Momma Red Bull: Tell Your Kids to Clean Up After Themselves!
UPDATE 22.10.2019: Watch this tutorial to learn how to use the World of Glocalities Application to discover the social trends that resonate with RedBull consumers.
[This article was published in BrandingMag on September 24th, 2019]
Last Sunday was World Clean-up day and like numerous volunteers from all across the world some 16'000 Dutch volunteers collected tons of trash from the surroundings with the main culprit being*: the empty Red Bull Can! According to the Dutch News outlet NOS, the Red Bull can was the main trash item collected. We can explain this outcome with fresh 2019 Glocalities data on the Dutch (and Global) Red Bull consumer -who, among others, stands out due to its non-Eco-conscious profile. The figure below shows the top and bottom scoring Social Cultural trends of the Dutch Red Bull Drinker, compared to the rest of the Dutch population.
Source: 2019 Glocalities Data, Social Cultural Trends of Dutch Red Bull Consumers (n=140).
The figure above shows that the Dutch Red Bull Consumer generally is Risk Seeking, looks for Adventurous hobbies, is focused on improving his (65% male) social status and has a strong sense of Achievement. It also shows that the Dutch Red Bull drinkers score exceptionally low on Eco-Consciousness (compared to the rest of the Dutch population), but also low on Etiquette. The Dutch Red Bull consumers are also mostly millennials with a majority being younger than 35. The Profile of the Global Red Bull Consumer is similar to the Dutch profile with Eco-Consciousness also scoring relatively low. Of course, not all Red Bull consumers throw their cans away, but on average they are more likely to do so and this is related to their motivational values.
The Profile of the Red Bull consumers shows that campaigners and marketeers should realize that not all youngsters are eco-conscious and that you cannot stereotype or make policy or purpose-driven marketing campaigns without knowing your target audience thoroughly. Our widely cited trend report: Global Rise in Environmental Concern cites an especially strong rise in environmental concern amongst the majority of the world population and especially the young generation, but clearly there are audiences that are much less eco-conscious and show different attitudes and behaviors - this across the age spectrum.
By looking closely at what motivates the Red Bull consumers, Red Bull can, for instance, link extreme sports campaigns that rely heavily on nature to trash: It's no fun to ski, board, skate, bike and dive into garbage. Another angle to take would be to build upon their strong focus on money. Having a deposit on cans would surely help as Red Bull consumers are clearly not into throwing away money. It could also develop campaigns that link personal social status to picking up your own garbage -linking status to a sense of duty for the (extreme) environment. All this builds upon a first analysis of the Red Bull consumer profile. However, the execution of such a campaign will be a fine line between inspiring and nudging and being boringly patronizing.
