Business choices aren’t always logical.
In 1980 Coca-Cola reigned supreme as the second most popular cold non-alcoholic drink. The first is water. If you were to listen to an economist the best way to compete would be to make drink that tastes better, costs less, and comes in a bigger can.
That would be the rational decision.
Red Bull ignored that.
Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder of Red Bull, wasn’t looking to compete with Coke. It wasn’t even on the radar. In fact he wasn’t trying to sell a better tasting drink at all.
He wanted to sell an experience.
His aim was to build a brand around risk.
He combined Red Bull marketing with his love for racing and extreme sports.
He ignored what made sense and made a drink that tastes worse, costs more, and comes in a small can.
It makes no sense, but he wasn’t trying to make sense.
Many new business owners think that they have to be better than the competition. Red Bull only cared about being different.
The can size alone is brilliant.
If you’re a drinks brand build around risk, your drink needs to be risky. A risky drink needs to be something that should only be consumed in small quantities. A small can says: “Don’t drink more that the recommended dose”.
It’s a small design decision that is consistent with the Red Bull’s image.
It’s an image that includes skydiving, skating, and F1 racing. Its so effective that Red Bull has become a guaranteed presence at every extreme sports event in the world.
Combined with hundreds of other small decisions, Red Bull is no longer a competitor to Coca-Cola, it’s in a class all its own.
That is because one-of-a-kind brands don’t see themselves as competitors. They choose a unique direction and then ignore what everyone else is doing.
Red Bull is now one of the most successful brands in the world. They have enough extra cash to fund an F1 racing team on the side, a project that cost them $445 million last year.
That is the power of picking a uniqueness and designing everything around it.
It can be challenging though. A lot of business owners don’t know how to pick a uniqueness.
That’s where I come in. I’ve been obsessed with this topic for almost a decade. I help businesses pick a uniqueness and make design decisions support it.
Give me a call and we’ll get started: 801-404-9636
– Robert Marck
PS: I you want to read more about Red Bull I highly recommend Rory Sutherland’s Alchemy.