3. Brownstone & Partner 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 4
Introduction 6
Let People Relate 7
Make Sure People Are Watching 8
Fit The Campaign To Your Tagline 9
Corporate Social Responsibility 10
Be Committed To Your Brand 11
Conclusion 12
Bibliography 14
4. Brownstone & Partner 4
Executive Summary
With his jump from space in October of this past year, Felix Baumgartner did not only
break the sound barrier and other numerous records. He – or rather Red Bull – also
broke the rules of the marketing world that were thought to be set in stone. The
marketing stunt that Red Bull pulled off with its Stratos event dumbfounded people the
world over.
What does one man’s jump from the edge of space have to do with an energy drink?
The short and far too quick answer would be “absolutely nothing.” What this white
paper will do, though, is show how indeed the two things can now be thought of as
practically interchangeable. What did the millions of viewers see when they watched
the footage of the jump? Red Bull. It is as impossible to mention the event without
mentioning Red Bull, as it is to get a picture of it without the Red Bull logo.
Brownstone & Partner is Red Bull’s in-house marketing agency, and the company that
came up with this advertising campaign. They broke far more than the barrier of sound:
they broke the barriers of the current world of marketing, opened up a whole new
domain, and sent the unreachable horizon flying. Although the success of the campaign
has yet to be truly measured in numbers (Red Bull is currently privately owned and
hence isn’t on the stock market1
), it is clear that their fourth quarter profits will have
had a record high.
Brownstone & Partner delivered something new, and the second Felix Baumgartner
landed on the ground with his two feet, it was clear that this type of advertising was not
going to be a one-hit wonder. This was only going to be the first of many such
campaigns that the world was going to see. Agencies of all calibers have put pen to
paper and begun brainstorming on how to come up with something that might just
come close. It will become imperative for agencies to do so, as once a marketing barrier
has been broken, there’s no turning back. Marketing 2.0 is no longer a compete – it has
become a qualifier.
This white paper brings the backstage of the works closer to the reader. The reader
should understand why Red Bull and its marketing are indivisible, and why in fact
marketing campaigns such as the ones that Red Bull uses are slowly but surely becoming
quintessential for all companies to implement. This white paper explains the marketing
world’s transition from a compete to a qualifier. To explain, a qualifier is something a
company needs for it to be in business, as opposed to a compete, which is something
that pulls it ahead of its competitors. As an example, twenty years ago a company logo
was a qualifier, and its website a compete. Today, a company website is considered a
qualifier, and its advertising campaigns competes. And it’s the last leg: turning over-the-
1
Hammond, Ed, Red Bull: Where Marketing Goes Into Overdrive, Financial Times Online, 9/27/2011
5. Brownstone & Partner 5
top marketing campaigns from competes into qualifiers that Red Bull has taken into its
own hands.
What’s challenging is picking out the most essential parts of the campaign. This is what
this white paper does. It takes the campaign apart completely and then summarizes it in
five points – a clearly laid-out recipe for success.
1. Let People Relate
2. Make Sure People Are Watching
3. Fit The Campaign To Your Tagline
4. Corporate Social Responsibility
5. Be Committed To Your Brand
6. Brownstone & Partner 6
Introduction
Brownstone & Partner has worked with Red Bull since the day Dietrich Mateschitz went
searching for an agency to design the logo of his newly established company in 1987.2
Working with Mateschitz and his team to create the Red Bull brand has been an exciting
experience every step of the way. The collaboration of the teams works as excellently as
it does because of the shared understanding of what it is that everyone is trying to
achieve. The goal was to create something new, exciting, and extravagant. Something
that breathes, evolves, and lives. And this was achieved, thanks to the tireless efforts of
both teams, looking to reach and surpass horizons wherever they were spotted.
The work that goes into coming up with company colors, logos, fonts, and taglines is
something that practically every company goes through. Market research and targeting
certain market groups is something that is already one level higher. What Brownstone &
Partner’s cooperation with Red Bull has achieved, though, is the complete creation of a
brand. Red Bull is not like any other energy drink or even any other brand. It is a brand
that rings bells and sparks emotions. A brand that transcends into different parts of our
everyday lives and greets its consumers at all hours of the day. A brand that is alive and
tangible.
If your company doesn’t adapt the recipe for success laid out in this white paper,
chances are it will not keep up with the new era of marketing. Furthermore, it will not
be around too much longer to list its coulda, woulda, shouldas. The time is now. And the
recipe for success is in your hands.
2
Red Bull Website, Company
7. Brownstone & Partner 7
Let People Relate
All marketing campaigns and viewer records aside, the world needs to pause for a
minute and realize what happened on October 14th
2012. A man, 43 year-old Austrian
Felix Baumgartner, stepped out of a capsule at the edge of space – at 24.3 miles – and
jumped down to earth.3
His ascent broke the record of highest manned balloon flight,
and his descent the highest altitude jumped. During his jump, Baumgartner was the first
human to break the sound barrier without any form of engine power.4
Shortly after the Stratos took place, some communities across the world could not resist
the urge but to let their cynical side have a go at mocking it. Conan O’Brien offered the
platform, and Slim Jim their logo, and the World’s Shortest Freefall took place.5
Clearly,
neither of the two companies took themselves very seriously. In fact, their mockery
video didn’t even make it to one-tenth as many views as the Stratos one did.6
Why do we watch the Olympics? Why do we race? Why do we compete on television?
Why do we bet? All of these questions have one joint answer: Because we want to win.
We want to be number one. It’s Darwinism and it’s in each and every one of us.
We watch other people race because we can relate. This is the feeling that the Stratos
evoked in us. We wanted Baumgartner to be the first. To be the first to dare to go up
that high, and to dare to jump down. We wanted him to break the sound barrier, and
we wanted him to land safely. We were rooting for him. In fact, we were on his team.
The records broken by Baumgartner in October are inconceivable to most of us. What
does breaking the sound barrier even mean? How fast is that? It’s 760 miles per hour.
That’s faster than a commercial plane. It’s a speed that – unless you’re a jet pilot in the
Air Force – you will never experience, let alone experience in free fall. The past events in
our lives together with the knowledge that we have cannot even get us close to
understanding what Baumgartner felt. And yet, we’re right there with him. Our
adrenaline is high, and our mirror neurons are firing away.
We all strive to be special, to achieve something extraordinary, and to be remembered
for something. Most of us will never succeed. And so we need our hero. We need
someone who goes and does it for us and brings home the medals. We need to cheer
someone on. We need to relate to the person, the goal, and the success. Let your
consumers relate, and they’ll be on your side.
3
Red Bull Stratos Website, World Record Jump
4
Amos, Jonathan, Skydiver Felix Baumgartner Breaks Sound Barrier, BBC News Online, 10/14/2012
5
Stampler, Laura, Slim Jim And Conan O'Brien Present World's Shortest Free Fall, Business Insider Online, 10/17/2012
6
Team Coco, CONAN Exclusive: World's Shortest Freefall! - CONAN on TBS, YouTube, 10/16/2012
8. Brownstone & Partner 8
Make Sure People Are Watching
What good is a brilliant advertisement if no one ever sees it? No good at all. This is why
any marketing campaign’s goal is for it to be seen by as many people as possible. We
have commercials on the radio, television, in the form of billboards and magazine
inserts. We have banners on the internet, and of course we have word of mouth. These
and many more ways are how agencies try to convey their message to the public.
The Stratos would have had no worth at all had it not been seen by as many people as it
was. In the end, it was not about a man jumping from the edge of space. It was not
about breaking the sound barrier. It was a marketing stunt. The most impressive records
that were broken have to do with the number of viewers that watched it.
With over eight million concurrent viewers watching the jump live on YouTube alone,7
and millions more watching it on over 40 television stations and 130 digital outlets,8
this
ad broke all viewer records it could. In Austria, home of Red Bull and Felix Baumgartner,
close to 40% of the population watched the event live.9
Translated, that’s a higher
percentage than of the population that voted in this past presidential election in the
United States.
An estimated 65.6 million Dollars were spent by Red Bull on the Stratos.10
Can’t imagine
this sum paying off? Think again. If every live viewer were to buy one can of Red Bull
they would already surpass the break-even point. It’s clear to everyone, though, that
this figure was and will continue to be more than surpassed.
The Stratos is inseparable from the brand, which is what makes it so valuable to Red
Bull. Ben Sturner, founder and CEO of a NY-based marketing agency observed that "You
can't get a photo of Felix without the Red Bull logo and you can't talk about him without
talking about Red Bull Stratos.”11
Every news report, every image or mention of the
jump: Red Bull’s name was right there with it.
If you’re going to spend any money on marketing at all, you have to make sure people
see it. Make sure to reach as many viewers as you can. Only this will result in a
successful campaign.
7
YouTube, Mission complete: Red Bull Stratos lands safely back on Earth, Broadcasting Ourselves – The Official
YouTube Blog, 10/14/2012
8
Chun, Janean, Red Bull Stratos May Change Future Of Marketing, Huffington Post Online, 10/15/2012
9
Neumann, Fritz, Ein Rekord-Fall für die PR-Branche (A Record Fall for the PR Field), Der Standard Online, 10/15/2012
10
Neumann, Fritz, Ein Rekord-Fall für die PR-Branche (A Record Fall for the PR Field), Der Standard Online, 10/15/2012
11
Chun, Janean, Red Bull Stratos May Change Future Of Marketing, Huffington Post Online, 10/15/2012
9. Brownstone & Partner 9
Fit the Campaign To Your Tagline
A man falling from space at 833 miles per hour12
and the tagline to the brand is Red Bull
gives you wings. It can’t get any more perfect than that. The Stratos enforces the
brand’s tagline by telling the viewer that the jump was possible thanks to the wings that
were given to Felix Baumgartner by the drink.
The Stratos would have probably had a lot less of an effect had the tagline been Got
Milk? or the like. Viewers need to be able to associate the image they see with the
words that come to their mind, and vice versa. From now on, when someone here’s Red
Bull’s tagline, they will think of Baumgartner’s jump, and most importantly his landing
safely on the ground. With all the brands, their logos and taglines swirling around us all
the time, it’s crucial to come up with a both memorable and identifiable tagline.13
Clearly, when Red Bull first created their slogan, they didn’t even dream of the Stratos.
That’s not the order of events, of course not. The tagline comes from founder Dietrich
Mateschitz’s love for airplanes and flying.14
When the Red Bull team sat down to discuss
their newest marketing campaign, though, they made it a priority to build it around
their tagline.
It’s undisputable that Red Bull could have created a million and one more mind-blowing
ideas, but what they needed was the perfect fit. Red Bull is an energy drink that can
keep its consumers active even when working on close to zero hours of sleep. It truly
does wonders, just like Stratos was a wonder. It was an achievement like no other. The
way it was executed, broadcasted, and the success it turned out to be was exactly what
the brand stands for.
When creating a campaign, it needs to go hand in hand with your brand’s tagline. Make
sure your tagline can be differentiated from all the others out there. The campaign you
create needs to be built around and traceable back to your tagline. When someone
hears your brand’s words, you want inductive reasoning to bring them to you as
consumers.
12
Discovery News, Red Bull Stratos Mission Success!, Red Bull Stratos Skydive Live Feed, Discovery News Online,
10/14/2012
13
Gatbonton, Aurora, 77 Catchy and Creative Slogans, Hongkiat Online, 3/4/2011
14
Paur, Jason, Peek Inside Red Bull’s Toy Box, Wired Online, 1/28/2011
10. Brownstone & Partner 10
Show Corporate Social Responsibility
“That awkward moment when you realize an energy drink has a better space program
than your nation,” was a quote that spread around the internet like wildfire in the days
following the Stratos. The thought was very to the point. Does Red Bull in fact have a
better space program than NASA?
One thing is for sure: They have more money that they can spend on the research that
goes into projects of that kind. In 2010, President Obama called for an end to NASA’s
moon program.15
A big reason was of course cutting government spending on research
that was not essential. So if someone does have enough money and willingness to put
into a project such as the Stratos, why shouldn’t they?
A big part of corporate social responsibility is making a marketing strategy out of it.
Donating partial profits, whole shoes, or food are only a few ways that companies go
about doing good. The companies look good in the eyes of the consumer, making them
more likeable, and in turn the preferred brand. This is how the phrase “doing well by
doing good” came into being.
The groundwork for the Stratos project was already laid in 2005 – seven years before
the final jump took place.16
Clearly, there was not only the marketing aspect to work on.
What Red Bull was working on was scientific research, calculations, experiments, and
test-runs. They invested time and money into a project, which today the NASA and
many other scientists are very interested in.17
The technology of the suit that
Baumgartner wore during his jump is phenomenal, just as that of the parachute he used.
Yes, the suit and the parachute had the Red Bull logo on it. As did the capsule
Baumgartner ascended in, and everything else that Red Bull could put their logo on. This
does not diminish the scientific advancements that were made in the process of the
project, though.
When creating a campaign, come up with ways to merge it with corporate social
responsibility. Companies should be socially aware enough that they make sure to be
socially responsible. When spending as much money as they do on marketing campaigns,
it doesn’t hurt to also benefit society in the process – in fact, it helps.
15
Chang, Kenneth, Obama Calls for an End to NASA’s Moon Program, New York Times Online, 2/1/2010
16
Red Bull Stratos Website, Mission History
17
Amos, Jonathan, Skydiver Felix Baumgartner Breaks Sound Barrier, BBC News Online, 10/14/2012
11. Brownstone & Partner 11
Be Committed To Your Brand
To not only be successful but more importantly to remain successful, companies must
invest in marketing. What is marketing? Investing in themselves. It’s betting on
themselves and their brand that putting more money into the business will turn into
bigger profits.
That companies have to invest some money into marketing is obvious. No marketing
would mean no consumers and in turn no profits. Some go even further when
explaining the quintessence of marketing. Peter Drucker, a leading expert on
management theory, said that marketing “encompasses the entire business. It is the
whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is from the customer’s
point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all
areas of the enterprise.”18
The answer to the question of how much companies should be spending on marketing
varies, but usually it doesn’t go over 10% of revenues. In fact, often one reads that just
1% or 5% of revenues is good money spent on securing steady growth.19
Red Bull goes a
lot further. Its spending on marketing is estimated to be at 30% to 40% of its revenue.20
Why does Red Bull spend this much money? For one, they want to dominate the market
and the best way to this is by knowing your consumer inside and out and by reaching
out to them as often as possible and getting your message across. What is more
important, though, is the belief in one’s own brand. If a company doesn’t think it’s going
anywhere, it won’t bother putting a lot of money into marketing. That is relatively self-
explanatory. If it feels there is nothing to gain, then why risk anything at all? Red Bull is
on the opposite side of this spectrum in terms of its mentality. It feels it has everything
to gain, and it’s willing to put down huge sums of money to win it all.
For a consumer to have loyalty and trust in a brand, must the brand not show the same
sense of loyalty and trust in itself, as well? Red Bull is committed to being the number
one brand on the market, and they believe that they can do it. They are willing to put
whatever it takes and more into achieving this goal.
Be committed to your brand. Make sure you invest a substantial amount of your
revenues into marketing. Both the sign of assurance and the results that the invested
money brings will pay off.
18
Archer, James, Why do successful companies keep investing in ongoing marketing?, Forty Agency Website,
10/5/2012
19
Visual Scope Studios, Marketing 102, Visual Scope Website, last visited: 12/1/2012
20
Kemp, Nicole, Six Marketing Lessons From Red Bull Stratos, Marketing Magazine Online, 10/19/2012
12. Brownstone & Partner 12
Conclusion
Red Bull’s Stratos campaign undoubtedly broke the barrier of common marketing. It
opened the door to an entire new domain and a new horizon to be reached. It is
challenging to identify what the tools that they used are, and what their recipe to
success was. Red Bull followed five golden rules, which are the keys to success in this
new world of marketing 2.0.
The Stratos was an exciting and actually nerve-wrecking event. Will he make it? What
records will be broken? How fast will he fall? It’s a natural human desire to want to
succeed. Reality is, only the fewest of us will ever fully do. We need heroes to do things
that we can’t. We need people who can be the fastest, the first, and the best. Red Bull
offered a man who did something that seems superhuman. And although almost none
of the viewers knew Felix Baumgartner personally, on October 14th
, everyone watching
was on his team, cheering for his success. Have a campaign people can relate to.
The key to any great marketing strategy is making sure enough people see it. An empty
gallery opening, book reading, or film screening are not the key to spreading the word
about your brand. There were 8 million viewers watching the Stratos jump live on
YouTube alone, and many millions more watching via television or other digital outlets.
People need to see your campaign. Your consumers need to be reached.
Build your campaign around your tagline. The most perfect fit in marketing is when a
campaign goes hand in hand with the brand’s tagline. Like this, the campaign and the
tagline can be used interchangeably, thereby reaching more platforms, ears, and in turn
consumers. Have your campaign make sense for what your brand stands for and what
you want to be associated with. Choose your tagline wisely, and then ensure its
implementation wherever possible.
Do well by doing good. Corporate social responsibility is not only a marketing stunt. It is
also an absolutely valid way of benefiting society. As a socially responsible corporation,
you should spread awareness that your brand is benefiting the world somehow. Make
yourself likeable – consumers will prefer you over another company that is perhaps
doing less for society.
If you expect brand loyalty from your consumers, be brand loyal yourself. Be committed
to your brand and show it by investing into marketing. Always make sure to take a
substantial sum of your revenues and put it back into your company. You need to show
that you are committed and going above and beyond, and never settling for what you
have. Do what you can to stay on top of marketing your brand and stay ahead of the
game.
13. Brownstone & Partner 13
Red Bull’s marketing stunt Stratos will be remembered for many years to come, and the
project was only the start to a great new world of marketing. Their in-house marketing
agency, Brownstone & Partner, ensured the success of this project. The minute
Baumgartner landed back on earth, agencies around the world started brainstorming
about what they could do to even come close to the project. If they use the five key
points that were mentioned, they will be sure to achieve it.
14. Brownstone & Partner 14
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15. Brownstone & Partner 15
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