Mateschitz founded "Red Bull GmbH" in 1986, and wanted to use his marketing skills to make this magical energy drink available to Europeans. Subvert the tradition, sell "expensive", taste "weird", and also rely on "smuggling" to break into the European market At the beginning, Mateschitz did a market research, but the relatives and friends who had tried it,
as well as the commissioned market research company, all phone database believed that this kind of “sugar water” that tasted weird would definitely fail in Europe. RTRWA8R Photo Credit: Reuters / Dazhi Image Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz Although the outside world was extremely downbeat, Mateschitz did not shrink back, but made bold decisions in terms of "brand positioning" and "product flavor": First of all, use the "price" to separate a clear brand positioning. The price of two dollars per can is several times higher than that of Coca-Cola,
which is less than one dollar, making Red Bull drinks on the shelves like luxury goods. Mateschitz believes: "If we are only 15% more expensive than other beverages, we are just a premium brand in soft drinks, not a standalone product type." Furthermore, Mateschitz hopes that after consumers drink Red Bull, they will not have the association of "drinking like Coke", and "drinking" is not the ultimate goal pursued by Red Bull.