How Red Bull Became So Popular

This brand can be seen pretty much everywhere from sports events, billboards, and even in E-Sports. Energy drinks have been on the rise recently and it is pretty much one of the most popular drinks out there.

According to Allied Market Research, the current market for energy drinks is valued at $53 billion USD in the year 2018. It is no surprise that energy drinks have become common drinks among all ages.

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One of the brands that we all are familiar with will be Red Bull and its unique taste has made it the best energy drinks out there.

What some of you might not know is the fact that the drink originated in Thailand.

Background of Red Bull

The drink was first created by an entrepreneur in Thailand named Chaleo Yoovidhya. It was introduced in Thailand in the year 1976. Chaleo Yoovidhya who happened to be a salesman and a pharmacist at that time decided to create this product mainly for low-class workers like farmers and hard laborers.

At that time, the most famous energy drinks came from Japan and some of you might have heard of Livita. The only problem for the low-class workers is that the price for Livita is rather expensive and can only be afforded by the rich.

However, Chaleo Yoovidhya manages to overcome this problem by producing his own energy drink but at a much lower price and he called it "Krating Daeng".

It was no surprise that the energy drink quickly gained the attention of most Thailand people, especially low-income citizens. They are mostly the ones that needed it the most since they did a lot of hard labor.

In the start, Chaleo Yoovidhya sells energy drinks mostly in the countryside of Thailand aside from promoting it at sports events like Muay Thai which is the most famous sport in Thailand.

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In the 1980s Krating Daeng managed to conquer the Thailand market for being the best energy drink and later in 1983 a salesman from Austria called Dietrich Mateschitz went to Thailand for business purposes. It was such a coincidence that Dietrich himself was also tired due to the long journey.

Dietrich happens to come across Krating Daeng when he was there and what surprises him is the fact that his jet lags quickly;y disappears as soon as he took the drink. Dietrich works for a toothpaste company at the time and he sees the golden opportunity right in front of his eyes.

He went and confronted Chaleo Yoovidhya so that they can work together and bring Krating Daeng back to Austria. They both agreed on the partnership in which Chaleo Yoovidhya holds 51% of the company stakes while Dietrich Mateschits hold the other 49% stakes.
Later in 1987, Red Bull GmbH was successfully established.

Regardless of the change, the recipe of Red Bull remains the same as Krating Daeng. The only difference is the taste of it as Dietrich Mateschitz wants it to match the taste buds of the Europeans.

Dietrich Mateschitz came up with a different approach to promoting Red Bull to society there. He wants to focus more on youngsters who love to visit the nightclub. It happens to be a success as most of them love it and thus increasing Red Bull's revenue each year.

Aside from Red Bull's unique taste, the way how Dietrich markets the Red Bull was also effective. The company spends billions of dollars to sponsor sports events around the world and it still manages to make more in return.

Red Bull also owns several football clubs that manage to make Red Bull become very well-known across the globe.

What do you think is your favorite energy drink?

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