Comparative analysis of the distribution channels between Red Bull energy drink and major carbonated beverages
Issues, recommendations and their implications
SDM Section A
Anshul Sehgal – 10P010 Kayarat Ajit Krishnan – 10P023 Esha Sharma – 10P075 Jayant Bahel – 10P081 Mohit Ahuja – 10P090
Issue: Price volatility in Red Bull products being sold to retailers and wholesellers
Till 2009 Red Bull refrained from selling to wholesellers and used to sell the product to retailers at a single price. They relied heavily on store executions to get the necessary retail push. Since 2009, Red Bull has begun selling to wholesellers and began the practice of price cutting. The reasons for these changes in strategy was that the competition in
…show more content…
Over a period of time, the category will grow to a point when it becomes viable for the company to take control of this aspect. They can work with The Narang Group to selectively take over some territories, while ensuring that their partner does not take a big hit on revenues. Eg. Nokia took over distribution in 50% of the areas HCL used to distribute in 2006 as part of the first initiative in setting up their own operations in India.
Currently, The Narang Group has presence in 78 cities with distribution in over 100,000 outlets. It has also a network of 150+ sub distributors. It’s not possible to set up a network of this scope in a short while, and hence the company must work with its partner to smoothen out the transition. Suggested channel structure –
Manufacturer (Red Bull, Austria)
Red Bull India
Distributors
Wholesalers
Retailers
Implications
Setting up a pan-India network would involve huge amount of effort and cost. Also, the extent of geographical coverage that The Narang Group has would have to be matched to ensure continued availability to the customers. Also, since The Narang Group is a big player and Red Bull is a premium product in its distribution portfolio, there is bound to be some resistance from them for this decision.
Issue: Below the Line promotions
Currently, Below the Line promotions are the responsibility of
In today's world, the name Red Bull and the slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings has been inscribed into the minds of consumers around the globe. The popular energy drink, which seems to have sky-rocketed in US as well as world-wide sales is no miracle drug, although it does seem that way by the overflowing demand. Known to many as a coffee substitute, Red Bull is able to give its buyers that extra push or burst of energy to keep their day going due to its increased amounts of caffeine, without the nasty aftertaste of coffee. No doubt its marketing strategies have made a massive impact on its increased sales, but at its start, it is no lie to call Red Bull a self-made success. In a time where everyone is
Red Bull targets only a particular segment of market and therefore makes its product only available at those places where the target can be reached. The energy drink can be bought at colleges, supermarkets and is mainly associated to extreme sports. In particular, the energy drink has also known a tremendous success in India, where the segment is the fastest growing in the category, due to India’s youth centric population and fast urbanization. Red Bull was actually the brand that created energy drink category in India (Docstoc, April 2012).
India is one country which is developing rapidly at the moment along with China (Lal and Clement, 2005). The political, economic, social, cultural, technological and legal climate in India is extremely suitable for international entrepreneurs since business prospects in a country are heavily dependent on the above mentioned parameters. Since India is the second most heavily populated country in the world, British telecommunication company, Vodafone has enormous business opportunities in India. Mobile phone usage in India is increasing rapidly in recent times (Press Information Bureau: Government of India, 2010). A substantial portion of Indian
This document is part of the requirements of the Foundations of marketing course, the University of Newcastle. It is the first part of the marketing plan for Red Bull, the leader of energy drinks market.
However, there is a large market for it and reputable brands like DPSGs’ with their bottling and distribution network which covers 80% of the US energy beverage market could gain a small share of the market. As the above quote eluded to, manufacturers with an extensive product offering and distribution network can gain shelf space in the off-premise retail channels.
Power of buyers: The soft drink industry sold to consumers through five principal channels: food stores,
This report was written to assess the company Red Bull and their energy drink Red Bull Energy Drink, in a manner in which the market/industry, environment, competitors, customers, and the brand were all analysed by using secondary research. A SWOT analysis was also conducted. Through this research and analysing, it was found that Red Bull is the dominating leader in the energy drink market and sells the most units of its product worldwide. However the company does have close competitors in Monster Energy Drink and Rock star Energy Drink. Although Red Bull has massive internal strengths in being leader in the market share and sponsorship of events, it also has weaknesses in lack of innovation and diversity. Their
If one has to analyze the profitability scheme of Red Bull Energy Drink, perhaps it can be safely said that it is in a very uncompromising situation. First and foremost, the stiff competition have paved the way for the emergence of many small time players (Helm 2005). With every bottled drink that aims to steal the limelight nowadays, Red Bull should capitalize more on its creativity and ingenuity—this is of course, in relation to advertising and marketing. The company should never disregard that Coca Cola and Pepsi are still top competitors (Helm 2005). More so, even if the two share equally different components as with Red Bull, still, it is evident that the two continue to partake into the market share. Meanwhile, the notion that energy drinks offers no variety in taste is an important marketing aspect that the company should take into full consideration (Laing 2005). In 2001, Pepsi had already released AMP Energy Drink (“Amp Energy Drink” n.d). It is the company’s maidens venture into the energy drink arena. Evidently, AMP’s raison d’ etre is to capitalize on Mountain Dew’s established image. The concept would be to introduce something new, yet very familiar (“Amp Energy Drink” n.d).
A slow growing market is a great way to characterize the energy beverage category in late 2007. This industry was increasing in profits still but was not increasing in profits as quickly due to factors such as market maturity, increasing in prices, competition and new hybrid products (Kerin & Peterson, 2010). The market was still very small but was dominated by Red Bull due to it being one of the first energy drinks, which caused it to dictate the market and have more of an advantage than the other energy beverages. So in late 2007 the market for energy drinks was still
Market share and strategy - RedBull had dominated the market of energy drinks all over the world. Its main mission is to provide an energy drink made with natural ingredients which provide energy to man, women or children in their day to day life. It provides instant energy which helps college students or working people to maintain their energy and keep doing their work with full enthusiastic way.The Red Bull brand had created a great impact on the mind of its customers by its product results and pricing strategies which make it a larger energy drink on the market.("The Top 15 Energy Drink Brands.")
Red Bull New Zealand Ltd. is the local unit of the international giant that is Red Bull. In 2010 Kiwi’s bought $30.3 million of Red Bull, this was up 7.5% from the previous year. In the
Energy drinks have outperformed the growth in carbonates in the last few years, and present a substantial opportunity for beverage manufacturers to extract further growth from their sales. There are many driving forces of change and critical success factors in the energy drink industry. Companies such as Coke Cola and Pepsi contend with criticism from health officials due to the excessive caffeine in most high-energy drinks. However, before the 2000’s consumers were accustomed to carbonated soft drinks as the traditional beverage. The shift to an energy drink, sports drink, and vitamin enhanced waters increased sales while becoming an alternative beverage choice for a fast-paced mobile society. Therefore, this industry endures many
Red bull has dominated the energy market for a decade now. Its popularity and stylish design has allowed it to be charged at a premium price. Red Bull is a stylish and vibrant energy drink that is priced at least five times higher than the ordinary soft drink. Red Bull strongly believes that it offers its consumers something more than a beverage; it believes that it offers them a ‘way of life.’ It provides its consumers with energy and related brainpower to make the most of their time. Due to all of the above reasons, Red Bull can afford to price itself at such a high price. Therefore, it is important that Red Bull chooses those markets where the people have the financial capacity to purchase their product
Due to the fact that the industry is growing, other countries are now being emerged
Red Bull can be called as a pioneer in the energy drink category worldwide. In India too, Red Bull was the brand that created the energy drink category.