The Red Bull logo. Where did the red bulls and Thailand come from?

The energy drink Red Bull appeared in 1982, when Dietrich Mateschitz, during a trip to East Asia, became interested in the then widely distributed energy drinks there. He acquired the license for the well-known Thai brand Krating Daeng (translated from Thai as “red bull”) and the use of a prescription from Taisho Pharmaceuticals (Japan) .As the drink was brought to the broader market (Europe, the USA), Coca-Cola , and Pepsi, and Molson, and Labatt, and Anheuser-Busch.The concept was similar for everyone — they were toned and stimulated, and the energy engineer Jolt Cola contained, among other things, double the amount of caffeine compared to Red Bull.

Dietrich Mateschitz took a risky step back then: he inflated the price twice artificially compared to competitors, reduced the volume of the can, in a form resembling a battery, and began placing cans in stores not in the beverage department, but in any other (note, when the next once you go to the store — the cans of Red Bull, along with the other energy specialists can be found almost in the sausage department, including in the alcoholic).

In addition, Red Bull boxes were distributed free of charge to students on university campuses. On student revels Red Bull went to cheer, because by chance and lucky coincidence quickly found that it fits perfectly with vodka. So there it was, a very popular cocktail Vodka Red Bull.

The evolution of Red Bull from an exotic local drink to a global mega-brand is a kind of master-class of how to splice a marketing strategy brilliantly with big and significant events. But this is also a lesson in how to appreciate restraint and sensitivity in the identity. When Mateschitz decided to produce “Krating Daeng” in Austria, he was cautious enough in developing the European corporate identity, retaining the main iconography of the brand, leaving the image of the famous bulls almost untouched. He left a sense of foreign exotics — a bizarre and positive association in the design of the brand of a new energy drink.

Red Bull owns four football clubs — Leipzig, Salzburg, New York and Campinas (Brazil) and two teams of Formula 1. His F1 teams cost the company half a billion dollars annually.