Red Bull’s 16x Marketing Strategy

If you got 1 dollar and it turned into 16 would that be a good deal?

For most advertisers, this insane return would only happen in their dreams. But in 2012, Red Bull did exactly that. They launched operation “Stratos” where Felix Baumgartner did the highest-recorded skydive ever.

The stunt cost Red Bull 30M… The next month it made them 500M. 

That’s a 16x return. How? I'll get to that.

But first here’s what most don’t know… Red Bull is NOT a drink company.

They’re a marketing company that happens to sell drinks.

Red Bull’s marketing genius hardly gets the credit it deserves. So today, we’re going to dive into the 3 unconventional strategies they use to get ridiculous returns Facebook Ad geeks could only dream of.

Strategy #1 - Dramatic Demonstrations

Red Bull Athletes are the guys doing crazy stunts screaming “Red Bull gives you wingssss.” (Which they got sued for by the way. That’s why it has multiple S’s now. Apparently, you don’t actually grow wings?)

They’re not just doing these stunts to flex their athletic abilities. It’s actually a huge part of why Red Bull is popular in the first place.

For example, The Red Bull Flugtag is an annual event founded in 1992.

By 2012, they had an attendance of over 220,000 people. That’s 3.2x more people than showed up to the Super Bowl that same year.

This was the origin of Red Bull’s stunt program. Every year they aim to one-up themselves and do a crazier stunt than last year.

Like this one of Red Bull flying a plane through a tunnel.

The result of these stunts is massive attention from their target audience.

The Strategy

This is what’s called a Dramatic Demonstration.

It started in the 1840s when people were scared to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. A guy named PT Barnum turned fear into profit by walking the “world’s largest elephant” across it.

Not only did this prove the bridge safe, but it promoted his circus business too. Effectively killing two birds with one stone.

There are 3 types of dramatic demonstrations:

1/ Launches - Create a story around the introduction of a new product or idea

Example: Alex Hormozi’s Book Launch

2/ Events - Create an event where a community can gather around a common cause or idea

Example: Do a car show for charity the day your restaurant opens up

3/ Stunts - Manufacture a stunt to push a narrative of your product.

Example: Tesla completing a cross-country trip to prove long distances aren’t a problem for electric cars.

Strategy #2 - The Law of Association

Red Bull knew their target audience from the start - college guys.

So they structured their brand around their target audience… in a very new way.

Typically, college guys love two things. Pretty girls and sports.

So Red Bull associated themselves with both.

First, they created “Red Bull Girls.” They are a group of girls that are paid to hand out free Red Bull on college campuses.

Second, they ramped up the publicity of the Red Bull Athlete’s stunts.

The Strategy

This is called the Law of Association. 

The more frequently we see things together, the more we associate them with each other. 

If you see Michael Jordan shooting the game-winning shot in Jordan’s we associate athleticism with Michael Jordan and with the shoes. Causing the shoes to be more desirable.

The group of associations people think of when they think of your company is your “brand”.

The strategy here is simple. Be as loud as possible about the ideas, people, or events that push the narrative forward of your brand image.

Strategy #3 - Red Bull Athletes

Most Red Bull athletes are unheard of.

That’s on purpose.

Why would they pay Steph Curry or Patrick Mahomes millions to promote Red Bull?

Instead, they can get just as many viewers using non-famous athletes who will do it for the exposure.

Red Bull isn’t selling the drink, they’re selling the athlete. To sell this image they only need athletes who are fitter and living a dream life.

All while being seen with Red Bull.

Their strategy was to find underpriced talent. Don’t go for the NBA star, look for the guy who almost made it to the Olympics.

The Strategy

In Robert Cialdini’s book Influence, he explains that as a culture we are conditioned to obey authority figures.

That’s why companies pay celebrities millions to endorse their products. But, since Redbull was on a shoestring budget, they couldn’t afford the big guys.

So instead, Red Bull manufactured the authority by creating “Red Bull Athletes” for a fraction of the cost.

The bigger the stunt the more attention it brings → the more attention it brings the more authority the athlete has → the more authority the athlete has the more sales Red Bull gets.

The lesson here is authority pays. You don’t have to wait to get authority. You can manufacture it by being associated with people or brands that already have it.

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