The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)

Marketing machine fuels continuing sales boom

- Graham brown

Energy drink sponsorshi­p fuels the high octane world of the fastest and most fearless – from Formula One to the man who jumped 24 miles from space.

Red Bull are the undisputed masters – the Austrian firm which became synonymous with F1 through its dominance of the sport which brought Sebastian Vettel a quartet of consecutiv­e World Championsh­ip titles from 2010 to 2013.

The reach of Red Bull – created in the late 1980s and still the world’s bestsellin­g energy drink with the marketing message that it ‘Gives You Wings’ – stretches everywhere from cartie racing and cliff diving to air racing and the ownership of sports teams such as the New York Red Bulls, the side which former French internatio­nal Thierry Henry graced from 2010-14.

Perhaps its most audacious and exciting project was the 2012 Red Bull Stratos space jump which saw Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartne­r reach Mach 1.25 – almost 850mph – in a 24-mile freefall over New Mexico to break the sound barrier and a string of world records on his way back down to Earth.

In terms of both sales and profile, Red Bull is facing a Monster challenge from the brand whose unmistakea­ble logo of three claw marks created controvers­y amidst speculatio­n that it represente­d three Hebrew wavs, the so-called mark of the beast in biblical term.

Monster has establishe­d itself with many major motor racing events and stars, among them Moto GP sensation Valentino Rossi, whose signature adorns one of the firm’s latest special edition cans.

Alongside the list of ingredient­s and the warning that the drink’s high caffeine content make it “not recommende­d for children, pregnant or breastfeed­ing women”, Monster tells drinkers: “We’ve teamed up with Valentino, aka The Doctor, to create our fastest Monster ever. With a light, crisp, refreshing citrus flavour and a full load of our legendary Monster Energy blend, it will get you up to speed in a hurry!”

Heavyweigh­t boxer Mike Tyson is sponsoring Black Energy in Poland.

The tag line behind the drink is “Tak Dziala Black”, translated to “Working so Black.”

Tyson will be the face of the energy drink for the next three years, however, a backlash over the slogan is expected and may force him to re-think his multimilli­on-pound contract.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom