Bread Line Design

Softdrink giants Red Bull GmbH, based in Austria, have held an epic share of the global energy drinks market since the introduction of their now famous stimulation drink, Red Bull. Selling over 3 billion cans in 2006 and holding a 50% share of the US energy drinks market, they have come to dominate what was a lucrative but fringe drinks sector.

The Red Bull marketing engine is a study in success. From initially handing out cans for free to students (an exercise in viral marketing before it became sexy) they have gone on to sponsor and create marketing opportunities right across the skater chic / young professional sector, yet always concentrating on brand relevant activities. Examples include buying the Jaguar formula one team, to sponsoring a mad UK homemade cart race. They’ve even revived the air races of a bygone era, putting on a two day spectacle on London’s Thames river.

Clever design, an undiluted marketing message and great timing have been the key to the brands meteoric success. The brand is both masculine and clear, high energy but fun. The cans themselves have unusual dimensions, making them feel more like large batteries than fluid vessels, and the clear yet simple design gives the cans an almost medical look.

You’re not drinking it because your thirsty, your drinking it because you’ve got shit to do goddamit.

Success on this scale never goes unnoticed however, and the red giant that is Coca-Cola has decided to lumber into the market and ruffle some feathers. In 2005 it launched “Relentless”, and following in Red Bulls footsteps has begun sponsoring motocross teams and music events in order to gain ground amongst Red Bulls current buyer base.

Curiously Coke has gone to great lengths to keep the Relentless brand apart from the red softdrink that bears its name. Granted the name Coca-Cola Company appears on the can, but only in the small print near the base, an area that’ll go unread by most drinkers.

The can itself is twice the size of their Red Bull competitor (500ml compared to Red Bulls 250ml), and not by accident. Their strapline is “No Half Measures”. Red Bull have been quick to react launching a larger can, but still fall short at 330ml. What’s most interesting though is the design on the Relentless can itself. An elaborate gothic typeface sits atop an 1800’s styled medical illustration of a male head and neck, complete with exposed muscles and veins, and the supporting typeface is a medieval serifed font that wouldn’t look out of place on a tavern sign in middle earth.

Brave, to say the least. But perhaps not a bad move.

Product differentiation can be critical when establishing new brands, and there’s no doubt Relentless have pulled no punches in the opening rounds of the energy drink title fight. But Coke will have an uphill struggle ahead if they are to make a serious dent in Red Bulls dominance. They’ve tried to take chunks out of other drink markets before, sometimes with disastrous results, Coke water springs immediately to mind.

Coke will have to push the Relentless brand both hard and wide if they are to establish themselves as an alternative to Red Bull, and they’ll only be able to achieve this if they can nail down their brand message, which at the moment is ambiguous, even if their design is not. So brand junkies take note; If Relentless is a success it may well open the door for other brand competitors to follow suite, and if not, it will prove a valuable lesson in how not to attack a market leader.