Red Bull WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF RED BULL
PROBLEM Red Bull has been highly successful in establishing their brand in the energy drink market within the United States. Research has revealed that there is exponential growth potential in the overall sports and energy drink market overseas in East Asia. Red Bull would like to take the success that they ve attained in the United States and replicate that success in China, Japan, and South Korea. To do so, Red Bull must have a sound marketing strategy that will effectively adapt their already established brand in order to appeal to the unique culture and people in the aforementioned Asian nations, informing consumers about our product and persuading them to try it.
CRITICAL FACTORS
TARGET AUDIENCE
CURRENT MARKET SOUTH KOREA 2011 CHINA 1995 JAPAN 2006
COMPETITORS Red Bull was introduced into the United States market in 1997. It was the first of its kind, with no previous competitors or similar products in the market. Because of this, the energy drink market in the United States took off, with Red Bull being the obvious lead competitor (by a landslide). This is not the case in East Asian countries, such as China, Japan and South Korea. These countries have had energy drinks or similar products in their countries since the early 80s. Red Bull entered East Asia as a newcomer when it is already heavily saturated with similar products that East Asian consumers are extremely loyal to.
CURRENT ADVERTISING Welcome to the world of Red Bull In 1997, Red Bull introduced the It Gives You Wings slogan along with the first Red Bull Flugtag in Vienna, Austria. Welcome to the World of Red Bull ads in 2013 and 2014 with 30 second spots featuring extreme athletes competing in their sport. Mainly targeted young male athletes 18-24 years old. Events Red Bull focuses on the opportunity to create events all over the globe rather than just sponsoring events that already exist. By doing so, Red Bull is able to cater specifically to the culture of the chosen country while still reaching a worldwide audience. Red Bull taps into exciting new sports, such as ice cross downhill racing, and creates events like Red Bull Crashed Ice to be held in areas with winter sports. The most famous Red Bull event took place in 2012 when Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartner made a record-breaking sonic jump from 24 miles off the ground Since Red Bull is a global brand seeking to expand further, the ability to focus on culture in an exciting way is vital to their efforts. Sponsorships Red Bull sponsors athletes and sports teams that promote the Red Bull lifestyle. Red Bull sponsored athletes include American Olympian, Lindsey Vaughn, French soccer star, Theirry Henry, and Israeli skateboarder, Boaz Arrow Aquino. Red Bull also owns the New York soccer team, the New York Red Bulls. Athleticism is extremely important to the Red Bull brand. Being associated with the collective strengths and victories of these athletes serves to build a positive brand identity.
MEDIA USAGE MINUTES 100 CHINA JAPAN SOUTH KOREA 50 TV PC SMART PHONE TABLET
CULTURAL DIMENSIONS CHINA JAPAN SOUTH KOREA 100 50 POWER DISTANCE INDIVIDUALISM MASCULINITY UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE LONG TERM ORIENTATION
RECOMMENDATIONS WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF RED BULL
STANDARDIZATION
MARKETING OBJECTIVE Test the East Asian energy drink market by attempting to increase Red Bull sales and market share by 3% during the 2016 fiscal year.
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE Inform the East Asian market about the Red Bull brand and product benefits. Increase brand awareness and brand likability among the East Asian market by communicating the universal brand image. Persuade the East Asian market to switch from local Asian energy drink brands to Red Bull and create a lasting preference for the Red Bull brand and product.
BUDGET BUDGET $15 million China $25 million $60 million Japan South Korea
MEDIA MIX CHINA SOUTH KOREA 5% $3 M 5% $750, 000 15% $9 M Digital 15% $2.25 M Digital TV TV 20% $12 M 60% $36 M IMC Outdoor 20% $3 M 60% $9 M IMC Outdoor JAPAN 5% $1.25 M 15% $3.75 M Digital 20% $5 M 60% $15 M TV IMC Outdoor
PROS CONS The common theme of high long term orientation among each country provides a consistent brand strategy to use among the East Asian market. Using the same strategy across all markets reduces advertising and marketing costs. Red Bull can control the image projected across all brand communication in the East Asian region. A unchanging strategy creates the opportunity for global communication across new regions. Heavy competition in the East Asian region can stifle growth when using a non-targeted strategy. There are high cultural and social differences among each target country. Each target country has varying values and purchase behavior, as well as attitudes toward the energy drink market. Each target country has conflicting media consumption habits. EXPECTED OUTCOMES NEAR expects that using a standardization strategy in such a highly saturated market will not allow for Red Bull s sales to increase. Each country in the target audience is highly segmented and requires targeted strategies that fit their personal ideals and cultural values. Using an overarching theme to reach each country could lead to conflicting views toward the Red Bull brand and allow the brand and their message to get lost among the clutter.
LOCALIZATION
MARKETING OBJECTIVE Increase Red Bull sales and market share by 3% in China, Japan, and South Korea during the 2016 fiscal year. Individually test the market increase or decrease in each country for further review.
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE Connect with the individual cultural values of China, Japan, and South Korea with Red Bull s brand values. Inform the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean markets of Red Bull s product benefits for each specific country. Increase brand awareness and likability among each country. Persuade the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean markets to make a permanent switch to the Red Bull product over the East Asian leading competitors. Create a loyalty and preference for the Red Bull product in each country.
BUDGET $15 million China $25 million $60 million Japan South Korea
MEDIA MIX CHINA JAPAN 25% $15 M 15% $9 M 35% $21 M Digital Mobile IMC 5% $1.25 M 10% $2.5 M 25% $6.25 M TV Mobile IMC 25% $15 M Outdoor 60% $15 M Outdoor SOUTH KOREA 10% $1.5 M 10% $1.5 M 10% $1.5 M 30% $4.5 M TV Mobile Digital Outdoor 40% $6 M IMC
PROS CONS Using a more localized message for each country could be a more effective use of the overall budget. The strong cultural and social differences among each country provide a strong strategy to individually target each market with specific message. Strategically sound messages are more likely to be successful and communicate effectively with each country. By carefully crafting the message around each country, the chance of cultural blunders drastically decreases. Overall cost of the campaign could increase because of more agency work and production costs. The overall brand message could become skewed since there are different advertising strategies used in each country. The company could lose control over the brand image if it is continuously working change their brand to the needs of the target. EXPECTED OUTCOMES NEAR expects that using a localized message will create a strong, lasting connection with 18-34 year old males in China, Japan, and South Korea. The brand image and message will stand out among the highly cluttered market of energy drink advertising in East Asia. Because of the significant differences in local culture, stages of economic and industrial development, media availability, research availability, legal restrictions and population size, the more targeted and specific strategy for each country will lead to an ultimately successful campaign.
ADVERTISING & IMC
CHINA Low Uncertainty Avoidance
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISEMENT
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISIMENT Red Bull China 20 minutes ago Welcome to the world of Red Bull, where adventure is right outside your door.
RED BULL SHANGHAI TABLE TENNIS MASTERS
JAPAN High Masculinity
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISEMENT Welcome to the world of Red Bull, where the day is yours for the taking.
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISIMENT Red Bull Japan 20 minutes ago
RED BULL TOKYO KOBAYASHI FINALS
SOUTH KOREA Low Individualism
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISEMENT Welcome to the world of Red Bull. Your friends will thank you later.
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISIMENT Red Bull South Korea 20 minutes ago Welcome to the world of Red Bull. We travel in packs.
RED BULL SEOUL FIGHTER KITES
CONCLUSIONS & EVALUATIONS WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF RED BULL
CONCLUSIONS & EVALUATIONS NEAR recommends that Red Bull go forth with the localization strategy. The localization strategy will aid Red Bull in finding the same success in China, Japan, and South Korea that they have become so used to achieving in the United States. Each of these nations has varying cultural dimensions that Red Bull must appeal to individually in order to have an effective marketing strategy. We will evaluate the success of the campaign throughout the entire year that the campaign runs. We will monitor sales growth, market share, and brand and product likability and awareness during this time. Sales growth and market share will be evaluated on a monthly basis, and we will encourage consumers to take brand likeability surveys at our IMC events. At the conclusion of the year, we will take all these results under consideration and decide whether or not it would be worth it for Red Bull to continue advertising in China, Japan, and South Korea.
THANK YOU
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