Red Bull GmbH

Red Bull GmbH
GmbH
Industry Drink
Founded 1984
Founder Dietrich Mateschitz
Chaleo Yoovidhya
Headquarters Fuschl am See, Salzburg, Austria
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Dietrich Mateschitz
Products Red Bull
Energy drinks
Revenue Increase €4.253 billion (2011)
Increase €1.3 billion (2006)
Increase €650 million (2006)
Number of employees
 9,694 (2013)
Subsidiaries Red Bull Racing
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Red Bull Racing Team
New York Red Bulls
FC Red Bull Salzburg
RB Leipzig
Red Bull Brasil
Red Bull Ghana
EHC München
EC Red Bull Salzburg
Website Redbull.com

Red Bull GmbH is an Austrian company which sells the Red Bull energy drink. The company is also known for its sponsorship of a range of sporting events. In 2011, a total of 4.631 billion cans were sold in over 161 countries. 8,294 employees generated €4.25 billion in revenue.[1] The headquarters of Red Bull GmbH are located in Fuschl am See, Austria.

History

Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz and Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya founded Red Bull GmbH in 1984. While working for German manufacturer Blendax (later acquired by Procter & Gamble) in 1982, Mateschitz traveled to Thailand and met Chaleo, owner of TC Pharmaceutical. He found that the energy drink Krating Daeng, developed by Chaleo's company during the 1970s, helped to ease his jet lag.[2] After seeing market potential in the drink, he partnered with Chaleo in bringing it to Europe. Under their agreement, the partners invested $500,000 each into founding Red Bull GmbH. In return, they would each receive a 49% stake in the company, with the remaining 2% stake going to Chaleo's son Chalerm. They also agreed that Mateschitz would run the company.[3]

Between 1984 and 1987, Red Bull GmbH modified the formula for Krating Daeng to better match European tastes by carbonating the beverage and making it less sweet. In 1987, the company introduced their adapted energy drink into Austria under the name Red Bull. It found huge success there by marketing to young professionals. The brand expanded throughout Europe during the early 1990s, exploding into the United States market during 1997, grabbing 75% of the market within a year.[3] The wealth of Red Bull's founders grew with the company's success, and by March 2012, both Chaleo and Mateschitz had estimated net worths of over $5.3 billion each.[4][5] Today, Red Bull GmbH operates in 164 countries and employs over 8,000 people. Its signature product, Red Bull, remains the world's most-consumed energy drink with 5.2 billion cans sold in 2012.[6]

Red Bull distribution

The Red Bull company also distributes and markets a number of other drinks including Simply Cola, the Carpe Diem range of herbal soft beverages and the Sabai Wine Spritzer (the latter in association with the Thai Siam Winery in Thailand).

In 2010 the company won a long-running legal battle with The Bulldog, a chain of cannabis coffee shops. The Bulldog was ordered to cease the sale and distribution of its own brand of energy drink.[7]

Marketing

Kirby Chambliss racing in the Red Bull Air Race World Series

Initially, Red Bull distributed free cases of the drink to college students in an attempt at viral advertising. This strategy was wildly successful, resulting in the rapid proliferation of sales. Red Bull has since become known for its sleek marketing targeted at young urban professionals through various sports and entertainment based advertising campaigns. The current mottoes, "Red Bull Gives You Wings," and "No Red Bull, No Wings" are direct plays on the apparent stimulating properties of the beverage.

Sport sponsorship

Since the initial viral campaign, Red Bull's efforts have included sponsoring extreme sport events including cliff diving, BMX, skiing, flying, downhill and free-ride mountain biking and skateboarding. In the 1990s, Red Bull sponsored the rower Xeno Müller, who won an Olympic gold medal in the single sculls in 1996 .Red Bull also owns and conducts the Flugtag ("flight day" in German), a competition where entrants launch themselves off a 10 metre ramp in homemade "flying machines" into a body of water (reminiscent of the Birdman Rally); its own version of the soapbox derby called the Red Bull Soap Box Race which was recently held in Cincinnati, Ohio; the Red Bull Art of the Can Competition, an international art competition in which artists are asked to create works using the Red Bull can; and the Red Bull BC One individual breakdance competition; also events such as the motorcycle Erzberg Enduro where less than two percent of entrants finish the course.

World Rally Championship Red Bull Car

Red Bull has had a sponsorship presence in a number of sports for some time, especially in the world of motor sport, with the company having a presence in the Australian V8 Supercars sponsoring the 888 race team, DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) especially the Abt Audi team, Dakar Rally sponsoring the KAMAZ Master, VW Race Touareg Team, KTM Factory Motocross Team, MotoGP, British Superbike's (BSB) Red Bull Honda and HM Plant Red Bull Honda teams, World Rally Championship with the Citroën and Škoda teams, the SEAT team in the World Touring Car Championship, in Champ Car with Neel Jani and PKV Racing, Rhys Millen's Pontiac in Formula D, sponsoring the GP2 Series team owner by Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner, Arden International. The team previously sponsored the Sauber and Arrows Formula One teams, the Red Bull Cheever Racing Team in the IRL, and from 2007 to 2011 Team Red Bull competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Also Red Bull is now sponsoring the Cyberathlete Professional League and its own air racing event called the Red Bull Air Race. The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, a competition for driverless cars, was won by a student team from Stanford. The Team's robotically driven Volkswagen Touareg "Stanley", was sponsored by Red Bull.

Red Bull sponsors the Red Bull Rope Masters competition with the National Double Dutch League for the Annual Holiday Classic at the Apollo Theatre in New York City, an event often dominated by teams from Japan featuring fusion double-Dutch (set to hip-hop or contemporary music, and they sponsor other regional events in Memphis, TN and at Morgan State University, to name a few. There are several YouTube videos documenting these events.

Red Bull also has sponsored various racing drivers including NASCAR driver Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne and Formula One drivers Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Red Bull is also sponsor to young Canadian racing prodigy Robert Wickens and teammate John Michael Edwards in the Champ Car Atlantic Series, as well as rally driver Travis Pastrana, MotoGP riders Dani Pedrosa, Marc Márquez, Maverick Viñales, Stefan Bradl and Jack Miller, American Superbike (AMA) riders Eric Bostrom, Ben Bostrom and Jake Zemke and British Super bike (BSB) riders Jonathan Rea, Eugene Laverty and Ryuchi Kiyonari. Red Bull is sponsoring two new NASCAR teams under 2007; racing under the new Toyota Camry label. Aside from that, its Thai unit and its Philippine partner has been responsible in forming, licensing and funding the Red Bull Barako basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 2000. It has become one of the more successful sports teams in the Philippines, winning three championships in the PBA,

Sport ownership

Red Bull has also extended its presence to purchasing and entirely re-branding a number of sports teams.

Red Bull established Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006 by buying the Minardi team. This followed the purchase of Jaguar to become Red Bull Racing the previous year.

Motorsport

In motorsport, these teams include Red Bull Racing (previously Jaguar Racing)[8] and Scuderia Toro Rosso, previously Minardi F1 Team.[9] (Scuderia Toro Rosso is Italian for Team Red Bull.)[9] Both teams have scored Grand Prix victories. Red Bull Racing has won the Constructors Championship for the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 seasons, despite having only 7 years of Formula 1 experience .

In 2006, Red Bull announced they would be sponsoring the NASCAR Red Bull Racing Team. They debuted in the Nextel Cup Series, now known as the Sprint Cup Series, at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The team was shut down in December 2011 and its assets acquired by BK Racing.[10][11]

The Stock Car Brasil team WA Mattheis is sponsored by Red Bull since 2009; Cacá Bueno has won the 2009, 2011 and 2012 championships. Also, the Australian V8 Supercars' Triple Eight Race Engineering is sponsored by Red Bull since 2013. Jamie Whincup won the 2013 championship.

Football

The company has also been highly active in association football. On April 6, 2005, Red Bull bought the Austrian club SV Austria Salzburg and renamed it to Red Bull Salzburg, a move which has been heavily criticised by supporter groups within Austria and across Europe.

In 2005, Red Bull purchased the MetroStars, a team in Major League Soccer representing New York City but playing its home games in New Jersey, from Anschutz Entertainment Group and renamed the franchise; Red Bull New York is the name of the Red Bull subsidiary that operates the team, while the squad itself is known as the New York Red Bulls. Anschutz Entertainment Group was about to begin building the MetroStars their own stadium, but groundbreaking was delayed a month as AEG completed the sale of the team. The company paid for the team's new stadium, Red Bull Arena, which had its match opener March 20, 2010.

In 2007, Red Bull established the lower-division Red Bull Brasil team in São Paulo.

Most recently in June 2009 the company has purchased the football licence of German fifth division club SSV Markranstädt based near Leipzig. The club began play in the 2009-10 season as RB Leipzig and the company has stated that their goal is to advance to play in the country's first division Bundesliga within ten years.

Ice hockey

Main article: EC Red Bull Salzburg

The company purchased EC Salzburg, the city's team in the Austrian Hockey League, in 2000 and renamed it Red Bull Salzburg.

Furthermore Red Bull purchased the DEL Club EHC München. In 2012 Red Bull first became the main and name sponsor, while it took over the club in 2013 fully.

Promotional cars

In addition to sport sponsorships, Red Bull has developed the MET (Mobile Energy Team) programme. The teams consist of mostly college students, who drive specially designed Red Bull "Racers". The racers are detailed with the Red Bull logo and most carry an oversized can of Red Bull on their chassis (Suzuki Vitara, MiniCooper, SportTrac, etc.). The METs complete daily missions that include sporting events, businesses, colleges, shopping centres, etc. The Mobile Energy Team is trained to know the properties of the energy drink thoroughly and present them to consumers.

Promotional aircraft

Red Bull DC-6B landing at Salzburg

The company uses numerous historic fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft[12] in their promotions including:

Sports championships

Auto racing

Association football

Ice hockey

See also

References

  1. ↑ Company Figures at RedBull.com
  2. ↑ Selling Energy, Economist, May 9 2002
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Soda with a buzz, Forbes, 28 March 2005
  4. ↑ Dietrich Mateschitz, Forbes, March 2012
  5. ↑ Yoovidhya Family, Forbes, March 2012
  6. ↑ Red Bull company history, Red Bull GmbH corporate website
  7. ↑ Azarius, accessed February 13, 2013
  8. ↑ Red Bull snaps up Jaguar F1 team article
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Red Bull swoop for Minardi deal article
  10. ↑ Ryan, Nate (20 June 2011). "Lack of success drives Red Bull to pull out of NASCAR". USA Today. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Gluck, Jeff (21 February 2012). "2012 Daytona 500 To Mark Debut Of Mysterious BK Racing Team". SB Nation. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Red Bull Aircraft (airliners photo collection)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red Bull.