Red Bull recently created a tremendous "Red Bull Rivals" series that featured top snowboarders from the University of Oregon and Oregon State University competing in a head-to-head competition at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon. Members of the two schools gladly competed for bragging rights in the newest head-to-head showdown of the Civil War rivalry between the two schools.
The Red Bull Rivalry Series demonstrates how brands can use a creative approach to capitalize on a long-standing rivalry to generate loyalty and buzz.
While it's become relatively common to see brands take ownership of rivalry series in the college space, the Red Bull Rivalry Series showcases how non-traditional sports (extreme, Olympic, club) can provide compelling, ownable content.
Check out the Red Bull Rivalry Series below and look for more of these type events in the near future!
As Red Bull continues to revolutionize the extreme sports space, it recently launched a tremendous event in St. Petersburg, Russia that could have some promising implications in the United States.
Red Bull unveiled a pond skimming competition that featured 120+ costumed snowboarders riding down a sloped hill and launching themselves into a pool of icy water. The contest proved to be a hit with onlookers and would likely be a great addition to an X-Games or Dew Tour event in the United States.
As brands look for new ways to activate outside the box, the opportunities are endless in the extreme sports space - a notion that Red Bull and Nike continue to prove on a regular basis.
Check out the captivating Red Bull Pond Skimming event below:
Team marketers looking for new ways to utilize their stadium venues to generate revenues and buzz during the offseason should consider benchmarking a recent tactic implemented by Red Bull. During the MLS offseason, Red Bull turned its venue, Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ, into an ultimate playground for several elite snowboarders.
As part of a Red Bull Weather Warriors initiative, Red Bull allowed snowboarders Hans and Nils Mindnich to host a snowboarding session inside Red Bull Arena and caught all of the action on camera.
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:
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