Ninety Red Bull events | Part 1: The Mega-List
There are few brands that can offer more lessons in how to approach the next generation of marketing than Red Bull. Focusing their strategy on earned media, cultural integration and value creation, Red Bull’s approach is pioneering, and a template that many brands would love to follow.
However it’s also proven a difficult strategy to replicate, specifically because just how different it is from the traditional marketing model. It’s definitely not just about sponsoring a couple of youth events and calling it a day. The scale of Red Bull’s commitment to non-traditional marketing is unprecedented. As far back as a decade ago, Red Bull was spending more than 80% of their significant marketing budget on non-measured media. That’s completely inverse to the traditional marketing formula of focusing on packaged communication messages and the broadcast media to spread them.
Core to Red Bull’s success has been their unique strategy of focusing on brand-owned events. It struck me that one of the best ways to make the point about what it takes to seriously succeed at their level and at this game was to show the scale they are operating on. To this end I’ve gone about finding every Red Bull event I could, as well as how long they were run. So far I’ve got ninety, and this is far from a complete list. Note also this list does not include team and individual sponsorships, of which there are many.
I think the list makes some self-evident points, including the incredible breadth and depth of these events, the creativity that infuses them, and the admirable long-term commitment and focus Red Bull has shown in sustaining these events as using them as a platform for all of their marketing activity. However in part II, we’ll take a more in-depth look at lessons from Red Bull’s success with these events. It would be great to hear your thoughts as well.
Action Sports - Events
Sport Event Start End Adventure racing Red Bull X-Alps 2003 Ongoing Air Racing Red Bull Air Race 2003 Ongoing BMX Red Bull Empire of Dirt 2007 2008 BMX Red Bull Elevation 2005 2008 BMX Red Bull Down and Dirty 2007 Ongoing Breakdancing Red Bull BC One 2004 Ongoing Cliff diving Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2008 2009 Cricket Red Bull QuickHit 2009 Ongoing Downhill biking Red Bull Desafio no Morro 2009 Ongoing Downhill biking Red Bull Road Rage 2009 Ongoing Drifting Red Bull Drifting World Championships 2008 Ongoing Enduro Red Bull Last Man Standing 2005 2007 Enduro Red Bull City Scramble 2009 Ongoing Football, Streetstyle Red Bull Futbol de Calle (Streetstyle) 2007 Ongoing Free-skiing Red Bull White Rush 2001 2005 Freestyle Motocross (FMX) Red Bull Ride to the Hills 2005 Ongoing Freestyle Motocross (FMX) Red Bull X-Fighters 2001 Ongoing Freestyle running Red Bull Art of Motion 2007 Ongoing Hanggliding Red Bull Speed Run 2008 Ongoing Helicopter Red Bull Chopper Assault 2009 Ongoing Ice hockey Red Bull Open Ice 2009 Ongoing Ice-skating Red Bull Crashed Ice 2003 Ongoing Kayaking Red Bull Divide and Conquer 2004 2005 Kiteboarding Red Bull Kite Punks 2007 2008 Motocross Red Bull Jams 2008 Ongoing Motocross Red Bull Romaniacs 2004 Ongoing MotoGP Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix 2005 Ongoing MotoGP Red Bull Rookies Cup 2007 Ongoing Mountain Biking Red Bull Exodus 2009 Ongoing Mountain biking Red Bull Stumps, Clumps and Jumps 2001 Ongoing Mountain Biking Red Bull Rampage 2001-2004, 2008 Ongoing Mountain biking Red Bull Mountain Mayhem 1998 2002 Off-road biking Red Bull Hare Scramble 2005 Ongoing Para-skiing Red Bull Blade Raid 2008 2008 Parkour Red Bull City Rage 2006 2006 Rally Red Bull Klunker Car Rally 2007 2009 Relay, marathon x-sport Red Bull Dolomitenmann 1997 Ongoing Skateboarding Red Bull Stairway to Hell 2007 2007 Skateboarding Red Bull All Access 2005 Ongoing Skateboarding MannyMania 2007 Ongoing Skiing Red Bull Cold Rush 2007 Ongoing Skiing Red Bull Snow Thrill 1998 Ongoing Snowboarding Red Bull Snowscrapers 2009 Ongoing Snowboarding Red Bull Rail Jam 2007 Ongoing Snowboarding Red Bull Gap Session 2006 Ongoing Snowboarding Red Bull Heavy Metal 2002 2004 Snow Kayaking Red Bull Snow Kajak 2008 Ongoing Snowmobile Red Bull Fuel and the Fury 2002 2006 Soapbox Racing Red Bull Soapbox 2000 2009 Surfing Red Bull Riders Cup 2007 Ongoing Surfing Red Bull Rivals 2009 Ongoing Surfing Red Bull Junior Surf Masters 2008 Ongoing Surfing Red Bull Riders Cup 2007 Ongoing Surfing Red Bull Rising 2007 Ongoing Surfing Red Bull Big Wave Africa 1999 2008 Surfing Red Bull Night Riders 2007 Ongoing Various Red Bull First Person 2008 Ongoing Various Red Bull Vegas Am Jam 2003 Ongoing Wakeboarding Red Bull Blackout 2007 2007 Wakeboarding Red Bull Upstream 2008 Ongoing Wakeboarding Red Bull Wake the Line 2008 Ongoing Wakeboarding Red Bull Depth Charge 2002 2002 Wakeboarding Red Bull Wake Lab 2008 Ongoing Art, music and culture
Area Activity Start date End date Art Red Bull Art of Can 2001 Ongoing Art Red Bull Artbeat 2005 2006 Art Red Bull 381 Projects 2009 Ongoing Art Rooms of Red Bull 2009 Ongoing Art ChinaShop Magazine 2008 Ongoing Music Red Bull Can Make Music 2008 2008 Music Red Bull Big Bang 2008 2008 Music Red Bull Bedroom Jam 2007 Ongoing Music Red Bull Music Academy 1998 Ongoing Music Red Bull Records 2008 Ongoing Music Red Bull Beat Riders 2004 Ongoing Music Red Bull Soundclash 2007 Ongoing Music Red Bull Big Tune 2007 Ongoing Music Red Bull Masters of Remix 2009 Ongoing Music Red Bull Thre3 Style 2009 Ongoing Music Red Bull Ascension 2003 2006 Music Red Bull Artsehcro 2005 2005 Music Batalla de los Gallos 2005 Ongoing Music Red Bull EmSee 2009 Ongoing Music Red Bull 45S 2009 Ongoing Music Red Bull Studio Live 2002 Ongoing Music Red Bull On the Move 2008 2008 Misc Red Bull Paper Wings 2006 Ongoing Misc Red Bull Flugtag 1991 Ongoing Photography Red Bull Illume 2006 Ongoing Photography Red Bull 5Pics 2008 Ongoing Writing Red Bull Tall Story 2007 2007 Next up is Part II: The Lessons from Ninety Red Bull Events.
