How RedBull uses storytelling to sell their brand

Felix Baumgartner, a skydiver was launched in a climate-controlled capsule attached to a balloon nearly in space. The pod was climbing roughly 25 miles per hour, in weather 91 degrees below Fahrenheit. He was to jump 120,000 feet outside the stratosphere via a large balloon. He had a team of engineers, medical staff, and even a skydiving consultant on the ground, walking him through the descent.

Along with a space suit, Baumgartner also had a specially crafted parachute, stocked with two bottles of oxygen so he could breathe at high altitudes. At 128,000 feet (39,000 meters)high, he jumped out into space to the Earth. The exit was perfect, then he started tumbling. It looked like what he could get under control but then it really started getting crazy. He picked up speed, yet it still got very violent.

He ran a risk of getting the blood vessels in his brain and eyes to burst from a spin. His mother Eva and girlfriend Nicole Oetl, had their hearts in their mouths watching with fear as he dived down.

He struggled to stabilize himself for a total of four minutes and twenty seconds in free fall, It was like swimming without touching the water, and it was hard because every time it turned him around and he had to figure out what to do.

He eventually landed, breaking the sound barrier on his descent, thus becoming the first human to do so without any form of engine power. He also broke world records with that altitude, Baumgartner broke the unofficial record for the highest manned balloon flight with cheers from millions of viewers who were watching online.

I guess you couldn’t wait to read the end of the story, I had my heart in my mouth when watching this beautiful documentary sponsored by Red Bull. This video had over two million views on YouTube and got more attention for the brand. Red Bull has a track record of creating content and videos showing how these amazing athletes engage in their activities and this is one of the many videos published by them. The amazing part of this video is that there was no mention of their product yet Red Bull got a ton of publicity from Felix Baumgartner’s free fall. Sales in the U.S. increased 7% to $1.6 billion after the fall.

Red Bull uses content and storytelling as an amazing tools in their marketing. They concentrate on their customers, creating content around their likes, dislikes, and personal lifestyle instead of the product itself. The audience or real-life heroes are the storytellers while they write the story. Most of the content is delivered via captivating visuals with text to describe what’s happening.  But the brand is promoting the activities and athletes directly, and the brand itself indirectly.

The content keeps the watcher engaged through a fast, high-intensity activity that leaves them wondering if they will actually be able to pull the same stunt off, and indirectly their focus is brought back to Red Bull as it offers to give them wings to fly and do the impossible.

Another important part of their strategy is how they create content around events and sports that are daring or exciting. They use content published by influencer athletes to advertise their products.

Red Bull doesn’t try to force its product on its customers. Instead, they have built content around extreme sports and activities that interest its consumers.

Content creation is vital in selling services and products, your customers do not want to know what your products can do, they want to know you really care for them beyond what you are selling to them.