Kuddos Dr. Burton

For my last blog post, I would love to give a shout out to Dr. Burton, professor of Social Media Marketing here at High Point University. Exploring the Red Bull Brand throughout this semester has certainly allowed me to evolve in my research and understanding of how vital social media is to . . . the world! Thank you for teaching our class the importance of building our personal brand; my skepticism of social media lightened over the course of the semester because of your insightful lectures on how social media in the future is a definite; therefore, take advantage of the platforms it provides. I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that your enthusiasm for marketing is contagious! Entering the class, I had developed a negative sentiment toward social media and the busy, never satisfying roll it tends to play in people’s minds / hearts. Now, that I have a clearer picture of its importance in community + business + storytelling, etc., I have a refreshed viewpoint! So thank you Dr. Burton for our weekly assignments, enabling us to take our knowledge into the workplace and for your inspiration for building one’s personal brand!

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook!

When analyzing Red Bull’s social media presence for ‘jabs’ and ‘right hooks’, it’s evident they are not out to covertly persuade us with some amazing sales pitch they have been working to deliver, rather, they jab and hook us in an incredibly seductive, and fruitful way.

Let’s first distinguish that jabs are conversations that slowly and authentically build relationships between brands and customers. What makes us as consumers laugh? Feel appreciated? Helps us escape? These are jabs . . .

Right Hooks are not literally powerful punches that have knock out power, it’s the sales pitch that transforms traffic into sales and time spent engaging your audience into high ROI’s. Red Bull is a lifestyle brand. Athletes and out-of-the-box people / places / talents of pop culture are simply vessels. Every post that portrays adventure, athleticism, escape and light-hearted entertainment is a jab. For example, within a 12-hour time period we see engagement posts like those below . . .

• ‘Do you think these are the 25 Best Rappers Under 25?’
• ‘Get yourself a taste of the surfing in Hawaii #MadeinHawaii’
• ‘Welcome to classical nirvana’
• ‘Meet eight of the world’s most remote tribes #Adventure’

We don’t have to scroll down far to see that Red Bull is consistently hitting us with a surplus of jabs, providing audiences with questions, making us long for a beach and sunshine and introducing us to radical ways of life displayed by tribes across the world. The brand doesn’t just use up 160 characters with letters and call it a day; instead, they offer us photos and videos with most every post.

Any kind of promotion I came across was a retweet from a Red Bull consumer. The new Yellow Edition drink is marketed by users wearing fake yellow eyebrows (#GivesYouBrow). They don’t have to strategize their right hooks because they are readily available from their audience’s accounts, and this is due to their successful jabs. It’s one thing to like a brand on any social media channel, but Red Bull consumers long to be a part of this brand, part of this movement that exploits mundane life and injects us with adventure, adrenaline rushes and raw lifestyles. In short, they are a ROCKSTAR at jabs and right hooks, no pun intended.