Red Bull’s Event Coverage Is an Essential Lesson for Marketers


October 26th, 2017

Red Bull is not a drink; Red Bull is a lifestyle. “Red Bull gives you wings,” and apparently, it also gives you a tendency to enjoy skydiving, BMX, snowboarding, and cliff jumping.

First of all, I don’t consume this B12-infused, carbonated energy drink. I would rather yawn my way into my late 80’s than live fast and die hyper-caffeinated. That doesn’t stop me from admiring all my fellow Red Bull enthusiasts that meet many more generational expectations than me.

What do I mean? While I’m staring at my laptop screen in Panera Bread, these 20-somethings are probably carelessly dangling their tanned legs off some hundred-foot cliff halfway across the globe.

Sigh. They are going to kick me out of their millennial squad.

As much as I want to resent Red Bull, I begrudgingly like the brand’s social media presence much more than I like the taste or side effects of their beverage, particularly the brand’s cliff diving account.

Red Bull hosts a variety of events for extreme athletes across the world, including skydivers, skiers, snowboarders, cyclists, and climbers. However, unique to the brand are its cliff diving competitions. The event’s Instagram account, which boasts over 100k followers, is dedicated to reposted content from Red Bull athletes and original coverage of competitions. Each post receives thousands of views and likes.

When analyzing the success of Red Bull’s cliff jumping campaign, one can’t ignore the virality of the athlete’s posts on their own professional accounts. Just one video from Red Bull sponsored athlete Rhiannan Iffland has received over 95 thousand views (below).

While I could wrap up this blog with few hundred gushing words about Red Bull’s excellent utilization of influencer and advocate networks, instead, I would like to focus on their excellent branding and coverage of events.

How Red Bull’s Marketing Makes the Most of Live Events

Just look at the excellently branded merchandise! Anyone with eyes can see who is sponsoring this incredible athlete. That said, branding of Red Bull content does not begin or end with spiffy outfits. Check out all the branded content in this video, both digital and physical:

Let’s count the branding elements together, shall we? Be sure to tell me if I’ve missed something:

  1. Diving platform, both top and side
  2. Diver’s swimsuit
  3. Safety buoy
  4. Convenient product placement
  5. Signage on rock face
  6. Hats—always hats
  7. Winners’ platforms
  8. Digital outro

Does every frame have a branded element, or is it just me? I can guarantee no one will be elbowing her friend, asking what awesome brand would sponsor such an insane event.

When the majority of brand awareness is built from the coverage of sponsored events, these plentiful brand elements are especially important. The coverage itself is a thing of beauty. Each video that has been mixed down for Instagram contains many perspectives, meaning the sheer volume of camera equipment they have available at events is impressive. Additionally, videos are of the highest quality, utilizing slow motion effectively but not excessively.

The higher the quality of your event coverage, the longer the lifetime of your campaign. Click To Tweet

What Marketers Can Learn from Red Bull’s Social Media Savvy

If nothing else, Red Bull proves to marketers everywhere that events continue to convert. In other words, digital marketers everywhere might stop heckling their PR peeps. Turns out, IRL (in real life) events are not dead.

When large events are sponsored by brands (i.e. expensive events), branding elements are of utmost importance. Events are created to increase brand awareness—to further a brand’s story. For attendees to make the connection, branding must be prominent.

Finally, give your events legs by providing adequate coverage. This often means live coverage during the event (tweeting, video, etc.) as well as photography and videography to utilize once the event has concluded. Never forget: The higher the quality of your coverage, the longer the lifetime of your campaign.



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