Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

to completely change customer perceptions. According to a 2010 survey by Mintel, 74% of

consumers don’t use energy drinks/shots, and 69% of non-users are not interested in trying

them, citing high prices, too much caffeine, and a general feeling they are not good for you.

Mintel is apparently the world’s leading market research company, indicating that this data is

potentially accurate. It is also from a time where social media had much less prevalence in

society. Furthermore, according to Statista, in 2010 there was an estimated 0.97 billion social

network users worldwide compared to 2.46 billion in 2017. Moreover, information from 2017

shows that almost half of participants consume energy drinks occasionally, with only 18%

stating they do not use them at all (Kozirok, 2017). This is quite a significant change in

consumer perception, and perhaps there is a correlation between this and the extreme growth

in social media users post 2010. Perhaps this shows that social media marketing has greater

power in influencing consumer attitudes than other marketing approaches. However, it must

be considered that both of these studies only represent a small sample of the consumer base

and these consumer perceptions are towards energy drinks in general, not Red Bull

specifically. ! Responding to changes in the external environment

The success of the expansion of the Red Bull brand internationally has been a result of how

Red Bull has adapted their marketing strategy to fit the changes taking place in their external

environment, which has allowed them to surpass competitors regarding product and place.

When Red Bull was first established in the 1980s, information-communication technologies

were much less advanced and much less prevalent compared to in today’s society.

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