Marketing Nerd

Red Bull doesn’t run ads.

It runs cliff dives, F1 teams, and space jumps.

While Coca-Cola bought TV spots, Red Bull became the TV show.

Here’s how they turned adrenaline into a media empire and sold 11 billion cans doing it: 

Founded in 1987 by Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull wasn’t just a new beverage, it was a new category.

But competing in the beverage industry (dominated by Coke & Pepsi) was nearly impossible.

So they built a brand that made people feel something.

Something extreme... 

Red Bull’s insight: if they couldn’t compete on price or scale, they’d compete on emotion and attention.

They created Red Bull Media House, a media company that produces:

• Films
• TV shows
• Live sports events
• Adventure content
• YouTube documentaries

Instead of buying attention, they earned it.

Red Bull aligned itself with high-risk, high-reward experiences:

• Air races
• F1 racing
• Cliff diving
• Mountain biking
• Skydiving from space (Felix Baumgartner)
• Surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding 

These weren’t just sponsorships, they were ownership plays.

They created the events, produced the content, and embedded the product into a lifestyle. 

In 2012, Red Bull sent Felix Baumgartner to the edge of space.

He jumped from 128,000 feet, broke the sound barrier, and landed safely on Earth.

8 million people watched it live & 52 million in the first month.

The jump was more viewed than the Super Bowl that year. 

Every Red Bull video, event, and story points back to one thing:

“Red Bull gives you wings.”

They created a world where drinking Red Bull means you live on the edge.

And when your brand becomes a cultural symbol, you don’t need to sell, people buy to belong. 

Today:

Red Bull sells over 12 billion cans a year

• Available in 173+ countries
• 2022 revenue: $10.9 billion
• 43% market share of the global energy drink industry

But more importantly...

They’ve built a brand that’s impossible to copy. 

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