The Outside-the-Box Marketing Techniques Behind Red Bull’s $16 Billion Success

Dietrich Mateschitz, the founding father of Purple Bull, is certainly one of my advertising heroes. Not solely is he an excellent enterprise individual however he’s an absolute genius of selling technique. Right here’s why.

The story of Purple Bull isn’t simply the story of a profitable beverage; it’s the story of pioneering advertising ideas and relentless product differentiation.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the founding father of Purple Bull, got here throughout a little-known vitality drink in Thailand and reworked it into a worldwide phenomenon.

By creating a definite product with a novel design and a strong tagline, “Purple Bull provides you wings,” Dietrich ensured the model was immediately recognizable, main it to develop into some of the profitable companies on the planet.

He leveraged owned media, took daring possession stakes in cultural traits, and used unconventional advertising techniques to generate buzz and word-of-mouth. His dedication to model consistency and differentiation not solely set Purple Bull other than opponents but in addition constructed a loyal buyer base and a $16 billion empire.

Exterior-the-Field Advertising Concepts from Purple Bull

As mentioned in a latest episode of Marketing Against the Grain, listed below are among the most modern methods that fueled Purple Bull’s success that may additionally apply to your personal enterprise.

Embracing — and Encouraging — Rumors to Generate Buzz

One of the crucial unconventional methods Purple Bull utilized to advertise model consciousness was encouraging and perpetuating rumors concerning the product (which I think about would drive most CEOs nuts).

For instance, Dietrich deliberately remained imprecise concerning the elements in Purple Bull, resulting in wild speculations that it contained weird elements like bull testicles. As an alternative of quashing these weird rumors, he leaned into them, even dedicating pages on Purple Bull’s web site to subtly add gas to the hearth.

This technique performed into human curiosity, the place thriller drove rabid curiosity and need. By not confirming or denying the rumors, Purple Bull stored individuals speaking and guessing, which in the end enticed shoppers to strive the product for themselves.

Dietrich knew that apathy was the worst factor that you might have as a enterprise. By always discovering methods to maintain individuals thinking about Purple Bull, he activated the brand to maintain it on the forefront of shoppers’ minds.

Leveraging FOMO to Seize Shopper Curiosity

Purple Bull excels in leveraging scarcity tactics to create a way of exclusivity and urgency. For instance, when Purple Bull was first permitted for distribution in England, Dietrich knew he wanted to draw the general public’s consideration — and rapidly.

So he had his crew place empty Purple Bull cans in trash bins throughout London, creating the phantasm that the drink was extremely standard.

This social proof tactic performed on the psychology of passersby, who would see the empty cans and suppose, “If that’s the case many individuals are ingesting this, it should be price making an attempt.”

Making potential prospects really feel like they had been lacking out helped drive preliminary client adoption and construct a loyal buyer base — to not point out growing model visibility and perceived reputation with out the necessity for costly promoting campaigns.

Excessive Revenue Reinvestment to Drive Lengthy-Time period Positive aspects

Dietrich’s deep perception within the energy of selling is a key motive why I think about him a advertising genius.

For instance, he was so dedicated to constructing a exceptional model and believed so completely in core marketing strategies that he opted to reinvest income again into advertising efforts, relatively than taking significant money out of the enterprise for over 20 years.

This long-term technique resulted in large dividends within the type of a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} yearly.

One in all my favourite case research on that is how Purple Bull organizes and funds extreme sports events, spending their advertising funds to professionally movie and broadcast them. They then supply this footage without spending a dime to TV networks to fill their airwaves.

This incentive-based technique secures beneficial airtime for Purple Bull with out the prices of conventional promoting.

Whereas opponents had been shopping for 30-second advert spots, Purple Bull was doubtless investing the identical sum of money in a fully totally different method — however having fun with hours of worldwide tv publicity reaching hundreds of thousands in consequence.

Honing Model Consistency and Product Differentiation to Drive Longevity

The tagline “Purple Bull provides you wings” has been a cornerstone of Purple Bull’s branding since Dietrich acquired a middle-of-the-night name from his pal on the promoting company.

This tagline was not only a catchy phrase however a mirrored image of the model’s ethos and dedication to serving to shoppers push their limits and obtain extraordinary feats, enabling Purple Bull to construct a strong, recognizable brand that resonated deeply with its audience.

This consistency additionally prolonged to their product packaging, with the slim, tall can turning into immediately recognizable and synonymous with the model. Dietrich understood the significance of being essentially totally different to face out.

He designed the Purple Bull can to be skinnier and taller, relatively than the brief, stocky design typical of different drinks, making certain their product was visually identifiable on cabinets.

This strategic differentiation, very similar to James Dyson’s strategy together with his vacuum cleaners, helped Purple Bull carve out a novel house available in the market, building strong brand recognition and loyalty.

Using (Counterintuitive) Waves to Drive Fast Progress

Dietrich’s advertising genius additionally lies in his means to identify and ride macro trends to drive business success.

This technique aligns with Charlie Munger’s ‘wave to surf’ metaphor, the place firms capitalize on bigger market alternatives to propel their very own development. In Dietrich’s case, he didn’t simply discover one wave to surf; he discovered three counterintuitive waves.

First, Purple Bull tapped into the acute sports activities wave, recognizing the rising reputation of adrenaline-fueled actions. Concurrently, they capitalized on the rising vitality drink wave, creating a brand new class of drinks at a time when there have been few established opponents.

Lastly, Dietrich leveraged the owned media wave by shopping for a soccer crew, internet hosting sporting occasions, and even sending a person into outer house. These daring strikes garnered large consideration and distinguished Purple Bull from its opponents, solidifying its place as an trade chief.

For an in-depth evaluation on Purple Bull’s advertising performs, take a look at the complete episode of Advertising Towards the Grain beneath:

This weblog sequence is in partnership with Advertising Towards the Grain, the video podcast. It digs deeper into concepts shared by advertising leaders Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Advertising at HubSpot) as they unpack development methods and study from standout founders and friends.