How to market like Red Bull

1. Tie yourself to a lifestyle, then draw people to that lifestyle. Red Bull played a huge role in legitimizing extreme sports. It makes an abstract product real when you tie it to a lifestyle.
2. Own your own media. Create original content and your own distribution (Red Bull TV), while also playing the algorithm on the main content platform. You can’t rely on others creating (or promoting) what you do. This also enables you to go global easier, less reliant on one country’s media ecosystem.
3. Don’t just sponsor events, create them. Red Bull creates a lot of events that get so much attention. Flugtag, Crashed Ice, Stratos (space jump). Sponsoring costs a lot anyways and outside likely won’t be as ambitious. This way they literally create culture.
4. Get the product into hands of users early. Red Bull pioneered the student brand manager to give out samples and run campus events. They work with niche athletes as well as up and coming creators, and help develop both into larger, more successful stars.
5. Have a high volume, high margin business. It wouldn’t be possible to do what Red Bull does without the huge amount of money they make. They have a tiny cost of goods sold and other companies are responsible for the actual production. This means they get to focus on getting attention and building brand, and get huge gains to doing so successfully.