
Red Bull's formula was invented in 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟲 by a Thai company called Krating Daeng.
It cost pennies to produce. Anyone could have bought the recipe.
An Austrian salesman named Dietrich Mateschitz 𝗱𝗶𝗱 — paid $𝟱𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 for the rights in 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟰.
He then built a $𝟭𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 brand from a drink that tastes like cough syrup.
Here's the exact positioning playbook that made it happen:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Energy drinks didn't exist as a category in the West.
Mateschitz wasn't entering a market. He had to 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 one.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 would have been:
- Compete with Coke and Pepsi on taste
- Advertise on primetime TV
- Get shelf space in supermarkets
- Compete on price
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘇 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱:
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗛𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱.
Red Bull launched in 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟳 exclusively in nightclubs, gyms, and petrol stations.
NOT in supermarkets. NOT in convenience stores.
Scarcity created status. Status created demand.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗛𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟮𝘅 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀.
Comparable drinks: $𝟬.𝟱𝟬–$𝟬.𝟴𝟬
Red Bull: $𝟭.𝟴𝟬+
The premium price was the marketing. "If it costs more, it must do more."
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁.
He didn't sell an "energy drink."
He sold "𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀."
The can was 250ml — tiny. Deliberate.
Not a refreshment. A 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: 𝗛𝗲 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁.
Red Bull didn't sponsor sports. Red Bull 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 sports.
𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗶𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲. 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗫-𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
By 2023: Red Bull 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀 across 𝟳𝟬+ 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀:
𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟳: Launched in Austria
𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟮: Entered Hungary — first international market
𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟳: Launched in USA (everyone said Americans would never drink it)
𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬: $𝟭𝗕 in annual sales
𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯: $𝟭𝟭.𝟲𝗕 in revenue | 𝟭𝟮,𝟰𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘀 sold globally
𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 % 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲: 𝟮𝟱–𝟯𝟱% — almost all events, athletes, and content.
𝗧𝗩 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱: nearly $𝟬 for the first 10 years.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻:
Red Bull didn't win by making a better drink.
They won by owning a 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.
"𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀" isn't a slogan. It's a 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄.
Buy the drink = join the tribe of people who push limits.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 → 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 → $𝟭𝟭𝗕 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲.
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