And it wasn’t. The feeling of being entirely free and losing all fear of the known and unknown left him feeling exhilarated and alive and he’s never looked back since. Travelling has become a part of his life and he ensures that he squeezes in at least one crazy holiday every six months. His thirst for adventure has taken him cliff diving off the tallest peaks, climbing the highest summits and bungee jumping off crazier heights.
Knowing Your Audience
Bill is the kind of audience Red Bull writes for. Their brand, the content they generate and the stories that are present at the centre of this content are all directed towards an audience like Bill and millions like him.
But what makes Red Bull different from so many other brands that have also dived head first into the world of content marketing is that product marketing through content is only a by-product of their content journey. At the heart of their campaign lies a deep love for the stories, the content that they develop- which is reflective of the brand. At the heart of their content marketing strategy lies pure adrenalin.
Going All Out
Red Bull content efforts are not centered around a single channel. Their digital campaign covers all aspects of social media and other channels. Here we chronicle what they do differently, why it works and why it makes sense to look at them as more than just a brand that does content marketing.
Website
The importance of telling stories that have relevance starts right from the website. Content on the Red Bull website is customized depending on the location that the user is in. The understanding that not every user has the same interests lies at the center of this customization. While a thirst for adventure and sports lie at the heart of every Red Bull enthusiast, the nature of activities that appeal to individuals would differ based on the geography they belong to. So while a person from the US would find his feed filled with stories on surfing or skateboarding, his counterpart in India would see stories centered around cricket or racing.
Even entire sections or tabs differ based on geography. A brilliant example of listening in on your audience and giving them the kind of stories they want to hear.
Red Bull Content Pool
The Content pool is their version of a blog. Without sticking to the typical route of having a set of articles with varying formats on a blog, this part of the website is filled with news, highlights, events and other topics of interest for the viewer. The editorial section is characterised primarily by sports or by other more general interest areas. The content is further divided based on media type, content contributor, length and a few other criteria. Ease of navigation is a primary consideration throughout the page and it is easy for a viewer to get lost among the trove of information that runs through the site.
Social Media Channels
With presence on all major social networking sites, Red Bull has clearly understood where majority of their audience spends most of their time. The content on their social media channels is also customized based on location.
- Facebook They have a whopping 45 million ‘likes’ on the network. The content is reflective of the brand with a good mix of videos, photos, event updates, apps and posts. With an average of a post a day, the page is constantly active and sees a lot of response from its fans.
- Twitter Mostly video and photo updates. Over 1.8 million followers and almost 56,000 tweets.
- Google+ Over 4.1 million followers and over 89 million page views! The posts are a combination of videos, photos and event updates.
- Instagram Over 2.1 million followers and over 1700 posts.
- YouTube Their channel has over 3.9 million subscribers and videos on almost every kind of sport. Red Bull Music is their music channel which has a number of videos as well.
Customer Engagement is the primary goal
Red Bull has already successfully established itself as a forerunner in the energy drinks market. With a number of product variants, it has something to offer almost every consumer within this market. What Red Bull attempts to do with its content marketing strategy goes beyond just product sales or awareness. Considering its dominance is already established in the minds of the audience, their primary goal is engagement. They have a clear understanding of the psyche of their audience and their attempt is to build meaningful conversations with them. For this, they talk about the kind of things that would matter to their audience rather than the other way round.
Apart from this, they have a clear identity that they have maintained throughout their content channels. Their tone is consistent and nowhere do they try to deviate from that identity. It is clear that their content is directed to a certain age demographic and they ensure that all the events, posts, videos and articles cater to that audience rather than adopting a generalized content strategy that would appeal to everyone.