Marketing Strategies of Red Bull Energy Drink - Essay Example

?CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Table of contents Table of contents Introduction 2 Consumer Cognitive process and Attitude 5 The Psychology of Brand Marketing 6 Marketing Effects 7 The Hierarchy of Effects Model 7 Consumer Decisions and the Reasoned Action Theory 10 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction Companies increase the sales of their products through the application of appropriate marketing strategies which capture the attention of the consumers and arouse their desire for the brand which makes them interested in the product and thus lead them into taking the action of purchasing and using the product. According to Bouhlel, Mzoughi and Slimane (2011), success of a marketing strategy for a brand is based on proper assessment of the nature of the consumers and their purchasing behavior. Marketing strategies and methodologies must be objective and results oriented to enable companies to achieve higher sales and thus increased revenue. Because consumers usually pass through certain steps before they decide to purchase any given brand, a company should ensure that its marketing strategies are designed in a manner which ensures that the awareness of the consumer for the product is created first before the consumer is convinced to have an interest in the brand and thus purchase it. This paper gives a critical analysis and discussion of the marketing activities of Red Bull GmbH, in the promotion of their Red Bull energy drink to its consumers. Consumer behavior models and theories such as the Reasoned Action Theory, The Hierarchy of Effects Model and the Multi Attribute Attitude Model are used to illustrate how the Red Bull marketing strategies create a positive attitude of consumers towards the brand. Red Bull Red bull is an energy drink which was created in 1987 by an Austrian entrepreneur. It has become the most popular energy drink in the world. The energy drink, which is sold by Red Bull GmbH, has become an essential commodity and is used every day in many households across the world as described by Marketing Week (2006, p. 33). The marketing activities of the energy drink have been internationalized with aggressive promotional activities which aim at generating a positive attitude from the consumers of the energy drink as a way of having a competitive advantage over rival brands. Through sponsoring various sporting activities across the world, the marketing activities of the brand have influenced the behavior of the consumers which has resulted into the immense success of the company with ever increasing sales of the brand. Moreover, the appeal of the brand to the consumers has been made possible by the company’s hosting of various events in addition to the use of celebrities to capture the attention of the consumers and thus arousing their desire for the brand. The public image on Red Bull has been promoted by associating the product with the activities it sponsors or hosts and thus causing the consumers to be influenced by the power of the brand that is illustrated by its marketing images. Additionally, the company has also influenced the psychology of the consumers through the energy drink’s slender and well designed cans which are preferred more than those of its business rivals. Moses (2011, p. 23) says that the desire of the consumer for Red Bull is created by its slogan “it gives you wings” which is used in the energy drink’s marketing activities to influence the behavior of its consumers with an aim of making them to reach a decision of purchasing the product. Consumer Attitude Models Mazis, Ahtola and Klippel (1995, p. 38) say that it is through a positive attitude for a product that the interest of a consumer for that brand is created. To promote the attitudes of the consumers for Red Bull, the company has shifted the promotional activities of the brand from product branding to lifestyle branding. The consumers thus view the product as part of their lifestyle and thus the enhanced attitude for the brand. Khermouch (1998, p. 16) explains that the marketing activities for Red Bull have involved celebrities such as Eminem who have endorsed the brand and thus influenced the attitudes of the consumers who consider the drink as a part of ideal lifestyles such as that of the celebrities which they would be part of if they used the product. Mazis, Ahtola and Klippel (1995, p. 41) assert that according to the Fishbein’s Multi Attitude Attitude Model, overall attitude towards a given brand is determined by the customers’ analysis of the beliefs about the brand’s qualities and attributes. Through the use of celebrities, the marketing activities for Red Bull have thus influenced the attitudes of the consumers by making them believe that what the celebrities have endorsed is an ideal product and thus making them desire to use the product so that they would be part of the same lifestyle. Mazis, Ahtola and Klippel (1995, p. 46) explain that an individual’s attitude about a product can be a function of one’s beliefs in respect to attitudinal product, but can also be a function of the individual attributes importance on which the individual holds his or her beliefs. Attitude models define behavior as everything that consumers engage in and is correlated to the initial acquiring, using and eventual disposing of the products. Behavioral intentions are defined as the intentions of the consumers to act in a certain manner with respect to acquiring, use and disposal of the products. These behavioral intentions precede behaviors. It is therefore assumed that measures of behavioral intentions suggest the future actions of the consumers. Direct creation of beliefs can be done through cognitive learning and processing of information. It should be remembered that the core objective of brand promotion is to inform as well as to persuade and remind the consumers about a given brand that is being marketed. It is through the positive attitude that the consumers of Red Bull that their behavior in inquiry and use of the product has resulted and in return the company has been enabled to increase its sales throughout the world. Consumer Cognitive process and Attitude The thinking or reasoning process of consumers determines their perception and thus attitude towards a specific brand as said by Norman (2000). The perception of Red Bull’s consumers on the brand has been influenced greatly by the design of the energy drink’s packaging. Moses (2011, p. 23) illustrates that through the tall and slim Red Bull can design and the silver and blue colors, the cognitive processes of the consumer are influenced in a way that makes them to have a positive attitude for the brand as a result of the enhanced perception on the product. Good attitudes for the product mean that consumers are more likely to be influenced to purchase Red Bull as opposed to the rival products. According to Mazis, Ahtola and Klippel (1995, p. 47), consumer cognition process is a combination of knowledge, beliefs and meaning which form a holistic evaluation of the consumer on a product and thus a determinant of his or her decision to purchase and use the product. Choong (1998, p. 51) points out that cognition of a brand is measured by use of expectancy value and the cognitive response index. Strength of brand cognitions attitude correlation has proved to be stable against involvement factors and relatively unchanging to measurement. It is possible to compare cognitive response and measures of expectancy value within each condition involved. If consumer levels of involvement increase, there is bound to be a strong relationship among brand cognitions and attitude. This explains why the Red Bull brand and its design has aroused a strong cognition process among the consumers which makes the marketing activities of the brand succeed in promoting positive attitudes form the energy drink’s customers. The Psychology of Brand Marketing In accordance to Ries (2006, p. 9), successful brand marketing is aimed at using appropriate strategies which appeal to the consumer’s rational and emotional components of personality. This is made possible through the understanding of the psychology of the consumer which is a factor of his or her purchasing behavior. Marketers who promote their products through approaches which appeal to the customer’s emotional processes succeed in attracting the interest of the consumer to the product and eventual loyalty to the product. Red Bull’s “it gives you wings” slogan arouses the emotions and feelings of the users and thus their psychological component is inclined for the love of the drink which is attributed to the perceived strength that the energy drink would enable one to have. Gorse, Chadwick and Burton (2010, p. 348) say that through sports marketing, Red Bull has been associated with the power that has enabled various sports figures to succeed. The marketing activities of Red Bull include ownership of sporting teams and sponsoring various tournaments such as cycling, motor sports and athletics. In return, sports lovers who are emotionally engaged in the love of the sport personalities have psychologically been bound to the Red Bull Energy drink. Ries (2006, p. 9) explains that making consumers aware of a given brand name and the brand itself calls for an understanding of human psychology. Social behavior is complex and requires a thorough examination and understanding of human thought processes. Brand awareness therefore has a strong association with brand preference, which means customers will go for products that suit their needs, goals, emotions and values. This can best be analyzed using the combination model that holds that audiences or in this case the target consumers, respond cognitively from the exposure of advertisements. Beliefs developed from these brand advertisements impact on intentions, attitude and behavioral traits. Personal traits clearly impact on the cognitive responses that customers have towards a brand and towards the brand’s advertising as explained by Norman (2000). Emotional involvement with the consumers through the sports activities that they love has enabled the marketing strategy for Red Bull to cause increased sales in the sports activities that it sponsors and within many households across the world. Marketing Effects According to Ries (2006, p. 9), the effects of product marketing can only be felt if the marketing communication process is designed to influence the attitudes of the consumers. This is achieved by marketing messages and images which enhance the learning process of the consumers and thus enable them to store the information about the product within their memory. Retrieval of such information by the consumers results to decisions of whether to purchase and use a product or not. The decisions of the consumers on the use of a product are determined by the attitudes which they develop through the exposure to the marketing messages. The marketing communication for Red Bull energy drink is described by Khermouch (1998, p. 16) as designed to pass clear, understandable marketing messages and images in the most suitable manner so that a positive attitude of the consumers for the product is attained. The Hierarchy of Effects Model According to Madden and Dillon (1992, p. 472) awareness of the consumers about a product is the first and most crucial step in the marketing process. Abrahams (2003) illustrates that the marketing strategies of Red Bull energy drink uses various strategies and approaches in creating awareness of the brand within the potential and current consumers. Marketers should be aware that the consumers must be reminded continuously about the existence of a product in the market so that they would obtain the loyalty of the customers to the product. According to Khermouch (1998, p. 16) Red Bull marketing strategies involve the application of an integrated marketing which promotes the product via various media as a way of creating continuous awareness among the consumers. Madden and Dillon (1992, p. 473) describe the Hierarchy of Effects Model in consumer behavior as easily understood by the use of a ladder. First, objectives considered as lower level such as awareness, comprehension or knowledge of the brand is taken care of. Objectives that come thereafter may shift attention to moving prospects to a higher level in the ladder to take care of desired behavioral traits like feelings with the brand, regular use or trial. It is far much easier to achieve the low level objectives at the base of the ladder than the objectives at the top of the ladder. The number of prospective consumers or customers will go down as they ascend the ladder towards more action driven objectives like use of the brand regularly. The exposure of Red Bull to the consumers through the sponsored sports activities them to be continuously aware that the energy drink exists as the most powerful drink within the market and hence make them loyal to the brand. Choong, (1998) asserts that if a brand is to make good sales, consumers must be aware of the product. Thus the marketing communicator must build a solid foundation for awareness, for example, working towards name recognition, with simple but catchy messages which repeat the name of the brand. According to Madden and Dillon (1992, p. 473), marketing activities cause awareness within the market but knowledge by itself cannot be sufficient if the consumers are not helped to understand the important aspects of a product. Marketing messages should therefore demonstrate the attributes of a product which makes it unique and better than the rival brands. Abrahams (2003) illustrates that the marketing communication for Red Bull energy drink uses various strategies to allow consumers understand the power that the drink would kindle within them. Pickup trucks are used by the company to market the energy drink with eye catching silver and blue giant cans which are mounted on the trucks. This is used to demonstrate the drink as a brand which causes youthful energy within the consumers. Additionally, the marketing activities involve giving cans of the drink to people in streets who are branded as being in need of energy. Such strategies are aimed at causing the customers to understand the positive effects that the drink causes within the consumers. Madden and Dillon (1992, p. 472) asserts that it is possible that target consumers would be aware of the brand being marketed or advertised but lack knowledge about it. According to the Hierarchy of effects approach, understanding the brand name and its components is of vital importance in marketing a brand. Knowledge of a given brand name ensures that the target customers know the brand’s benefits and specific appeals. It also enables the customers to tell the difference between the brand and the competitors’ products which have already been released into the market. Abrahams (2003) illustrates that it is through the demonstration of the power of the Red Bull energy drink that its marketing strategies have been able to cause understanding among consumers and thus help them to distinguish the energy drink with other drinks such as Coca Cola. Consumer Decisions and the Reasoned Action Theory According to Mazis, M, Ahtola, O, and Klippel, R 1995, p. 41) the Reasoned Action Theory suggests that an individual’s behavior is dependent on his or her intention to put behavior into action and that this intention is as a result the developed attitudes towards a given product or service in relation to what is usually perceived as normal. This theory thus illustrates that intention is the most appropriate predictor of behavior and is determined by three factors. These are attitude towards a certain behavior, the perceived control of behavioral traits and subjective norms. This model holds that certain specific attitudes towards the behavior being scrutinized can be anticipated to predict that kind of behavior. This model is applicable in the development and implementation of communication strategies in brand advertisements and marketing drives in addition to conducting evaluation studies when trying to evaluate a company’s brand sales in the market in comparison to the competitors’ products. The marketing activities for Red Bull have an ultimate goal of causing consumers to take the action of purchasing and thus consuming the energy drink as said by Abrahams (2003). By the use of various promotional tools, the company aims at convincing the consumer to use the product which translates into increased sales and thus more revenue for the company. The behavior of the energy drink’s consumers is determined by the ability of the marketing strategies to convince the customer to make a purchase. The company achieves this through advertising the brand through both broadcast and online media in additional to the sports activities which the company sponsors across the world. Therefore it is through such promotional activities the company has been able to convince consumers to take action which justifies the immense success of the company in making huge sales of the energy drink across the world. Norman (2000) asserts that there are three types of decision making by consumers: habitual making of decisions, where there is minimal purchase involvement and no information from outside sources. Moreover, there is the limited making of decisions, where a consumer analyzes the limited alternatives but with the aid of external information, and finally is the extended decision making where there exists a variety of alternatives with the aid of wide and extensive information that has originated from both internal and external quarters. Khermouch (1998, p. 16) illustrates that it is through appropriate advertising of Red Bull energy drink that the company has been able to limit the alternatives of the consumer into Red Bull and thus making the drink the most competitive energy drink in the world. Conclusion The marketing activities of Red Bull energy drink brand are designed to create continuous awareness among the consumers about the existence of the energy drink and thus make the consumers interested in the purchase and use of the product. The attainment of marketing goals and the resultant increase in sales by the company has been made possible through the influence of the marketing communication messages and images on the attitudes of the consumers. The cognition processes of consumers are targeted by the marketing activities of Red Bull through promotion of the product via the media and sponsored sports activities and events. The Hierarchy of Effects Model identifies awareness as the first and the most important marketing agenda which is followed by creating the understanding of the consumers on the product with an aim of facilitating their decision making process for the purchase and use of a product. Through the application of psychology in marketing, the design of the Red Bull drink and its slogan has contributed to the retention of the loyalty of millions of the energy drink consumers across the world which is attributed to the success of the Red Bull as the most consumed energy drink in the world. 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