RedBull diversifies: "The Red Edition"

Last year, RedBull, the company that is famous for selling energy drinks, launched three new flavors. I've always had a lot of respect for the marketing behind their product since it's really basically the same as the (way) cheaper alternatives. Yet they are (successfully) selling it for five times the price of the competition! They have already started to get some diversification in their gamma with the sugar-free (2003) and the Redbull Cola (2008) versions. This time they have taken a bigger risk by completely changing the look of the product.

Because of my trust in their marketing, I was sure this launch would be a huge success. 

The Red Edition (source)

The three editions are: Silver (lime), Red (cranberry) and Blue (blueberry) and contain according to the company the exact same ingredients as the original RedBull. It also would have the same effect. The only difference is the taste.

Today I got my hands on "The Red Edition" and I will briefly share my thoughts and opinion with you before analysing the marketing behind it.

The first time I saw the product, the design didn't really convince me. It looked plain and had lost the RedBull identity. Of course, that doesn't have to be a problem because it can be good to change your identity once in a while. Now, I'm already used to the new design and I'm starting to appreciate it. I've seen some variatons too. On the picture, the bull is red but there are also silver bulls. The vertical RedBull title is smaller on some versions.

The Red Edition pull tab (source)

When opening the can I noticed the typical nicely designed pull tab with the RedBull bull on it. The fluid has a nice red/pink color which matches with the can.   But the thing that impressed me the most was the taste. It was almost identical to the original RedBull but less sweet and with a subtle hint of cranberry in it.

It was a smart move to create this product. This is surely something people will talk about. RedBull always had the risk that people would turn away from the only product they sold. With this diversification, this is no longer the case. This opens new opportunities both for advertising and use of the product. I can imagine that soon there'll be some new popular cocktails based on these editions. This new product also creates new "buzz" about the brand. People ask eachother what they think about the new RedBull tastes. This helps to increase the brand's popularity without extra advertising.

In my next post I will also write about RedBull. I will talk about the way they've succesfully used spectacular events to get a positive brand image.

See you then!