Red Bull Stratos Insights

On October 14^th 2012, Red Bull embarked on the boldest social media campaign the world has ever seen. The only irony was that the campaign had nothing to do with Red Bull products. The Red Bull Stratos campaign was an exploration mission to the edge of space. The campaign was both shocking and breathtaking for its scope because it was the first space exploration launched by a private corporation. The Red Bull Stratos simultaneously broke scientific barriers and returned us to the age of daredevil heroes. On top of this, the campaign was inescapably cool. However, behind the record books, there was also a phenomenally successful social media campaign.

To truly understand Red Bull Stratos, it must be understood that fundamentally it was a commercial undertaking. Simply put, its objective was to convince the world’s population to love Red Bull. Whether sales of Red Bull increased is not the purpose of this article. This article is exploring the impact which the campaign had on social media.

The brand was unprecedented on two levels, both from a scientific perspective and also from a brand marketing perspective. This achievement is outstanding in itself. However, let’s look at the facts surrounding the campaigns social media reach.

1.       There were 1,000,000 distinct participants in Red Bull Stratos

Over 1,000,000 million individual user accounts contributed to the social media based conversation surrounding Red Bull Stratos. This figure is compounded if you subscribe to the traditional model of social media engagement. The model states that for every user which creates content, another 90 are also present and reading this content. Following this model suggests that up to 90,000,000 individual users were actively engaging with the campaign.

2.       The Red Bull Stratos Campaign Transcended Likes and +1s

There was a phenomenal amount of engagement with the Red Bull Stratos campaign. However what was interesting was that this activity indicated a high level of engagement. This level of engagement is unusual. Often campaigns are dominated with Facebook, YouTube and Google Plus likes and other neutral contributions. However Red Bull Stratos generated a high level of meaningful interaction globally.

3.       Over 200,000 individual consumer actions attributed to Red Bull Stratos

Over 200,000 identifiable individual consumer actions can be attributed to the Red Bull Stratos campaign. Half of these actions occurred on the day Stratos occurred.

4.       Average Length of consumer engagement increased by 400%

Red Bull Stratos was surrounded by masses of positive consumer posts and updates. However, this content increased in length by over 400% and continued to increase in length as time passed. The length of a consumer post is directly correlated to the interest surrounding an event. This is a huge indication of the level and depth of engagement surrounding Stratos. People were not merely hitting retweet or like. They were actively engaging with the event, as shown by the length of interaction.

5.       Red Bull gained 2,000,000 new subscriptions

In the space of 15 days, 2,000,000 new accounts subscribed for Red Bull updates. This figure was across all brand presences. These subscribers are highly engaged and active, and provide Red Bull with access to a new, high quality audience with which they can interact. This new audience is not like the fickle audiences which are attracted by display advertising or gating content. This is a highly engaged audience which can be utilised for months and years to come.

6.       Over 820,000 pieces of positive content were created

82% of the peak consumer activity was overwhelmingly positive. Taking a base of the 1,000,000 previously mentioned consumer actions; this means that 820,000 of these were positive. In order to provide context, a comparison is required. In the same time period the next best performer was a Starbucks campaign which gained only 25% positive content.

7.       50,000 individual links shared

Red Bull remained central in the discussion throughout the campaign. The Dachis Group tracked over 50,000 individual links which were related to the campaign. Each one of the top ten made direct reference to either Red Bull or Red Bull Stratos. Simply put, this is a marketer’s dream. Stratos didn’t just feature a fall through the sky by Felix Baumgatner. Stratos also had Red Bull stamped on almost every comment or status relating to the event.

8.       The brand impact of Stratos was priceless

Trusted consumer messaging is the most valuable form of brand marketing. Due to the high level of engagement created by Stratos, Red Bull achieved new highs for marketing in every respect.

9.       The campaign created over 61,634,000 trusted impressions for Red Bull

Across various social media channels, Red Bull Stratos conversations generated up to 61,634,000 impressions. This means Red Bull gained over 61 million forms of peer-validated media due to Stratos.

Conclusion:

Social media has changed marketing. Previously, marketing was conducted by broadcast marketing. Now marketing occurs through peer to peer interaction. The future for brand marketing lies in trusted brand-related engagement or advocacy. The venue where this new marketing will take place is through digital media and mobile channels. In order to create purchase intent, the best means is to also create advocacy. However the problem lies in trying to create advocacy in a measurable way.

Using advocacy, Red Bull has achieved something truly miraculous. The company successfully created a campaign built on over 60,000,000 trusted impressions. Simply put, it is impossible to create this with a TV advert or any other medium. Whilst you can buy impressions, you can’t buy trust. No company has ever created advocacy on this level. As of yet, it is unclear whether another company will surpass Stratos. Due to this, Stratos was a unique event which will dramatically increase both the sales and the way Red Bull is perceived for years to come.