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Red Bull - How it sold 1M cans in its first year
Callum Booker
April 20, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutes
GM! It's Thursday, April 20th - Today, we explore Red Bull's journey from a rural energy drink to selling 1 million cans in its first year, and discuss Google Bard's credibility issues as employees label it a "pathological liar".
- Callum
FEATURE
Red Bull - The King of Marketing
Last year, Red Bull sold 11.6B energy drinks worldwide, earning the company $10.2B in revenue.
Unlike other companies that focus on perfecting their product, Red Bull’s main goal is to be a cultural mainstay that garners international recognition.
So, What’s the Business?
In 1976, Chaleo Yoovidhya devised the first iteration of Red Bull, Krating Daeng, a competitively priced energy drink that appealed to Thai fighters and laborers.
Yoovidhya soon struck a partnership with Austrian businessman Dietrich Mateschitz after he arrived in Thailand and fell in love with the energy drink as a jet lag cure.
Both entrepreneurs put $500k towards international expansion with Mateschitz heading the marketing campaign while Yoovidhya handled production.
This partnership turned out to be wildly successful– Red Bull now controls approximately 43% of the energy drink market.
From Local Thai Drink to Global Sensation
Phase 1: Rebranding a Thai drink for a European Market:
Carbonation: Red Bull was the first energy drink to hit Western markets. To help Europeans associate Red Bull with caffeinated soda, Mateschitz added carbonation to Yoovidhya’s formula and placed bubbles on the can.
Brand remodeling: The Thai name Krating Daeng, nor its English translation Red Gaur, would sell in a European marketplace. The gaur is a muscular bovine that Yoovidhya used to popularize the brand in Thailand. By changing the name to Red Bull, Mateschitz removed Thai working-class connotations and maintained a rebellious brand icon.
Target audience: Mateschitz introduced Red Bull as a high-end drink for adventurous people and party-going young people. He promoted the drink through parties at Austrian ski resorts, bars, and clubs, as well as sponsoring university campus ambassadors.
Mateschitz quickly created a market/message match and sold a million Red Bull cans in the first year.
Phase 2: A marketing first mentality for global domination
Red Bull allocates an insane 30-35% of its revenue into marketing, which amounted to ~$3B in 2022. Here’s how Red Bull spends that capital:
Purchase sports teams: Red Bull slaps their name on any sport they can, including soccer, racing, hockey, and even Esports. Whenever people discuss these championship winning teams, they can’t avoid bringing up the name Red Bull, and there’s a natural crossover between team loyalty and brand loyalty.
Invest in history: The Stratos project, in which a Red Bull athlete broke the record for the highest skydive, cost the company $64.8M. Economists estimate that this historic feat earned the company $6B in exposure.
Create brand boosting businesses: Destination Red Bull books unique vacations for thrill seekers. Alpha Tauri sells high-end fashion with iconic F1 racing themes.
Outsource production: Red Bull outsources just about everything to stay singularly focused on marketing– their energy drink is made by Rach, Alpha Tauri clothing comes from Schoeller, and Destination Red Bull is operated by The Travel Birds.
Don’t Overlook The Power of Culture
With each sports team victory and record-breaking feat, Red Bull acquires more real estate in the annals of history, which is an invaluable asset. Whenever Red Bull’s historic achievements are discussed, the company cements itself as a cultural icon and inherently profits.
TOGETHER WITH MONOGRAM
Help “Realign” The $19.4B Joint Replacement Industry
As many as 100,000 joint replacements fail each year, largely due to poorly fitting implants and outdated surgical tools.
But a company called Monogram has set out to reduce failures with their next-generation surgical robots.
They also have an investment opportunity open to our investors.
Before we get into that, here’s the problem they’re trying to solve and why you should consider investing.
Joint replacements haven’t changed much in 40 years.
In most cases, patients getting joint implant surgery will have their bone manually cut with a handsaw.
That often tears away more bone than necessary and can be imprecise. Given the number of failed replacements each year, we believe a change is needed.
Monogram is aiming to have the first active navigated robotic arm on the market. And they’re working to do it before 50% of joint replacements are expected to be robotic by 2030.
They have also filed 20 patents to work to protect their innovation.
Monogram is also planning a Nasdaq listing soon.
They have 17,000+ investors and have proven their surgical robots can replace knees on cadavers in front of 5,000+ live viewers, and they’re ready to take the next step…
You can invest right now.
Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Monogram Orthopedics’ Regulation A+ offering. Learn more at invest.monogramorthopedics.com/disclosures
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ON TREND
Bard Is "Useless" & A "Pathological liar"
The Takeaways:
Google employees labeled Bard as "a pathological liar" according to a report from Bloomberg.
The report cited 18 current and former Google workers as well as screenshots of internal messages. In these internal discussions, one employee noted how Bard would frequently give users dangerous advice, whether on topics like how to land a plane or scuba diving.
They're quoted as saying, “Bard is worse than useless: please do not launch.”
Bloomberg says the company even “overruled a risk evaluation” submitted by an internal safety team saying the system was not ready for general use.
Despite safety team's risk evaluation, Google opened Bard for early access in March.