Red Bull Spreads Its Wings, Turns to Media Sales

Over the last decade, Red Bull has bolstered its list of brand endorsers in an effort to develop content that would appeal to a larger audience. In particular, the brand has targeted athletes and entertainers that are attractive to young consumers. Red Bull has worked with their endorsers, which include 24 year-old PGA Tour sensation Rickie Fowler and 19 year-old pro surfer Kai Lenny, to create branded video content. The company has produced media stunts such as Rickie Fowler's "Red Bull Capital Drive," in which the golfer hit wedge shots to a green that was installed in the middle of a fountain in downtown Washington D.C. Another popular video shows Miami Dolphins' Running Back Reggie Bush flying a small Red Bull-branded plane high above Salzburg, Austria. In all, the brand has produced almost 1,000 hours of footage --- and expects to ramp up the content in 2013. 

This strategy has paid off in a big way, expert parachutist and Red Bull endorser, Felix Baumgartner's supersonic fall reaching 32 million views alone. Their creative marketing plan has helped boost sales to over $7 billion in 2012. However, the company now has plans to use this content not only to entertain their young consumers, but perhaps to generate some new revenue streams.

According to the Wall Street Journal's John Jurgensen, Red Bull, often admired by industry analysts for their boldness, is now looking to "sell downloads of its self-financed movies, licensing its shows to TV networks and pocketing ad revenue from its thriving YouTube channels." Red Bull's bottom line would no doubt benefit by generating these new revenue streams. However, they would likely risk alienating their young consumer base, many of whom may not be able to afford the paid-downloads. 

With a monthly magazine that has an existing international circulation of 2.7 million, an ongoing program  on NBC, and an endorser list that includes a number of celebrities well-suited to create buzz-worthy content, Red Bull is in a great position to capitalize financially on the success of their media programming. However, with already-booming retail sales, and an abundance of brand-loyal Generation Y'ers, it is very much debatable whether they should attempt the transition into media sales.