"Red Bull Stratos Shatters Records - and traditional notions of marketing"

From Fast Company and USA Today

Review by Jason Gannon in KIN 332 (section 2)

The article I choose to do my presentation on was about the marketing implications of the Red Bull Stratos Project. In the article they talk about a project sponsored by Red Bull where a man freefalls from space. The freefall jumper was Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgratner, who started working on the idea with Red Bull in 2005. Just the other day, October 14th, Baumgartner set breaking records for longest free fall of 4 minutes and 20 seconds, farthest freefall of 119,846 feet, and highest max velocity of 833.9 miles per hour (faster than the speed of light).

The question then is, why would did Red Bull sponsor something like this? Red Bull was able to expose their name and logo to millions of people. The event was streamed live through Youtube where it set the record of 8 million live viewers streaming. The event is also going to be featured in documentaries on BBC and National Geographic Channels. The fact that television networks like BBC and National Geographic are running special programs about this event shows the bridge Red Bull has successfully created in reaching new markets. Red Bull will be able to enjoy recognition and admiration in a setting that wouldn’t normally feature an energy drink brand.

I believe this was a great strategy by Red Bull. By now we are all accustom to seeing extreme sports athletes drinking Red Bull like Shaun White, and Travis Pastrana. Not only did the Stratos Project appeal to extreme sport enthusiast, but also it tapped into a whole new market. The event was watched by millions of people with all different backgrounds and interests. Viewers range from scientist all the way to professional football players. Red Bull was successfully reached millions yet never mentioned their actual product once.

As consumers we are constantly exposed to different kinds of marketing efforts. What’s so unique about Red Bull is how they go about their marketing. They sponsor snowboarding events, the flutag contest, a formula 1 team and now a man free falling form space. All of these are great exposure for the brand but have nothing to do with the actual selling of an energy drink. Through Red Bulls ingenious marketing plans they have successfully associated themselves with thrill seeking and action sports. This is a good strategy since much of Red Bull customers are from this niche and believe in Red Bull’s mission statement of: “Red Bull Energy Drink has been developed for people who want to have a clear and focused mind, perform physically, are dynamic and performance-oriented whilst also balancing this with a fun and active lifestyle.”

So why are so many extreme sport athletes sponsored by Red Bull? Is it because the drink helps them preform or give them wings? There might be some truth to the effects of the drink on performance but ultimately Red Bull is responsible for a lot of extreme sports popularity and growth. Red Bull has continuously put these athletes in the spotlight, and set the stage for them to continue to push the boundaries and limits of their respective sports. It’s a mutually beneficially relationship in which each side benefits. Red Bull creates the stage for these athletes to perform and return Red Bull continues to expose their name and further their company image. In an industry that doesn’t have a leader in equipment or apparel, Red Bull looks to fill that void of being the extreme sports sponsor.

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Review by Daniel Allen in KIN 332 (section 1)

Red Bull has been the worldwide leader in promotion of extreme sports and they just catapulted themselves even further in front of the competition with the stunt pulled off by Felix Baumgartner. Mr. Baumgartner successfully skydived from the edge of space back down through our atmosphere and back to earth. The jump was watched my many on live television and by millions through YouTube within days after the jump. This Red bull “stratos” project as it was called had been in talk since 2005 with equipment being built by 2007. It was the perfect extreme sport marketing event to thrust forward Red bull in front of all their competitors. Mr. Baumgartner, the 43 year old skydiver, pilot, and stunt coordinator was the perfect man for the jump. The jump was a whopping 24 miles or 128,100 feet above the earth and according to the preliminary data he reached speeds of 834 mph or a speed of Mach 1.24. In doing this became the first person to go faster than the speed of sound without a jet or spacecraft. Red bull had a strong fan base before the jump but this jump personified there label perfectly. Steven Addis, chief executive of Addis Creson, a brand strategy company based in Berkeley, California, said “the Red Bull Stratos project was a high-risk, high-reward event that not only meshed the jump with the brand by not only connecting the taste of the drink but the power it delivers its consumers.” Red bull is literally giving themselves wings. They were one of the first to start in the energy drink market and now they are flying high by being the sole sponsorship of the jump and having everyone seeing that crafty bull and his wings on the helmet of Mr. Baumgartner.

"Athletes Brady, RGIII Buck Nike's NFL Sponsorship (in Practice)"

From Advertising Age

Review by Brian Barlow in KIN 501

The article I am going to review is Athletes Brady, RGIII Buck Nike's NFL Sponsorship (in Practice). This article discusses the current issue with players in the NFL being sponsored by other companies than the sponsor of the league itself (Nike). Last spring, Nike took over as the new equipment and apparel sponsor of the NFL. An issue that will always arise is when players are sponsored by other companies; in this case it is Tom Brady who is sponsored by Under Armour and Robert Griffin III who is sponsored by Adidas. The article explains how the first issue with sponsorship this season was when Robert Griffin III wrote the word “Heart” over the Nike swoosh on his warm up shirt during the pregame of his bout against the New Orleans Saints. The article reveals that the NFL contacted Griffin about the cover up and how he hasn’t tried to do it again since. The other incident the article describes is with Tom Brady. After practice one day at a press conference, Tom Brady put a piece of tape of the Nike swoosh on his shirt for the interview. Tom was never contacted by the league about this action, because “Policy only pertains to game day.” The article ends with quotes from the former Creative Director of Nike, Ernest Lupinacci. Lupinacci is quoted saying that the fact that these players are worried about covering up logos and such is “diminishing” to the players’ reputation. 

In my opinion, I don’t see anything wrong with doing these things on practice days like Tom did. I can somewhat agree with Lupinacci about doing this on a game day when one should be totally focused on the game and not focused about covering up logos and such. I found it interesting that covering up the logos ironically brought more attention to Nike because it turned into a public issue through the media and such.

"Role of the Internet Site in the Promotion Management of Sports Teams and Franchise Brands"

From the Journal of Promotion Management

Review by Ashley Schneider in KIN 501

The article explored the use of a Website and its influence as being a factor to build an allegiance to a brand new sports franchise. The researchers explored the concepts of promotion types, the attachment theory and how it affects sports fan, as well as the Psychological Continuum Model, and the concepts of an effective website and examined the Tallahassee Titans. When examining the types of promotions, they did know that these encouraged fans to be allegiant and promote a fan from a possibly attracted fan to an allegiant fan. The researchers did take note that these promotions could be used for a sports franchise that is just starting and trying to build a fan base. The article goes on talk about attachment theory and how it attributes to creating an allegiant fan. Mostly, the attachment theory examined how a team would need to create an experience that fans value, both emotionally and psychologically. The psychological continuum model picks from there explaining the stages that are involved for allegiance to occur. Allegiance can only become a reality when a person has recognized the team, favors a team, and perceives the value of the team. Once those steps have occurred, an allegiant fan is a possibility.

As a reminder, the research wanted to discover the influence a website had on developing this allegiance. Each one of the aspects needs to be involved in creating a webpage that enhances the experience of the team, and creates the allegiance. McClung et al (2012) examined the experience of the Tallahassee Titans, a former member of the American Indoor Football League. The Tallahassee Titans had an allegiant fan base before the players even stepped onto the field. They were able to do this by understanding the concepts of successful promotions, the attachment theory, the psychological continuum model and the important aspects of a website.

McClung (2012) concluded that the Tallahassee Titans website was effective in implementing and recognizing the process of creating an allegiant fan. Their marketing strategies were spot on and 58% of their attendees at the first game had already visited the website and could claim some sort of allegiance to the team.

I enjoyed reading this article especially when they were able to use a specific example of how it is possible to create an allegiant fan base. This will be extremely helpful to implement other marketing strategies that may come my way in my career. There were several other factors that the researchers may have neglected that could have influenced the strong fan base for the Titans, but they do mention that flaw in their discussion. It would be interesting to know if this could be possible if it were to happen now after the influx of social media, and if so, would it result in even higher numbers of allegiant fans.