RedBull Says 'Jump' and We Say, 'How High?'

Sponsoring famous athletes is one of the best and often most expensive marketing tools. The biggest stars in world-known sports like football, basketball and Formula1 are real heroes for a wide range of people. These individuals represent something unique and certainly all the big brands know this. Some stars embody the brands’ key communication messages. Just think about the world cup’s Nike “Write the future” ad with Cristiano Ronaldo: simply the best - this is what Nike wants to say. Although the campaigns are effective, this type of sponsorship costs an extremely large sum of money and there are many competing companies in each sport market. So what can a brand do if its aim is to sponsor as a marketing tactic but doesn’t want to get lost in a completely penetrated market? RedBull knows the answer.

The energy drink giant noticed that the most effective way of marketing is doing something spectacular to raise the public’s interest. By choosing this method, the company started to invest in various types of extreme sports. Not just on an individual or team level; comprehensively into the whole world of dangerous but spectacular sports. Their flags are everywhere, from small snowboard shows to the most well-known technical air races. With a brilliant sense of business and communication RedBull has become the first brand to support an entire sport market.

Of course, the phenomenon fits perfectly into RedBull’s brand messages: almost all the sponsored parties are doing something unbelievable and full of adrenaline, for instance Crashed Ice. Or the "10 biggest and best jumps ever" video, a selection of the craziest and more daring jumps recorded in the history of mankind. You get the feeling that they have and you want to have the same…or at least something similar. The video is not an official ad, but the RedBull brand appears 6 times, meaning they are on the right track. This strategy made them one of the world’s best lifestyle brands.




It has an inestimable value: almost everyone that is attracted to extreme sports knows RedBull is his friend. With this communication strategy the brand has achieved more than just sympathy from potential costumers: it is almost a “common thought” that the company is behind everything that is related to extreme sports. By choosing this method of communication they reach many young potential costumers who are presumably in a good financial situation. The numbers speak for themselves: they have more than 12 million fans on their FaceBook site. To put it in context: the world’s 5th most valuable brand, Coca Cola has 19 million fans but another well known giant, Nike has only 3 million.

RedBull is a leading company: they are in the core position of the energy drink market and their communication activity is worth the spending. A completely innovative approach: placing the brand as a monopolistic sponsor of a sport market. They have achieved their goal- if you watch extreme sports on TV or on the web and you don’t notice any brand or logo, odds are RedBull is behind it. The marketing and PR teams did a great job: your brain associates a certain brand with videos of a phenomenon. Ruling the entire image of a genre of sports? Avantgarde thinking.

The Delicate Balance of Work and Heavy Metal Life

Everyone knows that it’s difficult to balance a career and a family but Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of the famous metal band, Iron Maiden, has added another facet to this challenge by expanding his career in the business sector. This famous, 52-year-old musician not only balances his rock star career and family life but now serves as the Marketing Director of Astraeus, a Gatwick-based charter airline where he has served as a pilot for several years. Where does he find the time?

The airline decided to expand its commercial team to see more growth in the market and with Dickinson’s straight forward communication skills they believe he is just the man for the job. Dickinson claims that taking this position is somewhat of a natural occurrence for him and that he will not cease to tour with his band.

It seems from the airline’s communication that they really don’t see this hiring decision as a big deal. It’s only the millions of Iron Maiden fans that feel the shock. Is it possible that this rocker’s entire career was filled with down time of striving for corporate life? Were this man’s days spent getting to know the aviation industry inside and out so that one day he could wear a suit and tie to work every day instead of a black leather vest? It’s unimaginable for most but guess what? He is not the only one.

Here at Avantgarde Group we have a similar situation as our own marketing director is the lead singer in a rock band. Actually I have come to know several business professionals that rock out pretty hard on their free time. Is there some direct correlation between cut-throat business and front man characteristics? Well, I’ll tell you it’s no coincidence. Businessmen and women tend to have excellent communication and leadership skills. Business professionals must also exude a certain level of confidence and have the ability to ‘perform’ their trade in front of many people. Does a front man of a band need to possess these qualities as well? Yep.

Maybe it’s the inherent need to feed an alternative part of the self. If you wear a suit and tie all day, don’t you want to loosen it up and go crazy on your free time? Doesn’t everyone need this balance? Maybe it took Bruce Dickinson 40 years to realize that he needs this other aspect of life but it’s never too late! Props to him for following his ‘other’ dream and making it a reality!

It is extremely avantgarde to have the ability to balance such a double-life. It takes courage to take on the scrutiny of being both a band’s front man and a working professional. I think we can all take some advice from Bruce Dickinson on how to successfully maintain a multi-faceted existence.