Amanda Leonard
MKT325 IP 2
Prof. Victor Olufeso
Today consumers buying behaviors are affected by the culture that is the Red Bull brand.
(Fripp, 2020) Starting out in 1987, Dietrich Mateschitz found that wasn’t the case. (Bergstrom,
2021) He didn’t have tons of money for advertising and there was no social media or influencers
to use. (Bergstrom, 2021) Red bull did the challenging work. They went to all the places that
young men, their targeted customer, would be. They gave out free samples in bars, colleges, and
even coffee shops. (Bergstrom, 2021) The product spoke for itself.
In 1992, Red Bull began the Flugtag competition. (Krohn, 2015) This was a contest to see
which homemade flying machine could fly the farthest. Along with funny “Red Bull gives you
wings” ads, with the pencil drawn characters. In 2012, they tried the highest skydive ever. The
Red Bull Stratos event developed a special capsule, that Felix Baumgartner, jumped out of from
space.(Krohn, 2015) Over 127,000 ft above the earth, he successfully completed the jump and
broke two world records. (Krohn, 2015) Now Red Bull has a solid brand and customer base.
They still aren’t focusing on promoting their products but a lifestyle of living on the edge and
extreme sports. (Krohn, 2015) With an exceptionally large budget, Monster energy brand has
tried to follow in Red Bull’s footsteps.
One of the Monsters commercial stars BJ Baldwin, a five-time US national off-road, and
three-time score series champion. (Monster Energy, 2016) The commercial starts out with the
monster logo beating like a heartbeat. What we can on assume, from her beautiful, manicured
names, is a woman driving an exceptionally beautiful sports car. She takes the corners and
curves as we assume Baldwin would, like a professional. It then fades to us watching Baldwin
put on his monster racing suit and helmet. After getting into this truck, of course, decked out and
decaled with the Monster logos, he is ready to go. He starts racing through town, over stairs, and
heads out into the desert. Baldwin racing across the Mojave Desert, at speeds we can only
assume are around one 150 mph, rounds the corner to see a beautiful woman, standing next to
her beautiful car in distress. She puts on the extra racing suit he has in his car, and they head
towards the Vegas skyline. After pulling into one of the many hotels on the strip, Baldwin hands
the valet his steering wheel. Both reveals, her perfect dress and his handsome suit, walking into
the hotel. They sachet in perfect sync, they are the couple everyone wants to be. As the screen
fades black, the monster energy sign flashes. This gave me the impression if you drink Monster
Energy drinks, you could have all this too.
Commercial link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXMyZ929lpY
The targeted market they are trying to appeal to here primarily consists of males from the
age of 15 to 40, who follow the lifestyle associated with extreme, action, and motor sports that
are popular today. (2021) Monster’s brand usually focuses on teens and youths, from large cities,
with all levels of income and social class, as its main targets. (2021) With such a young core
consumer base, this commercial focuses on the youthful ideas of extreme sporting events and
lifestyles. (2021) Some of their advertisements follow other of the most current trends like
motocross, skateboarding, and gaming. The internet has played a significant role in the strategy
as Monster has become the “gamer drink.” (2021) Their dangerous and edgy image, dark
packaging, and gigantic cans have created a strong identity in the growing energy drink market.
(2021) With its unusual packaging, Monster creates an immediate balance between its consumers
and the company.
This company has been positioning itself for many years now and have made change to
their colors and catch phrases overtime. Their trademark colors green, black, and white catch
your eye because they are not commonly used together. Green reminds us of trees, grass, leaves,
and being healthy. (2021) Also, this subconsciously makes consumers think that the product is
good for you, and all want to be healthy. The slash across the M gives the impression of the
strength from the beast that will be unleashed. (2021) Consumers see this and get a sense of pride
and strength from drinking Monster Energy drinks. (2021) It also feeds our need not to fail, and
not to be seen as unsuccessful or weak. Monster has presented itself as an elevated brand, with
famous athletes and stars. These influencers give us the yearning to be a part of that.
Rewatching the commercial for the third time, at my age, I did not find it to be effective
or persuasive. Running out to get a Monster Energy drink so that I could be grungy, edgy, or
strong wasn’t the feeling I had. It just felt like any other commercial played today, a tale of
adrenaline rush, with a little shock and sex appeal, seeking attention. On the other hand, I could
see how it would resonate with its target market and hit the nail right on the head. Red Bull also
used some shock and awe but in a unique way. They didn’t use some amped up version of a
damsel in distress, with the knight on his way to save her, and then they ride off into the sunset.
Red Bull grabbed the consumers attention but creating actual events. (Bergstrom, 2021) Some
could even change the things we know from science. (Bergstrom, 2021) Red Bull includes the
consumer in the events they are using to grab your attention instead of just adding in characters
to play a part. Monster needs to understand that those persuasive techniques, of half-naked
woman and souped-up cars and trucks, will work on teens and most men but they will always be
missing the female market. Women don’t want to watch other woman be portraited as objects
that need to be saved. We just want to be equals.
Previously, I explained how my product ads, for Red Bull, differ from Monsters but I
have some other ideas also. You can change the actual product and not really see a whole lot of
change to your sales in the brand but change something as insignificant and you could see your
brand fail overnight. (Krohn, 2015) Obviously, Red Bull has a significant strategy on how to stay
on top. They have become the leading energy drink, dominating the market with 24.9 % of the
shares. (Krohn, 2015) Although, Red Bull is doing great, there is always opportunity to do better.
Since Red Bull has already covered the market with ads of athletes, sports events, and manmade
flying machines, we should target markets to include artists. Red Bull could offer events that
allowed people to show their artistic abilities, instead of just their physical ones. Contestants
could use style and creativeness to create sculptures, paintings, or whatever else they can dream
up. The consumers could vote on what they found amazing and stood out from the rest, and who
they thought the winner should be. Then, Red Bull could use the winner’s pieces for their
content. So, they not only have the event to use as content but also the winner’s creation. This
could also be done with artists with a musical background. Not only would you end up with great
songs, featuring real people but music to use in commercials and advertisements. It would be an
exciting time thing to try!
Over the years, Red Bull has stayed strong and true to its brand of being a forward thinking,
life enhancing, and the leader in the market are no easy tasks. Monster, even though they tried to
copy Red Bull, missed the point. They have created something else that has been successful, in
part because of the market they have targeted. If they ever want to further open any market with
woman, or mature men, they are going to have to give their brand an overhaul. Red Bull is also
known to be edgy but not grungy. They are also known to be innovative. Red Bull created
motocross, and even Flugtag events because starting out they couldn’t afford to sponsor anyone
or have any money for advertising. (Bergstrom, 2021) That just goes to show, with a little
ingenuity you can do anything.
References:
Bergstrom, B. (2021, May 12). Red Bull Marketing Strategy: What You Need to Know + How to
Copy It. CoSchedule Blog. https://coschedule.com/blog/red-bull-marketing-strategy
Fripp, G. (2020, May 14). What is a subculture? THE Marketing Study Guide.
https://www.marketingstudyguide.com/what-is-a-subculture/.
Giving Wings to People and Ideas. Red Bull Energy Drink - Official Website :: Energy Drink ::
Red Bull US. (2021). https://www.redbull.com/us-en/energydrink/company-profile.
Krohn, C. (2015, July 11). How Red Bull Rewrote the Book on Sports Marketing. Samford
University. https://www.samford.edu/sports-analytics/fans/2015/how-red-bull-rewrote-thebook-on-sportsmarketing#:~:text=Red%20Bull%20Flies%20into%20the,of%20the%20Air%20Kiteboardi
ng%20event.
Monster Energy Drink Target Audience and Company Objectives Free Essay Example.
StudyMoose. (2021, February 22). https://studymoose.com/monster-energy-drink-targetaudience-and-company-objectives-essay
Monster Energy. (2016, February 16). MONSTER ENERGY INTERVIEW: BJ BALDWIN.
MonsterEnergy. https://www.monsterenergy.com/news/monster-energy-interview-bjbaldwin.
monsterenergy. (2013, April 1). Monster Energy: Ballistic B.J. Baldwin - #RECOIL. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmh-ew1swD4&t=330s