Case study on Red Bull - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Branding is about enabling people to identify a product from alternatives offered in the markets (Percy, 2003). “Brand equity is the creation of positive brand attitudes or service” (Schroeder et al, 2006). In other words, brand equity involves the creation of attitudes and perceptions that will enable a consumer to identify a product from alternatives offered by competitors. Although Red-Bull is a single product offering, it has been able to achieve brand equity across the world through its uniqueness and other factors that enable customers to identify it as unique and different from other soft drink and energy drink offerings on the market. In summary, its unique packaging (the blue, silver and red 250ml can) is famous around the world. Also, the unique content and effects on users is a very strong element of brand equity since it gives consumers a very positive physical, mental and health advantages that most competitors do not give. The Burnett model states that a brand equity has four main facades: personality image, source, differences and functions (Randall, 2000). In terms of personality image, customers around the world feel good about the health and mental alertness that Red Bull provides. They respect it as a premier energy drink because it does what a normal cup of coffee would do but with a very positive impact on the individual. Secondly, Red Bull seems to stand for good health, vitality and productivity and that is exactly how it is promoted and packaged as a revitaliser. Also, Red Bull was originally created to be different from all other soft and energy drink offerings on the market. Now that several similar products are available, Red Bull still maintains its distinct packaging and content which keeps it embedded in the mind of consumers. In spite of the universal nature of Red Bull's brand, there was the need for some variation in the brand offering in markets around the world. Dunn (2004) points out that there are six main processes that a business needs to go through before they can create brand equity and they are: 1. Market Analysis 2. Brand Architecture 3. Creation of a Strategic Branding Idea 4. Marketing Communication 5. Employee Involvement and 6. Measurement Market analysis involves scanning the dominant environmental factors in a country before offering your products in a country. For the case of Red Bull, the regulatory requirements, market penetration, presence of potential competitors and dominant culture played a major role in the establishment of the brand in Austria. This varied in other parts of Europe so their expansion into Europe required a high degree of analysis and understanding of the dominant culture. In growing from Europe to other markets around the world, Red Bull had to also understand the vital elements of these markets before they could move into them. Brand architecture involves the technical components of determining the brand's DNA (Dunn, 2004). Although the name, identity and character of Red Bull was sustained in most markets around the world, the vision, positioning, target market, emotions and pricing had to be varied based on the social, economic and cultural factors of the market they were entering. Thus we notice that the arrangements for entry into the UK market was quite different from that of the South African market because the political, economic and cultural structures of both countries required Red Bull to modify its brand penetration systems. I notice in page 79 ...Download file to see next pagesRead More