A critical assessment the energy drink business of Red Bull

Introduction 

The Red Bull company is an old company founded in the 80's by one Inspired by one, Dietrich Mateschitz. Dietrich is the founder of the formula Red Bull Energy Drink with the unique marketing concept. 30 years later, the company has expanded and it has reached to close to 200 countries and so far over 70 billion cans of Red Bull have been used up (Agarwal, Grassl, Pahl, 2012). This paper seeks to establish a critical assessment the energy drink business of Red Bull 

Strengths 

The first strength of the company is the market expansion ability it has had over the years. The Red Bull company has expanded profusely in that to date it has spread to 171 countries which have put the company in a very good place in the international market. Another strength of the company is its leadership. Agarwal, Grassl, Pahl, (2012) states that Red Bull brands have managed to be strong and consistent in the market over the years and it has also been able to withhold the quality. For a company to really do well, it needs to have strategic direction in terms of the planning and management. Dietrich has been able to sphere head the company into really high levels. The good management it has had has enabled it to maintain the good global image. Over the years the company's profit levels have been on the increase like for instance in 2016 they made a 16 % increase in profits as compared to 2015. A lot of advertisements have been carried out to make the company shine and one positive thing is that the advertisements look to be very appealing to the clients. The company has a corporate social responsibility of supporting sports activities and it has made it remain in the limelight because it creates customer loyalty. The company has also at one point collaborated with cud bury and Schweppes which made it be able to expand further. 

Weaknesses 

It is unfortunate that the consumption of Red Bull is closely linked to health risks. One of the cases of extreme fatal eventuality is that of Australian guy whose heart stopped beating subsequent taking 8 cans of Red Bull in less than 5 hours. According to research, a can contains about 80 milligrams caffeine which already high for consumption (Agarwal, Grassl, Pahl, 2012). The concentration levels of the energy drink are what make it dangerous for consumption. However, it has not been established the exact extent of death tolls related to the Red Bull, but it has been closely attributed to negative health implications. 

Opportunities 

The company still has an opportunity to expand more to new markets because they have put together strategic marketing strategies in place. However, in order to achieve the company requires selecting the progressive argumentation in order to extend their scheme and acquire the market stock of the product. It is also possible for the country to create new flavors for the market for the sake of diversification of the products brands (Agarwal, Grassl, Pahl, 2012). Red Bull has a very limited product portfolio and this can be taken as an opportunity rather than a threat because they can use the chance to increase its market brand options by changing the taste of products for example. 

Threats 

Monster Company is turning out to become such a threat to Red Bull. The company’s customers are finding monster products more or less desirable hence opting for it because it has a better price and the quantity and quality is also favorable. For Red Bull to find its way to wherever it is, it has had to invest wisely on marketing and advertisements. As a result, it has had immense marketing costs on the company for the products life cycle to reach the maturity stage. 

Marketing Plan 

Apart from the energy drinks that Red Bull offers the market, the company should have a plan of coming up with different flavors of the energy drink product. For instance, pineapple and apple flavors. The main competitors for the red bull company are the Monster and Rockstar energy drink company. The reason why the two have managed to shine more is that their diversification of products in the market. There are countries such as France which has never approved the company to sell products in their country and this tends to be a negative image of the brand. Therefore, having different flavors of the product is a very good way of entering into new markets and into markets where the products had not been accepted. Some of the marketing promotion activities that ought to be done for the success of the new products being introduced for the company could include media advertisements, product campaigns, and billboards. Taking advantage of the good financial stability of the company, the company should be able to pull good media publicity stunts for the success of the country. 

Conclusion 

Red Bull is the most well-known energy drink, which is popular in many different countries. As much as the company has been able to gain lots of popularity locally and internationally, it has not been able to introduce other products or even diversify the flavors they already have. It is vital for the company to take necessary attention to other products to introduce them and enhance their business. The company's financial state is at a sustainable level hence it can potentially expand to the level it wants. 

References 

Agarwal, R., Grassl, W., & Pahl, J. (2012). Meta-SWOT: introducing a new strategic planning tool. Journal of Business Strategy , 33 (2), 12-21.