Marketing Programme Elements: Red Bull - Essay Example

Introduction: Marketing is the process of creating interest among the potential consumers and towards the products and services of a particular company. One of the important tasks of every manager in an organization is to understand the position of the company and to develop appropriate marketing program for the products and services that are produced by them. The success of every business is based on the ability of the firm to build budding customers who are highly satisfied with the product and who are very loyal to the company. Most of the modern marketing programs are centred on the marketing concepts that are most frequently practiced by the organizations. The results of the marketing program will be positive if the company successfully understands the customers’ taste and preferences. In the older days, marketing was just selling the product, but now the scenario has changed tremendously. Now the market identifies the customers’ need and they are induced to come and buy the product by creating a need in the minds of the customers. From the above sentence it is very clear that in the older days the companies were focusing on the products and services produced by them and they were not considering the customers’ taste and preferences. A marketing program can be effective only when it is capable to be productive at the right time. It should be designed in such a way that the product should be able to create a need in the minds of the customers and the customers should be induced to buy the product. The marketing program should also be able to solve the complaints of the potential customers and the customers should feel that the company is giving importance to them and their values are considered at the best. “Red Bull can be called as a pioneer in the energy drink category worldwide.” (Red bull: It gives you wings, 2008, para.1). Red Bull has adopted viral marketing strategy to attract its customers. Viral marketing can be defined as “Marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.” (Viral marketing: Word-of-Mouth Marketing, 2009, para.1). Marketing Programme Elements: “When it comes to building a successful marketing program there are three essential elements: the message, the market and the timing.” (Meldrum, 2009, para.1). For a successful marketing campaign, it is very much essential that the company should deliver right message at the right time to the right customers. If the elements mentioned above are not presented in the right way then the whole marketing program will be failure. Among these three elements, time is considered to be the most important element and it is very difficult to handle because the messages reaches the customers who are engaged in different buying process. Some customers will purchase the product very fast whereas for some it requires more time. The customers should feel that the particular product is useful for them, and then only they will think to buy that product. It is the responsibility of the company to create interest in the minds of the consumers by creating a need in their minds towards the product. This need is created through effective advertisement by the company. Red Bull focuses on all marketing styles to attract its customers. It focuses not only on the promotion of its products but also on promoting the life style of the customers by which the people will be willing to become a part of the Red Bull energy drink. Red Bull is focusing to obtain a high position in the energy drink segment in the market. Red Bull also expands to the hot spots to the less price sensitive geo-demographic segments. “Red Bull globally is known for buzz marketing.” (Red bull: It gives you wings, 2008, para.9). The company tried to focus on the opinion leaders by selecting students as branch managers from different campus throughout the world. All the selected members were provided free Red Bull cans and they were encouraged to conduct parties. The company also identified hot spots where all the members met together and product campaigning was done in the particular hotspots. The company also concentrated on the sport items where it was very easy to gain popularity. The brand owns the Formula 1 racing team, which increased the popularity of the brand. Most of the companies go for celebrities to advertise their product, but Red Bull sponsored high performing athletes who were not celebrities. Currently, Red Bull is sponsoring more than 500 athletes for marketing their product. Red Bull is advertising its product just to create a brand identity and not for increasing the sale of its products. Red Bull sponsors new events as well as old events and links them together. The other marketing program of Red Bull is advertising in television, print and sampling and point of sales promotion method through which the customers can be attracted towards the product. The company does not concentrate on any target segments. The advertisement in the television focuses on conveying the information about the energy value of the product. The company focuses on unique advertisement strategy, because the company believes that its advertisement will get more coverage by amplifying the effect on television. Strength and Weakness of the Company’s Marketing Programs: The marketing programs in any company will have its own merits and demerits or strength and weakness. This company has partnered with a pharmaceutical company and the brand was able to gain the credibility from the starting itself. The company has also pioneered to a new food category where the brand gained more fame for the new brand category. The company is well aware of its brand benefits. The marketing programme of the company does not concentrate on any specific consumption occasions which results in the elastic positioning ability for the product. The company practices direct product experience and viral marketing or word of mouth communication for advertising its products. The company believes that this is the right approach to build a strong and powerful relation with the customers who are interested to use this product. Certain events sponsored by the company also attract the individuals who have a natural inclination towards this product. The exceptionality of the events practiced by the company will help them to create strong relations with the customers. The company also focuses on its advertisements in televisions as their advertisements are easily malleable by the customers across the globe. The product sampling approach of the company is directed towards the customers’ needs rather than directing towards the traditional concept of marketing. We all know that none of the marketing programs is perfect in their operations. There will be certain weakness along with the strength. In the Red Bull marketing program there are some weaknesses that are clearly proved. The marketing program adopted by the company was not effective in establishing the expected use of the product. The management gave more consideration and emphasis on Red Bull as a blender in its existing viewers. The company was not able to gain the attention of the customers who are beyond the youth segment. Basically, the intention of the company was to extend its use among the youth and beyond the youth segments. A broader advertising campaign was adopted by the company. The advertising campaign was established to address the issues related to the product. The new advertising campaign introduced by the company was not much effective. The company did not focus to exhibit its usage in the advertisement. It was not elaborating the product usage, and therefore, it was very difficult to reach the old customers in the demographic segment, because the old segments require clear understanding about the product. Red Bull has immense competition from most of the beverage companies across the world. The major competitors are Coca Cola and Pepsi. In order to cope up with the customers, the company has to highly concentrate on its categories. Currently Red Bull is having strong brand recognition and by putting some efforts it can increase its fame. “The Red bull consumers are divided into three segments: athletes, clubbers and workers. Each of these using the Red Bull energy drinks to meet their personal needs.” (Strategic analysis red bull, 2008, para.2). The marketing effectiveness has made the company to enjoy the energy boosted benefits which helped to reach a large market segment that focused on the business, clubbers and athletes. Advertisement is considered to be the fastest and the easiest method to introduce the usage patterns of Red Bull among the customers. The extensive marketing efforts have made the company to maintain the market share which occupies the largest position in the energy drinks market. One of the latest issues that affected the sales of Red Bull is the presence of cocaine content in the drink. “Cans of Red Bull Cola being sold in Germany were found to contain traces of the Class A drug after experts ran tests on a key ingredient called coca leaf.” (Ervin, 2009, para.2). The company should consider this issue as an important factor; because the existing customers are the hidden sales force for this product and if they felt that their product is lagging in quality it will lead to the decrease in sale of the product and may lead to serious consequences. But “Red Bull Cola and other food that contains coca leaf extract is considered safe in the EU and US.” (Ervin, 2009, para.9). The aim of Red Bull is to maintain top brand status in the market of energy drinks and to differentiate it from the competitors who are producing similar products at a relatively less price than the Red Bull energy drinks. A thorough analysis of the marketing program of Red Bull concludes that initially the company was established to produce a single product, but later it started to slightly modify its energy drinks to different types. Presently, Red Bull is having a large number of customers across the globe from more than hundred countries. The company is largely dependent upon the viral marketing strategy, so it should concentrate more on the satisfaction level of the existing customers than attracting new customers. The persons who promote the product are the existing customers or the real users of the product. They are considered as the hidden sales force. If the company is able to maintain the existing customers, then it will be able to attract new customers without any additional advertisements whereby the company can reduce its advertisement expenditure. The company has already gained good reputation for its product over the entire world. Reference List Ervin, M (2009). Red bull cola pulled for containing ‘cocaine’. Metro. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from http://www.metro.co.uk/news/670842-red-bull-cola-pulled-for-containing-cocaine Meldrum, S. (2009). Elements of a successful marketing program for small business. Ezine Articles. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Elements-of-a-Successful-Marketing-Program-for-Small-Businesses&id=769055 Red bull: It gives you wiings. (2008). Marketing Practice. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2008/08/red-bull-it-gives-you-wiings.html Strategic analysis red bull. (2008). Oppapers.com. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Strategic-Analysis-Red-Bull/173174 Viral marketing: Word-of-Mouth Marketing. (2009). Marketingterms.com, Crucial Marketing. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/viral_marketing/ Read More