M560
Marketing Excellence – Red Bull
November 5, 2013

1. What are Red Bull’s greatest strengths and risks as more companies (like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Monster) enter the energy drink category and gain market share?

Although Red Bull is a fairly young brand, it is currently the worldwide market leader in energy drinks. Originally conceived in 1982, the drink was founded in Austria in 1987 and then went international in 1992 with its introduction into Hungary (“Red Bull SWOT Analysis”). Today, Red Bull sells more than 4 billion cans of energy drinks each year in more than 160 countries (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Red Bull’s success over the past ~20 years can be attributed to the company’s ability to highlight its strengths
Red Bull saw 40% year over year growth in Australia as a result of this partnership (“Red Bull SWOT Analysis”). Building on the success in Australia, Red Bull North America partnered with Ozburn-Hessy Logistics. In its first 90 days of operation in 2004, OH Logistics, Red Bull’s single national distributor, handled more than 16,000 shipments and opened five new locations in five separate states (“Red Bull SWOT Analysis”).
Despite its significant strengths, Red Bull also has weaknesses that it must overcome to remain successful in the highly-competitive energy drink industry. Red Bull’s small product base, lack of innovation, and significant marketing expenses present opportunities for competitors to overtake Red Bull as the market leader.
For years, Red Bull only offered one product, Red Bull Energy Drink, in one size, 250ml. In the last ten years, they have created two additional product offerings, Red Bull Energy Shots and Red Bull Cola. Each of these new products is just a slight variation from the original Red Bull drink (Kotler & Keller, 2012). During this timeframe, however, other companies like Coca-Cola, Monster, and Pepsi were introducing new products in an effort to overtake Red Bull. Red Bull has been able to maintain its market share, but its limited product offering and lack of innovation create significant opportunities for its competitors to gain a foothold in the market.
While Red Bull’s marketing strategies are highly effective they