Be The Bull
by Greg Gillispie

You are driving.  It’s been a long day.  You begin feeling disconnected.  You need a quick boost.  Who knows how long the coffee has been sitting there.  It could be stale.  Have that rot gut taste.  You want something tastier.  Something with a quicker punch. 

The exits are miles apart.  You try to concentrate while driving.  One mile to go.  Licking your lips with anticipation. 

You walk.  A zombie-like stagger.  Into the store.  Your eyes quickly scan the coolers.  Soft drinks.  Bottled coffee.  Water.  Suddenly, a slim silver and blue can with a red bull catches your eye.  You slam it down before you get to the counter.  You snap out of your haze.

Red Bull.  It is the energy boosting drink.

Imagine walking the streets of London.  Sidewalk café tables and trashcans have the slim silver and blue cans on and in them.  And customers did not place them there.  You don’t know what the can could hold.  You see it in a store.  You try it.  Red Bull.  It has managed to stake its claim with a sense of rebellion…creating a cult-like status through the underground.  And that’s just how it unveiled its product in London.  Without a marketing budget.

Red Bull now has a marketing budget.  About a $900 million marketing budget.  And it is rarely if ever spent on conventional marketing. 

Red Bull has become a lifestyle product via its connection to entertainment.  Entertainment created by sports.  And that connection costs about one-third of Red Bull’s marketing budget.  Rather than sponsoring sporting events or teams Red Bull owns them.  The most costly – a two-car Formula 1 racing team.  A team that purchases Ferrari engines without sponsorship obligations.  The owner is the sponsor.  And that creates money to go elsewhere.

Elsewhere is America.  Red Bull does not have the perceived impact.  Yet.  Conquering the American beverage market is its quest.

Last March, the Major League Soccer team known as the New York MetroStars became the New York Red Bulls.  And when you watch the Daytona 500 in a couple of weeks (February 18) you will see something you haven’t seen before.  Red Bull owns a two-car NASCAR team.  It normally costs the primary sponsor of one stock car about $15 million to $20 million per year.  And there are lots of secondary sponsors that also generate revenue… not seen on the Red Bull cars. 

The cost of owning a stock car -- with the owner as the sponsor -- who knows.  And Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz won’t tell you.  But Mike Bartelli, Senior Vice President / Motorsports at Millisport, will tell you the impact. “It’s not just the fact that they’ll own the team as a sponsor, but their marketing approach is certainly going to be different.”  Like having one car numbered 83.  Funny, there are 8.3 ounces in a can of Red Bull.  That’s different.

Formula 1 driver David Coulthard goes through the S curves around the world.  “When you’re driving for a team like Mercedes, you represent DaimlerChrysler; you represent Mobil; you represent Hugo Boss.  You have to walk a fine line of what is politically correct for each sponsor.”

Red Bull NASCAR driver Brian Vickers shifts into high gear on the ovals.  “When the sponsor owns the team, the dynamic is a little bit different.  They don’t have to answer to anybody. The owner and sponsor are one in the same.”

There’s that word different again.  Radio needs to be different.  

Red Bull’s self-owned venture into entertainment is its marketing vehicle.  Radio is a marketing vehicle for products and brands… not necessarily itself.  Red Bull generates profit by selling its product.  Radio generates profit by selling its time… and needs to create more from its new platforms.  Red Bull is consumed 8.3 ounces at a time.  Radio -- along with its sponsors -- is consumed in time.  Diminishing time. 

Can radio be its own marketing vehicle?  Marketing to its two consumers -- listeners and sponsors.  A $900 million per year marketing budget is not available… in a station… in a cluster… in a company.  Maybe as a total product… a substantial amount funded by all that create the total product.

And this is where radio needs to turn into its own marketing vehicle.  Aggressively.  Not using its time.  But investing in time… and space… and products.  Delivering its product… entertainment or information… not just time wrapped around sponsorship time.  Sports entertainment has fans.  So does radio.  And creating awareness and strengthening the relationship makes fans bigger fans.  It needs to be done in every way… every day. 

Radio needs real money -- not just promoting via the airwaves.  Real money spent on marketing to consumers… listeners. The value of all available platforms… how to access radio… via integration into the platforms.  

Sports entertainment has customers.  So does radio.  Unlike Red Bull, radio must have support sponsor stickers all over its vehicle.  And use the stickers to generate a substantial marketing budget.  To market to entertainment or information consumers.

The NAB just invested $1,166,380 in 2006 election contributions… to candidates.  Shouldn’t the NAB invest that money in attracting sponsorship candidates.  A CES-like confab for time consumers… heads of product or agency marketing divisions.  It is an unconventional way… it puts stickers on the vehicle.  And it generates real money… for marketing… to consumers.  

Radio.  It needs to get the vehicle on the track.  Racing for fans.  It creates more than exposure.  It creates control… of radio’s destiny. 

916 words.  That’s a lot of thought -- a lot of typing.  Time for an energy boost.  Time for some entertainment.  The first brand is a clear choice.  The second brand… be a bull to make radio the clear choice.

Need help being the bull?  Greg Gillispie is an idea booster.  Reach him at 703-678-9460 or ggillispie@aol.com.

Greg Gillispie’s 33+ year career includes consulting media and artist management companies, programming radio stations in Omaha, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC, contracting for XM Radio, developing revenue-generating marketing and promotion campaigns for a variety of entertainment companies, moderating and speaking at multi-media conferences, on-air work, and training the Playmate Radio Team.  Greg is author of a number of published articles and co-author of the textbook Process and Practice of Radio Programming.