Red Bulls greatness starts with Austrian businessman, Dietrich Mateschitz. Inspired by functional drinks from East Asia Dietrich Mateschitz worked on Red Bull's blueprint for 3 years. Once his recipe was created to perfection, he launched it April 1st, 1987, in Austria. This would mark the beginning of energy drinks, Red Bull, and their unique and competitive marketing concepts.
Since their creation Red Bull began their brand in the energy drink industry since then they have opened their wings specifically to the sports industry. They began with F1 which is Formula 1, the highest class in racing. From there they expanded to other sports such as cliff diving, cycling, skiing, BMX, Motor GP fencing, air racing, surfing and much more. It makes sense that Red Bull would want to involve sports in their brand as it shows the value if their product.
Originally Red Bull only sold their original can, then they developed more flavors (as seen on page 1). But Red Bull was not always a hit, they had struggled for some time. there were two factors that hindered Red Bull success. The company could not find distributors or retailers willing to buy and sell their product, and the cause of that was the skepticism of the product. Because it was a new product people were unsure it was worth it, good or safe. Luckily Mateschitz was able to promote his own product in extreme sports events.