I am carrying out some netnographic for my dissertation, exploring how an entire lifestyle can be sold with a product, specifically in the extreme sport industry.
When you see a company like Red Bull using a freestyle skiing event, or something more specific like focusing on the day to day life of a professional Slalom skier, is this influencing you the viewer into wanting their product as you feel a connection with that lifestyle or that their product REDBULL will actual help you get to that level by drinking the drink.?
Or actually, are Redbull simply using the skiing world in their promotions because they endorse the athletes and they simply want the sport to become more successful for their athletes.
Any opinions on this topic are absolutely welcome, I am looking to paint a picture with results from this and other angles of research as to whether using lifestyles branding can be more effective and beneficial to a business than simply using the product to sell itself.
Thank you in advance .
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Red Bull is a crime, flavour-wise, but I like Ski yoghurts. This "skibum" lifestyle ad convinced me
Any opinions on this topic are absolutely welcome, I am looking to paint a picture with results from this and other angles of research as to whether using lifestyles branding can be more effective and beneficial to a business than simply using the product to sell itself.
Seriously? Don't you think you're wasting your degree trying to answer a question that the advertising industry has so resoundingly answered in the affirmative with decades of data showing the effectiveness of aspirational lifestyle branding.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Zero_G wrote:
willgreenwork wrote:
Any opinions on this topic are absolutely welcome, I am looking to paint a picture with results from this and other angles of research as to whether using lifestyles branding can be more effective and beneficial to a business than simply using the product to sell itself.
Seriously? Don't you think you're wasting your degree trying to answer a question that the advertising industry has so resoundingly answered in the affirmative with decades of data showing the effectiveness of aspirational lifestyle branding.
I have read a lot of current academic literature that I will be looking at in my literature review within my work, the reason I'm asking on here is part of my primary netnographic research that a must have as part of my data collection.
I am aware that lifestyle branding has been shown to be more affective but I'm exploring deeper into the world of Adventure and Extreme sports and more importantly the increase in popularity of Niche sports that would not have been around unless businesses like Redbull had brought them to light. Do you think things like Redbulls youtube channel, in which they show their athletes doing things/ creating sports that have never been seen before in the public eye e.g. RedBull crashed ice, are just a gimmick to make people buy Redbull, or do you think they are actually trying to bring more attention to the Extreme sport industry?
Since I work primarily in the advertising industry (designing software that tracks advertising effectiveness) I can categorically tell you that brands support athletes and events (as you have described above) purely to promote their brands in order to sell products. It does have a positive side effect in that it exposes niche sports to the general public and allows them to grow out of their niches, in some cases. But there is nothing altruistic in the brands' intentions.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
willgreenwork wrote:
Zero_G wrote:
willgreenwork wrote:
Any opinions on this topic are absolutely welcome, I am looking to paint a picture with results from this and other angles of research as to whether using lifestyles branding can be more effective and beneficial to a business than simply using the product to sell itself.
Seriously? Don't you think you're wasting your degree trying to answer a question that the advertising industry has so resoundingly answered in the affirmative with decades of data showing the effectiveness of aspirational lifestyle branding.
I have read a lot of current academic literature that I will be looking at in my literature review within my work, the reason I'm asking on here is part of my primary netnographic research that a must have as part of my data collection.
I am aware that lifestyle branding has been shown to be more affective but I'm exploring deeper into the world of Adventure and Extreme sports and more importantly the increase in popularity of Niche sports that would not have been around unless businesses like Redbull had brought them to light. Do you think things like Redbulls youtube channel, in which they show their athletes doing things/ creating sports that have never been seen before in the public eye e.g. RedBull crashed ice, are just a gimmick to make people buy Redbull, or do you think they are actually trying to bring more attention to the Extreme sport industry?
Many of the sports created by Redbull are not created by Redbull but by adventurers who push the boundry. That Redbull is sponsoring events is comendable but only an idiot would think they are doing it for any other reason than to sell more of their product.
Many of these sports would still be viewable on Youtube without Redbull or any other company sponsoring, they would not be as big the vids would in many cases not be as proffessional. Niche sports would be around without Redbull or any other company sponsorship. Pretty much every sport going at some point was a niche sport in it's infancy. You are trying to assign credit to a company for inventing sports
The nearest I can think to Redbull inventing an activity is the Flugtag but that if memory serves me right started in the UK as the Birdman Rally so yes expanded on it improved it immensly but no not really invented by the owner of Redbull.
They did not invent mountain biking or skateboarding they did not invent ice cross that was invented by two Austrians in 2000 then in 2001 Redbull built an ice cross course.
By all means praise them for sponsoring ( even though it is for their own personal reasons ie profit ) these sports but get the facts right I am not aware of a single sport completely invented from scratch by Redbull though I stan to be corrected if someone does know of one ).
After all it is free
After all it is free
Red Bull have used extreme sports as an avenue for their marketing and PR for a long time now. It certainly doesn't sell well because of the taste therefore their marketing must be working.
Martini used Rallying and skiing to great effect thirty years ago, although it was more about glamour than extreme sport.
Quite often the extreme end of the market promotes the general product. Look at the massive success of BMW since the early nineties. They made the best sports saloons so your average John bought a five series or three series as they're in a elite club.
Most consumer spending in the western world is controlled by females which is why you don't get a huge variety of products advertised during Sky Sports (Mainly male audience - lots of Gillette and Ford adverts)
There are actually not that many resorts that go for the Red Bull type image - St Anton to name one. Very few ski resorts boast about their nightlife. In fact people were actively avoiding the likes of Saux for a while after it gained a reputation as the Magaluf of the Alps. Most skiers are actually a little older, have children so the 'family' side of it comes into play. Before having children, my final ski holidays were to Whistler and Courchevel. Post children it was Risoul, La Clusaz and Corvara - All of which, my wife had a good say in choosing. Ski resorts know the money in pockets in this world is with the older generation. An interesting thread running parallel to this one is 'Where have all he black runs gone?' Well most of the people with money to spend are 40-70 - and they generally like well groomed slopes. I didn't know what a Wellness Centre was in my twenties. Now I'm in my forties, it's a different matter.
Try looking at BMW marketing in the slopes. There were X-drive 4x4s all over the mountain when I skied last week. Ten years ago Audi cleaned up the skiers market with their 4x4s and sponsored the World Alpine Cup. BMW is fighting back.
Certainly the biggest change in spending when you get older is accommodation. Young folk in their twenties are quite happy to pile into a rabbit hutch in Avoriaz and spend the money saved in the bars later one whereas older skiers want more comfort, warmth, space, catered chalets etc.....
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
cameronphillips2000 wrote:
Red Bull have used extreme sports as an avenue for their marketing and PR for a long time now. It certainly doesn't sell well because of the taste therefore their marketing must be working.
Martini used Rallying and skiing to great effect thirty years ago, although it was more about glamour than extreme sport.
Quite often the extreme end of the market promotes the general product. Look at the massive success of BMW since the early nineties. They made the best sports saloons so your average John bought a five series or three series as they're in a elite club.
Most consumer spending in the western world is controlled by females which is why you don't get a huge variety of products advertised during Sky Sports (Mainly male audience - lots of Gillette and Ford adverts)
There are actually not that many resorts that go for the Red Bull type image - St Anton to name one. Very few ski resorts boast about their nightlife. In fact people were actively avoiding the likes of Saux for a while after it gained a reputation as the Magaluf of the Alps. Most skiers are actually a little older, have children so the 'family' side of it comes into play. Before having children, my final ski holidays were to Whistler and Courchevel. Post children it was Risoul, La Clusaz and Corvara - All of which, my wife had a good say in choosing. Ski resorts know the money in pockets in this world is with the older generation. An interesting thread running parallel to this one is 'Where have all he black runs gone?' Well most of the people with money to spend are 40-70 - and they generally like well groomed slopes. I didn't know what a Wellness Centre was in my twenties. Now I'm in my forties, it's a different matter.
Try looking at BMW marketing in the slopes. There were X-drive 4x4s all over the mountain when I skied last week. Ten years ago Audi cleaned up the skiers market with their 4x4s and sponsored the World Alpine Cup. BMW is fighting back.
Certainly the biggest change in spending when you get older is accommodation. Young folk in their twenties are quite happy to pile into a rabbit hutch in Avoriaz and spend the money saved in the bars later one whereas older skiers want more comfort, warmth, space, catered chalets etc.....
Thats a brilliant response thank you. I have to cover the background history of the topic also so I will take a look at those businesses you mentioned.
Its interesting about what you mentioned about taste as in the UK market there are Monster and Relentless, two extremely similar products but yet don't sell as many units as Redbull but yet are priced the same and contain a larger quantity of the product (larger volume cans), therefore RedBull are obviously doing something right. Hence why I'm looking into the success of their Brand identity and specifically the areas in which involve adventure and extreme sports (thats where to skiing comes in).!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I could tell you lots about energy drinks too. We own a catering company that trades at music festivals where we sell many energy drinks amongst other things depending on the sponsor of the event. Reading, for example, has Relentless a a sponsor so it's the only one we can sell. Flavour does come in to it. The yellow one sells by far the most.
The drinks market is interesting in that the production costs are so low, there is a lot to be spent on advertising. Coca Cola being the most advertised product on the planet.
Les Arcs would be a good resort to study. It always saw itself as innovative and bit left field. It has cult status amongst resorts. It would also be interesting to see how Courchevel took over from Megeve as France's glamorous resort only for Megeve to come back with its old money against new.
I think the two most interesting resorts on the Alps for marketing are Lech and St Anton. Both under the same lift pass but couldn't be further apart in terms of customer base. One young, hip, radical, with advanced skiing and mad nightlife. The other grand, classy, flattering ski runs and quiet nightlife. They're about to be linked by lifts which, rumour has it, has not gone down well with the Lech old school.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I did a mildly silly ski thing a few years ago and we wrote to both Famous Grouse and Red Bull asking (somewhat tongue in cheek) for sponsorship.
FG, "this is far too silly for us to be associated with"
RB, "this is not nearly silly enough for us to be associated with"
Which explains much, not least why no-one complains of too many Famous Red Grouse Bulls in the morning after.
I have not aspired to either product since. Although I have drunk a few red bulls.
I should also add that both missed a huge sponsorship trick as we managed to be the most successful British team in the event, ever and (!) the only British team in the event, ever.
We also broke it as it no longer exists.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
under a new name, you are Eddie the Eagle and I claim my £5.
I have to add that no amount of marketing, promotion or sponsorshop of athletes/events will make me buy or drink Red Bull. It is the most vile stuff know to humankind and should be locked away in the CDC as a weaponised pathogen.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
The other industry we're involved with is video games which has shared remarkable parallels with skiing in terms branding as the client based has aged. In the 80s skiing grew massively. It was about neon bright colours, new snowboarding, and being rad. The new ski generation were also the video game generation. Over the next 15 years things just got radder. Video games became more adrenalin fuelled and violent. Mega linked ski resorts grew and bigger was better, blades came along as they were super rad.
2015 and the 80s kids are now parents. They're encouraging their kids to play creative, collaborative things like Minecraft and the spiritual Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons
Ski resorts are now about the environment, skiing responsibly, normalising radicals like snowboarders by having playparks and promoting helmet use. A hotel is not worth visiting without a wellness centre.....
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I'm too old, and maybe wise to be influenced, comes from 25years in the corporate sales and marketing world. Too many people are too stupid or suffering from terminal apathy to notice.
Red bull sponsor for one reason only-to get greater exposure, and enable them to tease more cash out of the adoring fans and public. Yes they would love sport to succeed, it gives them a larger audience to prey on.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
How about this as an opinion of a "grumpy old man" 60+
Advertising? I do my utmost to avoid it. Only watch advertless TV in real time, programs with advertising I record so I can fast forward through them.
Sky: Don't have it. There isn't enough time in the day to watch any more than 1-2 hours of TV (and I'm retired).
Internet: I have developed a knack of not even reading the advertising pop-ups, sidebars etc, so couldn't tell you if they advertised there.
Red Bull as a drink: Only time I drink it is when I am too drunk to say no to a Jagerbomb or when I have a very long drive to do and have been known to wash Pro-Plus down with a Red Bull. It tastes and smells awful and cannot imagine why anyone who isn't drunk would drink it.
Red Bull as a company: Used to love their sponsorship of niche and unusual sports but they totally lost any respect when they went into F1 with not one but 2 teams. Until they started sponsoring F1 they could still be viewed as a little company.
It has been a great campaign of theirs gain the maximum exposure by sponsoring the cheapest to sponsor sports.
The success of Red Bull as a product is purely down to their brilliant advertising campaign. This is a product which requires a huge percentage of it's sale price to go back into it advertising and promotion otherwise sales would fall off a cliff. Oh I forgot they sponsor that as well don't they?
It's a pointless product, but if their sponsorship helps me see some sports that I enjoy and help pay those athletes from a product that other people pay for then I can't complain.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Oh I forgot to say that as I am not a member of Red Bull's target market I don't expect that they would care about my opinion so it probably won't help much.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Is netnographic really a word? Is slalom really all that extreme? Anyhoo...
Red Bull sponsors an awful lot of things, many of which it seemed possible to be very good at before their eponymous product came to Europe.
I also don't recall their athletes consumption of the product being all that prominent, so I don't think they've tried to make me think the product is even helpful for successful although of course there are several sports where wings would help performance...
@cameronphillips2000, Just out of interest, do you work at Boardmasters? I do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I think the concept of "branding" is not quite the same as straight advertising.
Branding doesn't strive to sell product right away. The idea is try to create awareness, typically of an unknown brand or when a well-known brand is branching into new markets.
It's my view that's what Red Bull is doing. By sponsoring nitch sport which no ohter products are even touching, it gets exclusive exposure to a relatively young demographic. As a side benefit, the growth of these sports/events increase their audience base, resulting in overall increased sales.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
