Ankur Joshi

Mar 4, 2025

Red Bull: Selling Energy, Not a Drink

In 2024, Red Bull sold 12.67 billion cans, generating €11.2 billion in revenue with a 43% market share. But in the ‘80s, Red Bull seemed like a “terrible idea”.

It was twice the price of a can of Coca-Cola. It tasted odd—too sweet, yet too medicinal. Consumers who took their first sip weren’t sure if they liked it. And it had zero brand recognition outside Thailand, where it had been sold as a working-class tonic for truck drivers and laborers. It didn’t matter.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the visionary behind Red Bull, wasn’t selling a drink. He was selling energy. More importantly, he was selling identity—the feeling of being alive, of pushing limits, of defying fear. He didn’t just want Red Bull to be a beverage; he wanted it to be a badge of courage.

Instead of slapping a logo on a billboard and hoping people would buy it, he asked himself:
Who actually needs this product? And how can we make it mean something to them?

That single question changed Red Bull’s trajectory forever.

“The Energy Drink” — when there were none.

When Red Bull was founded in 1987, it wasn’t just the launch of a new product—it was the birth of an entirely new product category.

Many assume Red Bull originated in the US, but it was actually invented by Chaleo Yoovidhya in Thailand in 1976. Called ‘Krating Daeng’—which translates to “Red Gaur” (a species of Indian bison)—it was originally designed to help truck drivers stay awake during long shifts.

In 1982, Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, then a marketing director for a German toothpaste company, experienced severe jet lag on a business trip to Thailand. He discovered that Krating Daeng revitalized him. Recognizing its potential, he approached Yoovidhya with a proposal to introduce the drink to a global audience. In 1984, they co-founded Red Bull GmbH.

Launching Red Bull wasn’t just about exporting a beverage; it was about creating an entirely new market category. First, Mateschitz reformulated the drink to suit Western tastes, adding carbonation and reducing sweetness.

Next came the challenge of positioning. In the 1980s, there was no “energy drink” category, and competing with soft drinks meant facing fierce competition from industry giants. The market was already saturated, and the competition was cutthroat.

Mateschitz knew that if Red Bull was judged by the same standards as soft drinks, it stood no chance against the big players. So instead, he played by his own rules.

By establishing the “energy drink” category, he ensured Red Bull wouldn’t be compared to traditional soda brands.

The Genius of Choosing a Niche

Even though Red Bull avoided direct competition with other soda brands at a category level, it still had to compete for market share.

Mateschitz realized that if Red Bull tried to compete on product alone, it would fail.

He also understood something many businesses don’t: People don’t buy products. They buy identities.

Instead of following traditional advertising, he chose a distinctive marketing strategy—emphasizing a premium image and targeting young urban professionals. He went all in on a niche audience: extreme sports enthusiasts, adventurers, and rule-breakers.

He went straight to his target audience (18- to 35-year-old males) at college parties, libraries, coffee shops, bars—anywhere they hung out.

The brand selected students across colleges as brand evangelists, giving them free samples to share within their communities. This was an easy, cheap, and credible way to reach more consumers because students trusted their peers far more than traditional advertisements.

To create a cult following, Mateschitz paid popular university students to throw parties in unconventional locations. He gave them enough Red Bull to strap to their cars on the drive back to school. He recruited students to drive vehicles with a giant Red Bull can attached, roaming college campuses and handing out free samples at parties and bars. He infiltrated lifestyles.

By the end of 1987, Red Bull had sold over 1 million cans.

Bringing Consumers to the Product

Mateschitz’s business philosophy wasn’t to bring the product to the consumer—it was to bring consumers to the product.

He didn’t just want Red Bull to be consumed; he wanted it to be experienced.
And if he could own that experience, he could own the market.

Red Bull knew its customers weren’t best reached through TV commercials or social media ads—they were out pushing limits, doing crazy stunts, and attending high-energy events like music festivals and extreme sports competitions.

To build credibility, Red Bull needed hardcore athletes—those who relied on caffeine to push their bodies to the limit. So, Red Bull entered the extreme sports arena.

The first event Red Bull sponsored was the Dolomitenmann, known as “the world’s toughest team relay race.” It features mountain running, paragliding, mountain biking, and whitewater kayaking. This was exactly the image Red Bull wanted to build—not just a brand for young male consumers, but a symbol of high energy and fearless adventure.

Red Bull expanded its influence by acquiring and establishing sports teams, including Red Bull Racing in Formula One and football clubs like RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg.

Today, Red Bull is involved in eight different sports and has invested in over 15 sports teams across football, Formula 1, rallycross, MotoGP, ice hockey, sailing, skateboarding, and surfing.

Not Just a Brand, But a Universe

Everything Red Bull did was engineered to be part of the culture, not just a product within it. If energy drink consumers were adrenaline junkies, then Red Bull owned the playground where adrenaline was king.

They didn’t just sponsor extreme sports—they created them. They launched Red Bull Cliff Diving, Red Bull Air Race, Red Bull Rampage, and dozens of other high-adrenaline events, turning obscure sports into global spectacles.

They didn’t just advertise in racing—they built a world-championship-winning Formula 1 team. They didn’t just partner with skateboarders—they built Red Bull Skateboarding. Their sponsored athletes weren’t just endorsers—they were part of the Red Bull family.

They didn’t just fund record-breaking stunts—they put a man in space. Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall from the stratosphere in 2012 was watched live by 8 million people.

But Red Bull didn’t stop at sports. They expanded into culture, music, and media, embedding themselves in their audience’s daily lives.

Red Bull Music Academy – A global incubator for underground talent, shaping the next generation of artists, DJs, and music festivals.
Red Bull TV – An adrenaline-fueled gateway to documentaries, live sports, and music performances.
Red Bull Media House – From music festivals to films, Red Bull created content that had nothing to do with selling drinks—but everything to do with selling an identity.

They owned the entire spectrum. While dominating adrenaline-fueled sports on one hand, they also hosted Red Bull Paper Wings, a paper airplane competition. There’s even a special version of Red Bull available only to Formula 1 VIPs.

Because Everyone Wants Wings...

Most companies build a product and then try to sell it.
But Red Bull was built around a feeling—the one its ideal customers were chasing:

The skydiver, seconds before jumping out of a plane.
The F1 driver, waiting for the lights to go out at the start of a race.
The mountain biker, perched on the edge of a rocky cliff, about to take the plunge.

The tagline “Red Bull Gives You Wings” wasn’t just about tapping into the energy to run a mile—it meant you could paraglide, scale mountains, or push beyond limits. If Red Bull was good enough for the toughest competitors in the world, it was good enough for you.

Everywhere their audience looked, Red Bull was there.

And if you were part of that world—if you were a climber, a racer, a fighter, an adventurer—then drinking Red Bull wasn’t just a choice. It was a statement.

Through this multi-layered ecosystem, Red Bull wasn’t just a company—it became a way of life.

Summary: Becoming a Way of Life

By now, it’s clear that Red Bull didn’t build its success on the drink alone. It built an ecosystem—one designed to make drinking Red Bull feel like a badge of belonging.

Now, think about your customers. What’s the equivalent of “energy” for your customers?

Is it wellness? status? wealth creation or business growth?

Sell aspirations, not banking products. Because the winning banks of the future won’t just offer services—they’ll own the ecosystems where their customers’ dreams live.