Red Bull Continues to Revolutionize Sports

Brands looking for new ways to make an impactful impression on consumers without spending a significant amount of money on team/league partnerships should closely monitor Red Bull's activation and spending in the sports space.

The energy drink provider is leveraging core partnerships to create a collection of unbelievable, "ownable" sports, consumer facing initiatives, and activation tactics.

Red Bull recently unveiled three amazing initiatives in basketball, snowboarding, and racing. Check them out below:

Red Bull King of the Rock Finals - 1v1 Basketball Competition on Alcatrez (featuring Rondo)

Red Bull held a "King of the Rock" 1-on-1 basketball tournament in The Yard on Alcatrez on September 18th. Red Bull brought in 64 contestants to compete in the first official sporting event ever held on Alcatrez, marking the first time basketball had been played there since inmates left the island 50+ years ago. The contestants competed in an all-out competition for the right to be crowned "King of the Rock" and collect a $10,000 prize. The Red Bull King of the Rock Finals was covered on Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Arizona, and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Red Bull -  "Off the Planet" Snowboarding Initiative

Red Bull teamed up with ENESS, a group of Melbourne-based installation artists, to bring a new perspective to snowboarding and action sports. Red Bull called on a team of snowboarders and skiers, including Russell Henshaw and Simon Dumont, to perform stunts and tricks in the air. While the action sports enthusiasts did their thing, ENESS filmed the spectacle with an infrared camera and mapped in 3D visuals and a 21' inflatable sphere to make it appear to viewers that the snowboarders were flying sky high over the world. It's hard to explain - you just have to see it for yourself... Red Bull is leveraging interactve projection art and technology to give action sports a whole new look.

Red Bull Presents the 2010 Kimi Raikkonen Challenge

Red Bull recently allowed fans a chance to test the skills of Kimi Raikkonen, a former Formula 1 driver who is described as "the fastest driver on the planet", in a time trial racing competition through the Lera Chitose Outlet, an indoor Japanese shopping center. The event, backed by several sponsors, encouraged consumers 20+ to come out and test their go kart manuevering skills to see if they could top Raikkonen's time while traveling at speeds up to 130 kilometer per hour. Red Bull allowed 100 consumers to participate, with the top (10) performers earning a chance to compete in the finals against the former champion.  

The stunt attracted thousands of onlookers and could serve as a benchmark for NASCAR and Indy Car teams looking for new ways to engage fans at retail. Check out Raikkonen's run at the indoor shopping center below:

Red Bull's Project X = Sports Marketing Idea of the Year

Are you looking for new ways to leverage winter sports athlete endorsers? Are you looking to create an unconventional viral campaign?

Over the past year, there was a buzz in the action sports space that Red Bull built a secret half pipe hidden in the mountains of Colorado for Olympian Gold Medalist Shaun White. With no pictures, stories, or first-person accounts, all of the buzz was just speculation... until now.

Red Bull recently unveiled the details behind the project - Project X - through an exclusive site (www.redbullprojectx.com) that provides an insightful look into Shaun White's secret winter experience in the world of Red Bull. The site includes a collection of images, videos, and special tricks that White learned while toying with his own half-pipe in Silverton, Colorado. Not only did Red Bull venture out to build the world's first on-mountain snowboarding foam pit, they captured it all on film for consumers to enjoy. The site features a collection of videos detailing the project, etc. and will continue to drive buzz and interest by releasing Shaun White tricks videos throughout the year (beginning November 3rd).

Red Bull's Project X further demonstrates how the company is "changing the game" when it comes to investing its marketing dollars. While some brands are investing millions of dollars in signage and presenting sponsorships, Red Bull is radically changing, owning, and creating sports properties and unique concepts of its own.

Through the Project X campaign, Red Bull takes athlete partnerships/endorsements to an incredible next level. Both brands (Red Bull, Shaun White) will clearly benefit from the level of intrigue and the "coolness factor" of Project X - something that will help Red Bull score significant exposure leading into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Red Bull surely invested a large sum of dollars to create Project X, but how much so in comparison to the perceived brand value/buzz they will generate leading into the Olympic Games? For those interested, here are a few details behind what it took to build the secret snowboard getaway:

• 300 man hours were required to build the foam pit
• 250,000 cubic yards of snow were moved to build the secret half-pipe
• 7200 foam blocks were needed to fill the foam pit

Check out the tremendous video Red Bull created for Project X: