January 14, 2005
red bull
From The Independant, 6th January 2005 (paid subscription only).
A lengthy profile on Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire founder of famed Austrian soft drink, Red Bull.
Dietrich is a bit like the Austrian equivalent of Steve Jobs or Richard Branson. Red Bull to him is all about creativity, passion and energy. Like Apple or Virgin, his company is very gung-ho.
You get the feeling that the journalist writing the piece, Sholto Byrnes is ungraciously rolling his eyes the whole time. In the last paragrah he writes:
Red Bull may have given Dietrich Mateschitz wings– but for flights of fancy, perhaps. As I walk out of his lair into the Salzburg snow I wonder how many of Mr. Red Bull’s employees ever stop and remind themselves that behind all the grandiloquent monuments and statements of high intent lie one simple fact: it is, after all, only a fizzy drink.
Ah, yes, the interepid and enlightened reporter indirectly reminding the philistine greedheads to keep it in perspective, what with far bigger, worthier things to ponder e.g. World Peace, Greenhouse Gases, Third World Debt yak yak yak…
Whatever. Any schmuck can write fancy words about something huge. Not everybody can start with a wee idea scribbled on the back of a cocktail napkin and turn it into something huge. That is the difference.
Gee, seems like Sholto just wants to take the fun out of everything. Perhaps we should all just remember that the human body, for all of its magnificence and splendor, is just a blood making machine.
I agree with you. The intrepid souls who can go take a thought to breakthrough are those who are fueled by their zest for life. Unfortunately, they’re also easy targets for cynics. Dream on…
Well yes, but…Dietrich Mateschitz’s idea came pre-scribbled — he visited the Orient and bought the rights to sell an existing energy drink called “Red Bull” in the West.He then tweaked the ingredients and added the fizz.
No doubt though there is an unsung but otherwise wealthy ad exec somewhere that jotted “red bull gives you wings” on a paper napkin.
Nonetheless, Red Bull is very inspiring. It really doesn’t matter whether Herr Mateschitz bought the formula to Caffeine-Gonzo, or paid someone to invent it. The simplicity of the components is breathtaking.
Hi-adrenaline drink
+
Slogan and stylish-graphic consistent and clever-metaphor message.
That is all.
OK, at least one thing in everyone’s conceptual universe has wings. With the reductionist attitude of the journalist, it’ll hit its little head on a rock and expire in the grass. Other than life-saving products (and even to get the attention for them), Frame is All. It is part of the fun we have chosen to have as a commercial culture, and standing around in black turtlenecks spoiling the fun is not a growth industry I will buy a dead tree (even with its name spelled right) to support.
Why shouldn’t Red Bull’s marketing schtick get the same scrutiny as any other company’s? I don’t understand the disdain for this reporter when cynical mistrust of marketing, esp. effusive talk ala “Lovemarks,” is what this site is all about.
You personally like the product and the intangibles (like verbage) surrounding it are somehow great marketing? You don’t like the product and all of it is bullshit?
Seriously, I’d like to understand the difference if there is something I am missing.
Scrutiny’s a good thing, Mark, worry not.
However… [Insert British Big Media Journalism Rant here].
Great remarks, Hugh. …I tip my can of Red Bull to you!
Hugh Rock!
Start at the bottom and lick your way up the wall of that Corporate architecture! ahem I mean, um, what did I mean.…
Oh yeah, the thing I like about Red Bull’s campaign is that there is an element of empowerment in it and if someone drinking it was pretending at the same time to be growing wings than perhaps they might actually be reconfiguring their psyche’s to leave off the obstacle bullshit at kick down them mutha f(shhh.…)walls..
So a wee drink with a little effort might go a long way.
Too bad it tastes like shhh! Sorry.
After all, Starbucks is just beans and water…
Look everyone! I can be profound too!
Tastes like shhh? You’re not adding enough vodka.
duh…zzz that make it better?
Mix them chemicals, stimulants/sedatives why not, cocktail napkin ahoy!