Marketing Promotion Methods #1 Advertising Advertising is an expensive method of promotional marketing, wherein, the products are made to reach

a large number of people. For example, by using electronic media, TV, radio, press and outdoor hoardings, advertisers target the audience and try to create an impact on customers. Read more on promotional advertising. Marketing Promotion Methods #2 Personal Selling One of the oldest ways of direct marketing promotion is to sell the products by direct interaction between the seller and buyer. It is believed to be the most difficult form of marketing, as it requires skills of persuasion and excellent communication skills. Read more on sales negotiation training. Marketing Promotion Methods #3: Contests One of the effective, popular and most preferred form of promotional methods is to arrange certain contests for the customers. We all will agree to the fact that winning surprise prizes in a shopping mall or fashion store is simply exciting. One of the most attractive marketing strategies, organizing contests among the customers is a brilliant way to promote the products. Read more on marketing tips. Marketing Promotion Methods #4: Pamphlets/Coupons In the quest to attract more customers, companies distribute coupons and pamphlets about the products. The customers are either given basic information about the newly launched products or they are provided with discounted coupons on the purchase of some accessories/apparels. Coupons make for an effective marketing plan for small business units. Read more develop a marketing plan. Marketing Promotion Methods #5: Free Samples The idea of freely distributing products, sounds weird and crazy for any company, however, there is a certain element of truth in the fact that marketing firms have gained substantial promotion through the idea of free samples. While, it is not logical to just distribute your products, you can devise a strategy, so that, the idea of free samples doesn't incur losses for your firm.

While evaluating different methods of promotion in marketing, one should realize these strategies are not set formulas or recipes for the successful launch and eventually high sales of the product. No doubt, these strategies are effective, but there are various market forces that can effect the sales prospects of firms. These were some of the marketing promotion methods, that firms adopt to increase their sales. At the end, however, it is the customer who is the king and you have to leave it all to them.

Price, product, place, and promotion are the 4 Ps of marketing and energy drinks demonstrate them constantly. The three brands that our group are focusing on, Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar, all have their own approach to marketing their product while utilizing each one of the 4 Ps. Energy drinks are a little different in the way they market their product compared to other beverages. They definitely take advantage of out of the box ideas to reach their target market and differentiate themselves from the other beverages. First, the price of energy drinks plays a role in the overall marketing of the product. Energy drinks are priced on the higher end compared to other beverages that are sold. Also, they have price elasticity because it is a product that many won t buy if it has a high price increase and there are many other substitutes that consumers can purchase. This is especially true when the inelastic price of gas goes up, consumers don t want to go into the convenient store to spend more money (Hein 12). Red Bull s 8oz cans sell for more than Monster s and Rockstar s 16oz cans at $2.00 per can. This is also the same for Red Bull s largest size product, their 16oz can, which sells for over $3.50 while Monster s and Rockstar s 24oz can sells for under $2.00. Energy drinks are a premium priced product. They advertise to be better and more beneficial than a soda or typical juice drink. They offer benefits to the consumer that other beverages cannot. Therefore, their prices will be higher because its value will be worth more. Excluding Red Bull, most energy drinks sell at the same average price across the board. The majority of energy drinks target market is males and young adults in their 20 s. This affects the price of the product as well. Since they focus on a younger age group they have to keep in mind the income of their target market and keep their product accessible, financially, to the consumers they are trying to reach. Product is another one of the four Ps of marketing. This is huge because this is ultimately what the consumer receives in the end. Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar are all quality products and this is why they are the top three brands in the energy drinks market. Although they are very similar they do individually offer something new that the other doesnt; whether it is a better flavor, a stronger feeling, or if they represent a favorite sport or athlete. Energy drinks have many features and benefits that they offer, and some brands have higher quality than others. Overall, energy drinks contain ingredients to make you feel more energized and refreshed. The main ingredients you will find over and over again are caffeine, taurine, glucose, and glucuronolacto. The amounts of the ingredients in the different drinks vary and have different results. The taste of the drink, healthy qualities, amount of sugar, and the boost you will get are all benefits that can be received from using the product. It is all about how the drink leaves the consumer feeling. In addition to the physical feelings of energy drinks, another benefit of drinking energy drinks is the status some may receive from it. This is true because energy drinks is still a new craze and many innovators are the consumers. It is the hip beverage to drink. Many energy drinks market to extreme athletes, young adults, and males. It is much more exciting than a Coke. Red Bull has the least amount of ingredients in their drink and helps vitalize the body and mind. Their main slogan is that their product gives you wings. Red Bull focuses on helping their consumer feel re-energized and fresh. It also benefits your health with their B group vitamins. It is a lot in a little package. Red Bull also has the highest quality compared to Monster and Rockstar. Their brand is the main contributor to this. It was the first energy drink and always has been the most successful by far. Currently they

have 42.6% of the market share (Energy Drinks Marketing Research). Red Bull has never changed the taste, ingredients, or look of their drink in the past twenty years. They havent added several different flavors, they stuck to one. This consistency adds to list of why many of their consumers have such strong brand loyalty. Monster energy drinks have similar benefits to Red Bull and Rockstar. The taste is similar to Red Bull and contains the same ingredients. Rockstar and Monster both contain Ginseng which is an herbal plant that helps with stamina and the immune system. Unleash the Beast is their slogan and tells the potential consumer that their main benefit is the feeling of strength you will receive from it. They say on their website that Monster delivers twice the buzz of a regular energy drink (Monster Energy). Their size is a great feature. Their smallest size is the 16oz and their largest size is 32oz and they have sizes in between. Another great feature that Monster has is their large selection of drink choices. They have several different juice mixed energy drinks to choose from and also eight coffee mixed energy drinks to choose from. This lets the consumer really get exactly what they want and enjoy the taste they prefer. They really focus on the feeling of power that you get from their product. Monster is a high quality energy drink and attracts a large amount of people to buy their product because although they are less inexpensive than their competitor, Red Bull, they are not cheap and are worth no less. Rockstar energy drinks have all the same ingredients as the two brands listed above. Rockstar also contains the Ginseng ingredient. Unlike Monster or Red Bull, they emphasize more on their natural blend of herbal ingredients in their description. They include Gurana, Ginkgo, Ginseng, and milk thistle (Rockstar Energy). These are special features and healthy benefits to some consumers. Rockstar focuses on the benefit of getting the same energized feeling, but in a less artificial and more natural way. This differentiates them from the others because although the other brands may posses some of the same ingredients they dont mention them as part of their marketing. Rockstar has a large variety of sizes from 8oz to 24oz and several choices to choose from. They have low carb, sugar free, juice mixed energy drinks, and punch mixed energy drinks. Packaging is a vital part of the product. Energy drinks are all packaged in aluminum cans, usually with a flashy metallic color and single logo. As mentioned before, energy drinks target young enthusiastic adults, extreme athletes, or hip hop crowds. Their target market is who they must attract and the packaging creates the first impression. Which one looks the coolest? Which one caught their eye first and why? At the same time, they dont want to be too flashy either. Once they catch the attention of the potential consumer they then want to attract them to the brand. This is why the logo is usually the biggest, most noticeable item on the can. Red Bull s packaging is very simple and plain. This differs from the others. It is a silver metallic and dark blue can with the simple red bull logo (two bulls butting heads) and its name in big bold, red letters. The simple font and colors have worked wonderfully. It is easy to remember and recognize over and over again. Monster is a black can and solely displays their infamous clawed M on the front. Below the M is the name of their brand. It is one of the only drinks that have their brand name below the logo. The top of the can reads taurine + ginseng . This indicates the main ingredients of the product. The

clawed M is a different color with each different flavor. This is an easy way to distinguish between the different flavors and it is not flashy at all. Rockstar uses a black and gold can. They have their brand name right in front and in a big size. Below is their logo, a gold star with two R s back to back. Their slogan, Party Like a Rockstar , is shown below the star. This is the only brand of the three that put their slogan on the product. They also use the star again in place of the a in the name Rockstar. They too use different colors to distinguish between flavors but they also use different backgrounds and patterns as well. This becomes very flashy on some of the cans and makes the product look unfamiliar compared to its original look. It is not as effective as Monster s way of distinguishing between flavors. In addition to the individual product, each brand was also sold in 4 packs and the packagings of the boxes were almost identical to what was on the can. This is good for the brands because consistency will less likely cause the consumer to forget the brand. Brand presence is another essential in marketing for these products. In Kings Soopers off of Speer Blvd. in Denver the displays were limited of energy drinks. The only prominent displays were promoting Red Bull. Right when you walk into the store there is a little customized Red Bull fridge filled with Red Bull. Either Rockstar or Monster had an entire display or a customized fridge to display their product. Another huge Red Bull display was towards the deli and beside the video rentals. It was a decent size castle made with brick painted cardboard and Red Bull 4 packs. There must have been over fifty 4 packs. This was advertising the Red Bull Soapbox Derby that was going to take place in the upcoming week. In addition to the Red Bull castle, there was another customized mini fridge of Red Bull. This definitely caught peoples attention and displayed a large amount of supply. It could have been in a better location in the store but it was still a big display. The other place I saw one of the brands was in a coca-cola fridge by the checkout. There were some Rockstar energy drinks in the bottom of the display behind the little plastic wall. You could barely see that they were there. It was a poor place for them, but at least they were available cold right away. This could help sell the product better if a consumer wants to drink their energy drink immediately after the purchase. This is also true with Red Bull since they also have many available ready now cold drinks. Surprisingly, Monster was only found in the drink aisle with all the other brands. At the same Kings Soopers Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar were all found in the aisle with the other energy drinks. They were positioned between the teas, Starbucks drinks, fruit drinks and the different types of water (flavored, tonic, sparkling). The energy drink section was more than threefourths down the aisle and consisted of 6 shelves. Red Bull and Monster had the most selection to choose from and the most supply. The bottom 3 shelves were all packs of energy drinks. The most effective brand presence in the grocery store was Red Bull because they were placed in multiple spots and had their own fridge displaying more of their brand name.

Promotion is another important P of marketing. The marketing communication plays a large role in this. A company can reach their target market through events, print and online ads, endorsements, sponsorships, and many other strategic methods. A large and diverse group of people drink energy drinks. The groups of people that the energy drink market focuses on the most are male teenagers and people in their 20s because it is the younger generation that seems to purchase the product the most. In addition to focusing on a specific age group, many energy drink companies are even more exclusive in their marketing efforts, gearing their products and advertising to appeal to very specialized groups, such as gamers, extreme sports enthusiasts, and the hip-hop crowd (Target Group for Energy Drink). Extreme sports consist of motocross, skateboarding, BMX riding, skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking, wakeboarding, race car driving, and the list goes on and on. Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar all sponsor many extreme sport events and extreme sport athletes. All of their endorsements are most likely involved in the extreme sport scene. This is their main way of reaching their target market. Their brand is everywhere at the events they sponsor and the athletes they sponsor are covered in the brands merchandise. This reaches millions of people who are interested in the sport or who are watching the performances. Innovators are the main consumers for this market because energy drinks are edgy and the new cool thing. On Monster s website under promotions you can see some of their giveaways that they have done recently. Some examples are Kawasaki Supercross Give-away, Monster Energy Pipeline Pro, Party with Danny Kass at Winter X, and Monster/ Gnu Snowboard Sweepstakes (Monster Energy). All of these relate to extreme sports. Since the younger generation is their focus you will see them at events handing out free Monster s or at schools and other places where you will find younger people. For example, Monster is on the CU Denver campus frequently with their gigantic truck giving away cans of Monster to everyone that is walking by. This is a very effective marketing strategy to reach their target market. It is free which everyone loves, especially college students, and also introduces the product to them and allows them to try it. Rockstar is very similar to Monster with their target market, in fact it is identical. They are very involved in the extreme sports as well and have a lot of sponsorship for sport events and athletes. The first thing you see when you go to their website is a slide show of recent news and it first shows a congratulations to a race car driver (who they sponsor) on his win, next a congratulations to a motocross winner including a picture of the athlete hanging from his motocross bike in the air upside down, an ad for their podcast, and finally a congratulations to the Rusty Malinoski, who won wake boarder of the year (Rockstar Energy). It is obvious they have a strong involvement in extreme sports. In addition they focus on fans of heavy rock music as well. Currently, Rockstar is sponsoring the Taste of Chaos tour which is a concert featuring heavy hard rock bands. They have a feature that relates to their slogan, Part like a Rockstar, called student travel. It is focused towards

college students and has a few trips that are offered. These trips include spring break vacations to Mexico and ski getaways to Park City, Utah. This once again demonstrates their reach to the younger generation. Red Bull fits right in with the previous two and is very involved with extreme sports. Red Bull sponsors some of the biggest names in the industry like Shaun White and Ryan Sheckler. Red Bull has been around the longest and has a long list of athletes that wear their brand. They also use video games as a communication tool to market their product. This is different than the other two brands because they dont use videogames in their marketing. Not too long ago Red Bull had a Guitar Hero III party with many of their sponsored athletes there. In a video you can see people there are wearing Red Bull shirts and other merchandise. This is an excellent channel to market in because video games are very popular among the younger generation and specifically towards males which make up 65% of the energy drink market (Research Wikis). Red Bull advertises on TV a lot with their humorous commercials. It is a rare occasion if you see a Monster or Rockstar commercial. They rely mainly on their other resources for marketing the product. The way these brands market their product is very similar to one another. They all participate in the same sports and highlight the same things. It is a very effective way to communicate to potential consumers. It creates more of a fun and exciting profile of the brand that causes excitement to the consumers when they use the product. Since each brand is more than just an energy drink and a part of a lot more it contributes to the satisfaction of the consumer and creates enthusiasm to be able to be a part of all of it. Red Bull might attract a 19 year old male teenage because his favorite snowboarder is their biggest endorsers. It makes the19 year old feel more like his idol.

Red Bull Creative Brief

Introduction: Red Bull is a sweet, caffeinated energy drink aimed to give customers the high energy kick. It offers s the following products: Red Bull energy drink, Red Bull sugar free, Red Bull cola and Red Bull energy shots. For this particular research project, we will only be focusing on Red Bull energy drinks. Company Background: In 1982, Dietrich Mateschitz became familiar with tonic drinks that were spread and dominant in the Far East, specifically in Thailand. At that time, one popular tonic drink company was owned by Chaleo Yoovidhya in Thailand. Mateschitz was inspired by this idea and established his own energy drinks company in Austria in 1984. He named his company Red Bull, which implies power and energy. Since Mateschitz took the energy drink idea from the Thai owner, he obtained some of the drink ingredients from him as well. It contains taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, B vitamins, sucrose, phenylalanine, and glucose.

Mateschitz developed a unique marketing plan and started selling Red Bull Energy Drink in the Austrian market in 1987. This was not only the launch of a completely new product, in fact it was the birth of a totally new product category. After Red Bulls success in Austria, it entered its first foreign market Hungary in 1992, and the United States in 1997. As Dietrich Mateschitz states, Around 4 billion cans of Red Bull are consumed every year. The responsibility for the success of the world's No. 1 energy drink is shared by the company's 6,900 employees around the world. The Red Bull headquarters are based in Fuschl am See, not far from Salzburg, Austria. Slogan and Logo: Red Bull's slogan is "it gives you wings". The slogan is very widespread and most people are aware that this slogan belongs to Red Bull drinks. Furthermore, it indicates that Red Bull gives people power, energy and wings which make it easier for people to complete their tasks and make people feel that they alert. Red Bulls Main Competitors (Energy Drinks): Power Horse RockStar Bison Monster Burn Effect Problem: The communication plan attempts to inform its target audience that Red Bull can boost mental awareness and energize a busy person. Also, it reminds its customers that Red Bull is an effective, good tasting substitute for other caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, tea and Pepsi and it contains all natural ingredients. According to the Hierarchy of Marcom effects, the communication plan is aimed to establish brand loyalty by creating awareness through its promotional activities among its target audiences. Moreover, it gives the chance for customers to have a free trial for Red Bull in order to taste it; hence, evaluate if it meets their expectations.

Target Audience: Red Bull targets its customers based on specific age demographics. Red Bulls target market currently is aimed at teenagers and adults, aging from 15 to mid 30s. Furthermore, Red Bull targets clubbers, alcoholics and individuals who undergo stress while completing their tasks. Consumer insights and brand imperatives: Unlike other competitors, Red Bull is recognized as the top-of-mind energy drink. Today, it is also known as the best-selling energy drink in the marketplace. The brand essence lies behind its promotional activities, such as friendly members of Red Bull distributing free samples of their drinks. Moreover, it motivates its targets audience by providing sponsorships in different events and gatherings, such as schools, parties, clubs, social gatherings, sports events including Olympics and much more. Consumers are attracted by their advertising vehicles (Red Bull Beatle cars) that provide mobile displays, painted blue and silver with a giant can of Red Bull mounted on top. In addition, events such as Air shows and Flug Tag shows developed a sense of consumer interest towards the product. Furthermore, it nominates winners for different gifts and prizes during its shows and events; hence, enhancing interactivity between the brand and consumers. Consumers also prefer this drink because it enables them to accelerate their performance and revive themselves quickly after being under pressure. Red Bull promotes its consumption to increase physical endurance, improve concentration and reaction speed, improve vigilance and stimulate metabolism. (Red Bull, 2008). Since the brand loyalty is increased in Red Bull, it is achieving a higher market share and it is able to charge premium prices for its drinks; thus, it is the most expensive energy drink in the market. Media Imperatives/ Creative Direction: Red Bull uses a media mix in order to reach its target audience at the right moment in the right place. Red Bull uses TV, radio, press, internet and sponsorships. In other words, the company focuses on the media through which it reaches its target market. Red Bull creates its advertisements using a humorous and witty cartoon campaigns,

transferring the message that this energy drink helps one complete tasks and function by giving you wings . Red Bull launches its advertising campaigns and sponsorships during sports events, parties, schools and places where people are most active. Throughout Red Bulls campaigns, the firm prefers personal interaction with their consumers and advertising through digital media, rather than print media. It relies more on what is called 'buzz marketing' or word-of-mouth. The reason why Red Bull favors these methods of advertising is that they offer higher scope for quick response/ feedback. According to Red Bull, one of the advantages of using TV, radio or cinema advertising is that consumers are exposed to these ads from time to time, in comparison to tangible print media which are always available. This advertising method arouses consumers interest and curiosity as they are not exposed to it daily. The animated cartoons used in Red Bulls advertisements symbolize the light profile of the brand. These ads are usually humorous and send a message related to body and mind, hence supporting Red Bulls campaign slogan: Red Bull revitalizes body and mind. Objective: The Mission Statement of Red Bull is as follows: "We are dedicated to upholding Red Bull standards, while maintaining the leadership position in the energy drinks category when delivering superior customer service in a highly efficient and profitable manner. We create a culture where employees share best practices dedicated to coaching and developing our organization as an employer of choice." Red Bulls main objective is boosting ones energy. SMART Objectives: Red Bull uses the acronym SMART to set objectives for their strategies and plans. The SMART objectives are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time based. Specific Red Bull sets its objectives in precise numerical terms such as numbers, percentages, or even frequencies. Measurable Red Bull monitors and records the data based on behaviours and actions. It measures

the effectiveness of the objectives by evaluating consumers response. Achievable Red Bull managers invest a reasonable amount of effort and application into achieving their main objective. Realistic Red Bull sets its objectives based on the inputs they have in order to be realistic to reach their goals. Time Based When planning a Red Bull campaign, the company sets specific dates and times for when the implantation, process and evaluation will take place.

SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Effective communication Loyal customers Market share leadership Strong brand equity Reputation management Weaknesses: Higher price than its competitors Manufactured only in one factory: Austria Opportunities: Emerging markets and expansion abroad Introduce new products, such as Red Bull Tea, or Red Bull candy bars Threats: New competitors emerging in the markets Support: Since Red Bulls establishment till the present day, the company did not face any major complaint or problems regarding its products or promotional activities; hence, enhancing its credibility. Moreover, it maintains its promise which is stated in their objectives and mission statement. It also retains its customer satisfaction by

introducing new ideas in order to meet their customers satisfaction. Benefits: Red Bull promises the following benefits: 1- Enhances performance 2- Boosts concentration and reaction speed 3- Increases endurance 4- Stimulates metabolism Red Bull drinks contain B-group vitamins which play an important role in energy metabolism, such as the build-up and break-down of carbohydrates, fat and protein. B vitamins are also shown to support mental and physical performance. Communication Objectives: - What do we want customers to do in response to our messages? While Red Bull advertises new products that are launched in the market, it sends out a message to the consumers about that particular product. In result of that message that provides information regarding its products and what they offer, attention is created. Consequent to that attention or awareness, the brand seeks response from the consumer, in other words, action or feedback. This type of awareness from the brand and direct response from the consumer is a two way communication process. In reference to page 151 in Principles of Advertising, the model translates the main aspects of the communication process in advertising terms. The process/model starts with the source, which in this case is the Red Bull firm, and ends with the target audiences, which are the Red Bull/energy drinkers. When a consumers respond to an advertising message, they go through the following stages; perception, knowledge, feelings, connection, believe/persuasion, action. In advertising terms, this is known as the communication objection, which can be summarized in the following table: taken from the textbook page 155 (2009) Communication Objective Consumer Response Drivers Perception See/Hear exposure, selection, attention, interest/relevance, awareness, recognition

Emotion/Affective Feel want/desire, feelings, liking, resonance Cognition Understand need, cognition, learning, differentiation, recall Association Connect symbolism, conditioned learning, transformation Persuasion Believe motivation, influence, involvement, conviction, believability/credibility, preference and intention, loyalty Behavior Act trial, buying, contacting, advocating, referral, prevention/avoidance. The consumer begins collecting information that is being delivered in the advertisement through their five senses, and then translates this information into meaning. This is also referred to as the perception facet. There are a few drivers that stimulate perception which include; exposure, attention, interest and relevance, and finally awareness and recall. The effective and emotional facet, which is the second stage of the response process, reflects the feelings of the consumer towards the advertisement. These feelings stimulate wants and encourage needs towards the product which in this case is Red Bull. This stage is then followed by the knowledge and understanding of the advertisement, the cognitive facet. Once a consumer feels strongly about the product, the association and persuasion facet comes in, in which the consumer translates the symbolism of an advertisement into attitudes. These attitudes can be negative, positive, or neutral. The major goal of Red Bull is to enhance positive attitudes towards their energy drink, which in turn will create wants and increase sales. Those positive attitudes are positively correlated with the way consumers behave towards Red Bull. In other words, automatically a consumer develops a wants to buy the energy drink, which is where the final stage of the consumer response occurs, the behaviour facet, or in other words the action phase. Red Bull utilizes highly targeted communication methods through their interactive promotional strategies, successful and active advertising methods, and free sampling and testing of their products mainly at social events. The proposition and Selling Idea: Red Bull promises its buyers with a boost of energy once a consumer drinks their product. The use of symbolism methods in their logo (the red bull) which is known as the strongest mammal, and the wings in their motive Red Bull gives you wings

strongly reflect what the drink provides to the consumer, which is a creative and unique way of delivering their message to the target audience. In addition, the use of symbolism in their proposition and selling idea is a very provocative and challenging way in communicating with consumers, because it differentiates this energy drinks from its competitors in the market through its uniqueness and creativity. Conclusion: Red Bull is achieving leadership in the market by maintaining customer satisfaction, coming up with innovative ideas and effective promotional strategies.

Advertising Expenditures
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Use distribution as a marketing tool fashionable night clubs, convenience stores, and gas stations. Red Bull increased it s advertising expenditures from $2 million in 1998 to more than $40 million in 2003. In 2004, Red Bull spent $600 million Energy drink companies market themselves around extreme sports and adventure. Red Bull supports 240 athletes worldwide to help promote their product Monster is known for its high advertising budget

Product Promotion Techniques

Utilizing familiar stories with new twists implies that Red Bull can improve the original image of the consumer to be better, cooler, and more modern. Humor is used to connect to the audience to imply that the product is fun and exciting. Marketing ads with hip hop artists, famous athletes, actors and actresses, sexy women and men Hiring sexy models to promote their products at clubs, sporting events, concerts, and parties Methods used to promote product

The music that is used throughout the video clip is a modern genre and most appealing to the younger generation of today s world. A tool of persuasion we see being used here is an attractive woman presenting a fake image of what the energy drink may turn a person into. Product Promotion Techniques

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Known for their high advertising budget Mainly distribution channels bars/clubs, gas stations, convenience stores Extreme sports/events promotions

y y y y

Race Car sponsorship Athlete and Celebrity endorsement Internet website and advertisements Attracts fan mail on MySpace pages

Recommendation
We recommend Red Bull over all other energy drink brands because of its many advantages and benefits. Red Bull was the first energy drink on the market in America, and has continued to be the market share leader 13 years later. Those who drink Red Bull enjoy its unique taste as well as its popular brand design. Red Bull has a very positive brand image, and has continued to be the forerunner in this market because of the company s personalized marketing techniques, and innovative ideas that are implemented in order to keep the product s name out in the market. Red Bull was the most recognizable brand as well as the most preferred brand of energy drink among college students according to our survey results. We believe Red Bull has been met with so much success because the company has tailored its products to the specific target market, and although many young Americans aren t considered to have a lot of brand loyalty, Red Bull seemed to be a product that many would remain loyal to. This product provides a great source of energy because of its combined ingredients to help vitalize anyone in need. It is conveniently located at gas stations and super markets for those who are on the go, and it is also given away for free as an advertising tool at many different events and locations. On the other hand, Five Hour Energy does provide a great source of energy. This product has only 4 calories, and transformed the market. Its energy shots have even created a market of their own and many other brands, including Red Bull subsequently introduced an energy shot product as well. These shots provide a quick fix . They contain fewer calories, and can be consumed in a few small sips instead of taking the time to consume an entire can. Monster energy drink has many benefits as well, however it targets a slightly different market. Monster is geared more towards those who partake in extreme sports as well as those who enjoy rock music and events, such as warped tour. Although the other brands that we researched provide benefits and are well liked, Red Bull still seems to outweigh them all and would definitely be recommended by our group.