established brand in the US, many readers may not know that Red Bull is actually an Austrian company, created and owned by one extremely smart and forward-thinking individual named Dietrich Mateschitz. As he was developing his product in the late 80s, he was also establishing a brand persona that all Red Bull marketing would adhere to moving forward. That brand marketing-genius decision is still in play today.
One Consistent Brand Message
Red Bull is an energy drink that “gives you wings” and the Red Bull brand is about “giving wings to people and ideas”. One might engage with this persona via a TV commercial, an inspiring piece of digital content, vicariously through athlete competing in the X Games or Olympics, or personally at an experiential event or concert.
While at Red Bull, I was fortunate to be able to focus my efforts on creating vicarious and…
