In an interesting article about one of Reb Bull’s event marketing projects, it was reported that Red Bull spends 40% of its revenue on marketing, If accurate, their other costs of business must be insanely low?
80,000 flock to downtown Portland to see Flugtag fliers take plunge
Posted by Nicole Santa Cruz, The Oregonian August 02, 2008 18:57PM
Sheri and Jim Beauchamp trekked from Arizona to Portland to see one thing: Red Bull’s Flugtag.
“It’s a bunch of idiots flying into the river,” said Jim Beauchamp, 67, sporting a brown cowboy hat. “Why wouldn’t you want to do this?”
The retired couple wasn’t alone in their enthusiasm for the event, in which 31 amateur teams built contraptions they then rolled and flew — sort of — into the Willamette River this afternoon at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. According to organizers, more than 80,000 people, young and old, flocked to downtown for the event, lining the riverbanks and bridges.
The spectacle is a marketing effort for energy-drink maker Red Bull, and an example of how the company takes product placement to a whole new level. Though most spectators weren’t drinking Red Bull or may not have even known the sponsor before arriving, they knew when they got there, as Red Bull logos filled the scene.
“People don’t even know what they’re buying into,” said Robby Marshall, a team member for “Oregon or Bust,” which built a covered wagon apparatus for the contest. He called the marketing “360-degree branding.”
“It’s an experience rather than a sense,” Marshall said.
More than 250 mostly local teams applied for the event, which is also held in other cities across the nation. This was Portland’s second Flugtag — the first was in 2004 — and it joins the ranks of cities such as Austin, Texas, and San Francisco that also have held two Flugtags.
“The people in Portland really embrace it,” said Ellie Applen, a communication manager for Red Bull.
Applen wouldn’t comment on the marketing practices of the privately held company, which spends 40 percent of its revenue each year on marketing. But it must be working, as Red Bull is the No. 1 energy drink company in the U.S., Applen said.
Full Article: http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/08/80000_flock_to_downtown_portla.html#post
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