A while ago I wrote an article on the difference between attraction marketing and pursuit marketing. A really good example of a company that does attraction marketing to perfection is “Red Bull”.
When you watch a Red Bull ad on TV, they don’t push the product down your throat (pardon the pun), but rather tell a witty story that always ends with the person flying away to their tagline “Red Bull Gives You Wiiings”.
But that kind of advertising, implemented in a vacuum, would be disastrous. So why does it work? It comes down to 2 reasons: Saturation and Consistency.
Saturation:
There aren’t many competitive sports or adrenaline-pumped sports people that Red Bull doesn’t sponsor. You would also be hard-pressed to find an exciting event that Red Bull doesn’t sponsor or at least participate in.
From Formula 1 racing to Air Racing and Snow Boarding to Beach Volleyball, Red Bull are there. They even sponsor individuals like Basejumper Felix Baumgartner and the Jetman!
This saturation means that adrenaline junkies and high-energy individuals (Red Bull’s target market) literally can’t move without seeing Red Bull’s brand.
Consistency:
Red Bull have been marketing their drinks the same way for almost two decades.
In “marketing years” that’s like one hundred years! OK, I am joking, but the reality is that consistency in marketing delivers the very best results because every time you change, whether it’s a product name, messaging or even a colour or font, you fragment the effectiveness of everything that has gone before and possibly even have to start from scratch building up your brand recognition.
Just look at how much was invested in making us think of “Olay” rather than “Ulay” or “Cushelle” instead of “Charmin”.
How Does This Apply To Small Businesses?
So you’re probably thinking “that’s all fine, but I run a small accountancy business/estate agents/hair salon in a small town. How does this apply to me?”
Red Bull’s budgets may be bigger, but they also have to think globally. In other words you CAN achieve the same things if you just think about your specific catchment area.
An example of this is a local accountancy business (they are our accountants as it happens). Almost everywhere I go locally and whatever events are happening, I see their brand. They have trailers with witty slogans and eye-catching colours, they sponsor local groups and events and they get involved in local initiatives and business groups. They even run breakfast meetings after every budget. This all builds up to a high level of brand recognition and builds trust and loyalty before a potential customer ever contacts them.
The results? They are a vibrant and growing company even during the harshest of economic times.
There is very little to stop any SME business owner enjoying the same success. Just get involved in your local community!
