can you review to see if I am answering the questions effectively and citing my sources as per APA?

1. IMC Mix: Sales Promotion

Provide a detailed description of Red Bull's sales promotion strategy. In addition, describe how else Red Bull could use both consumer promotions and trade marketing promotional strategies. Be sure to provide examples as part of your response.

As per Module 8, para. 1, "sales promotion offers incentives to consumers, employees, and other organizations to increase the size of purchase (average ticket size), grow consumer demand, advance your target market through the sales funnel, stimulate market demand, and improve product availability." It is a "marketing strategy where a business will use short-term campaigns to spark interest and create demand for a product, service or other offers" (Pipedrive, 2021). Red bulls sales promotion uses direct marketing, when they initially looked at "targeting men in the 18-35 age range at college parties and bars and offered up free samples". (Moore, K., 2021). They didn't want to go the traditional route of high-cost marketing budgets and tv promotions, they instead drove their marketing efforts by "creating a story, and each of their moves was a puzzle piece toward creating a larger picture. Today, Red Bull has created an unparalleled content marketing strategy centered around extreme sports, user-generated content, and influencer marketing."(Moore, K., 2021). This was done by putting their product in " trendy shops, clubs, and bars, drove word of mouth and helped the brand become viral." (Moore, K., 2021).

Red bull uses the consumer approach of reaching their customer without trying to sell the brand. They do this by "creating content and experiences people would be interested in even if they don't care about energy drink brands." (Bergstrom, B., 2017). They have been successful in this approach, so they always have the mainstream approach of reaching their customers through contests and events that engage the consumer. For example, they could be at an event with one of their influencers, but as well have a contest to bring in new consumers, I think of the Pepsi and coke challenge, driving efforts to bring forth how their product compares to others.

Right now Red bull doesn't focus their efforts on trade marketing promotions. They are on store shelves, but the marketing efforts to evolve their presence aren't there. The company could look at targeting brands and stores that their different influencers wear and shop at. This could provide the influencer with advertising but as well their brand would then be considered top of mind when it is purchased.

Module 8, Sales Promotion. https://avenue.cllmcmaster.ca/d2l/le/content/412543/viewContent/3282675/View

Bergstrom, B., 2017. Red Bull Marketing Strategy: What You Need to Know (And How to Copy It). https://coschedule.com/blog/red-bull-marketing-strategy

Moore, K., 2021. Red Bull's approach to marketing: then and now. https://hashtagpaid.com/banknotes/red-bulls-approach-to-marketing-then-and-now

Pipedrive, 2021. 12 Sales Promotion Examples to Close More Deals and Set Your Sales Team Up for Success. https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/sales-promotion

1. IMC Mix: Public Relations (PR)

Provide a detailed description of Red Bull's public relations strategy, using the Red Bull Stratos program. Was this an effective PR strategy? Why or why not?

"Public relations (PR) is the process of maintaining a favorable image and building beneficial relationships between an organization and the public communities, groups, and people it serves." (Lumen, principles of marketing). Red Bull's public relations strategy for the Stratos program was very effective. "Red Bull truly demonstrated the power of a fully integrated marketing plan. One that takes the consumer from the cradle to the grave."(Joel, M., 2012). They were able to stay true to their strategy of not advertising mainstream, by only having the broadcast available on their YouTube channel. The PR strategy was to not make this about Red Bull, it was about the event and bringing people together to watch and admire. Overall, the only thing that was on the broadcast other than the event was their brand and logo. The company did not put this event on television as they wanted to avoid other brands being advertised. Their PR strategy was effective as they were able to meet their objective of being interactive, building communities and that is proven in the statistics on who was watching. Cristopher Stanton published these stats in 2019, it was broadcast in front of a global audience of millions who watched the mission live and it received the highest number of live views on YouTube for that period of time.

Stanton, C., 2019. Looking back at Red Bull Stratos. https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/best-of-2012-red-bull-stratos

Lumen, principles of marketing. Reading: Public relations. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/clinton-marketing/chapter/reading-public-relations/

Joel, M., 2012. The Perfect Marketing Strategy That Fell Out of the Sky... https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/free-fall-from-space_b_1972991

1. IMC Mix: Experiential Marketing

Provide a detailed description of Red Bull's experiential marketing strategy. Be sure to provide examples and assess the effectiveness of the strategies.

As per Module 10 Experiential marketing it is "to create personal, memorable, and interactive experiences that raise brand awareness, increase trial or sales, and develop customer loyalty." Red Bull has done this effectively through ""brand awareness and event marketing through hosting activations in the extreme sports and music industry. Red Bull is one of the first global brands to partner with influencers and teams in the extreme sports industry to host events."(Hazelton, J., 2019). The effectiveness of their strategy can be found through statistics that prove how they hold in their market. "Red Bull sold a record 7.5 billion cans worldwide last year, with strong growth in emerging markets like Brazil, India, and Africa. According to Bloomberg, Red Bull's revenue increased by 9.5% to $6.6 billion dollars in 2019. If we look at the Forbes list for the World's Most Valuable Brands 2019, Red Bull was number 71." (Moore, K., 2021).The company started in a market that was dominated by soft drinks and was unknown. They went an unconventional advertising and Public relations route, where they stayed true to their brand, putting the product second, and in the long run it paid off.

Hazelton, J., 2019. Experiential marketing: 4 examples of brands that got it right.https://www.eventtia.com/en/blog/experiential-marketing-4-examples-of-brands-that-got-it-right

Module 10: Experiential marketing. https://avenue.cllmcmaster.ca/d2l/le/content/412543/viewContent/3282677/View

1. IMC Mix: Online and Interactive Communications

Provide a detailed description of Red Bull's online and interactive communication strategy. Be sure to provide examples and assess the effectiveness of the strategies.

Red Bull's online and interactive communication strategy is utilizing their own media company, "Red Bull Media house" (Cole, S., 2020), as well as their own music and social media accounts through sports teams. The effectiveness of this strategy can be found in an example of their sports account through Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. "Aston Martin Red Bull Racing social accounts are amongst its most heavily engaged, with millions of followers across the major social platforms, and a lot of follower engagement. This is particularly prevalent on Twitter, where F1 enthusiasts can spark discussion or join in on conversations with the brand." (Cole, S., 2020). Another example showing how they can engage with fans of athletes while subtly portraying their brand, is with the "Exclusive YouTube series like 'Who is JOB?' (Which follows professional surfer James O'Brien) are effective tools for giving followers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into an athlete's life, using both the brand and the athletes' popularity to target specific audience segments, in a way that feels authentic." They have effectively used online and interactive strategies through engagement (qualitative data) as well as they have the ability to monitor and gather quantitative data.

Cole, S., 2020. Three hallmarks of Red Bull's social media content strategy.https://econsultancy.com/three-hallmarks-of-red-bulls-social-media-content-strategy/