Red Bull Founder: A Poor Duck Farmer Turned Multi-Billionaire

red bull gives you wing red bull is one

of the world's most recognizable brands

it is distributed in more than 170

countries and about 7.9 billion cans are

sold every year that's more than one can

for each person on the planet

the caffeine-filled concoction is

beloved by drowsy office workers and

exam cramming college students but did

you know that it was originally targeted

at thailand's working class or that it

was invented by a man who was once a

poor duck farmer

when red bull first hit the market there

was nothing like it the energy drink

market was non-existent and most were

convinced red bull was doomed to fail

but its founders had a different idea

they had faith in their innovative

concept and by following their gut they

turned a niche market into a billion

dollar global industry

are you ready to uncover red bull's

unusual history and learn some

interesting business lessons along the

way then keep watching

chaleo uvidia would someday be known as

thailand's third richest man but you

couldn't have predicted his success

story by looking at his upbringings

his whole life chalio was rather

reclusive and rarely gave an interview

in fact he was so reclusive that his

exact date of birth has never been

confirmed

what is known about him though is that

he was born in the northern thai

province of pachit his parents were poor

chinese immigrants who farmed ducks and

sold fruit to make a living due to his

poor upbringing chalio didn't have much

of a formal education ever since he was

a child he had been helping his parents

out on the farm but the income was

meager and he eventually decided he

wanted something more hoping to carve

out a better life for himself young

chaleo moved to bangkok thailand's

bustling capital city

the change was enormous but while the

city was exciting life didn't

necessarily become easier for him his

main expertise was duck farming and

selling fruit and without an education

he was forced to work several odd jobs

to make ends meet

after a stint as a bus driver and

pharmaceutical salesman he felt it was

time to begin his own company he named

it tc pharmaceutical industries and it

produced and imported antibiotics and

cosmetics

little did anyone know one of the

company's future beverages would one day

change chalio's entire life

chalio's pharmaceutical company was

doing well and the new source of income

allowed him to get more and more

creative at the time energy drinks were

something people drank out of necessity

rather than for pleasure

most didn't taste good and they had a

very distinctive medicinal flavor to

them even the market leader lipovatin

faced the same problem

seeing a good business opportunity

challio decided to do something about

that he began blending things together

and one day in 1976 he created an

interesting syrup concoction krating

daeng krating daeng is tied for red gore

or red bull so i guess you already see

where this story is going

at the time chalio had no idea how big

his drink would once become though and

it's safe to say that many experts

didn't either

you see chalio's beverage wasn't much of

a success at first it was initially only

sold in pharmacies and instead of

focusing on bangkok's elite the drink

was promoted as a refreshment for rural

thai laborers who needed a little pick

me up as the thai economy became

industrialized however kreiteng daeng

slowly gained in popularity

more and more people started to see that

there were more lucrative ways to make a

living than by farming and the number of

truck and taxi drivers and factory and

construction workers rose immensely

chalio had always pitched his beverage

as a stimulant which improved speed

endurance and concentration and that was

exactly what exhausted day laborers and

weary long-haul truckers needed

the working class loved the beverage and

within a few years krating daeng became

the top selling energy drink in the

country

according to chalio's second eldest son

sarah vut kraitang daeng set itself

apart from its competitors by targeting

blue-collar workers outside bangkok my

father stressed on brand building a

marketing strategy that had not been

widely employed up to that time he

pushed into the provincial market first

and gained a foothold by distributing

free samples to truck drivers

krateng daeng's working-class image was

further boosted by sponsorship of thai

boxing matches

by displaying the logo with the two red

bulls at these events chalio aimed to

create a lasting association between his

drink and thailand's beloved sport and

of course the logo itself was also well

thought out the two charging bulls

represent power the red signifies

perseverance and the backdrop of the sun

symbolizes energy

but would a nifty logo and high profile

sponsorships be enough

krateng daeng was a success and in the

1980s chalio began selling his beloved

beverage internationally first in

singapore and then in hong kong but soon

enough the expansion would go much much

further further than chaleo could have

ever dreamed of

during a business trip to thailand in

1982 an austrian salesman named dietrich

matasheets got his hands on an energy

drink it was called krating daeng

dietrich was amazed by the drinks jet

lag eliminating properties and he was

hooked right away

dietrich was born on may 20th 1944 in a

little austrian village called sancte

marin

by the time krating daeng first touched

his lips he already had a fruitful

career as a sales and marketing

executive under his belt he mainly

worked for shampoo and toothpaste

companies though not energy drink

manufacturers

dietrich traveled far and often for his

job but he was increasingly getting

bored by it all he had enjoyed his trip

to thailand and the magical jet lag

remedy that was crating daeng but it

wasn't until he later visited hong kong

that the ball really got rolling during

his stay in hong kong dietrich read a

news article that stated that lippovatin

was japan's greatest taxpayer the

marketing genius that he was dietrich

immediately understood that this was a

business opportunity that he couldn't

let pass by

hearing how successful these energy

drinks were in asia was a turning point

for him there was nothing like this in

the west and he could already envision

the massive success he would have by

taking the drink global not one to waste

time he immediately quit his job and

tracked down chaleo at first chalia was

reluctant but dietrich quickly managed

to convince him they each invested 500

000

and in 1984 red bull was founded

innovation often encounters resistance

and this wasn't any different this time

around

when preparing for the launch of red

bull the duo's plans were not well

received trial groups said the drink

tasted disgusting and that it left a

sticky feeling in the mouth

and the results of the market research

were not encouraging either

red bull would fail they said the drink

was too unhealthy and both the logo and

the brand name were not appealing enough

the recommendation abort the mission

while this chorus of critical voices

would be enough to make many give up

dietrich decided to listen to his

instinct

he believed that he had his hands on

something good and he continued to

pursue his vision but a lot still had to

be done before introducing red bull to

the austrian market

the next three years were spent adapting

the drink for western pallets and

refining the brand's marketing strategy

dietrich wanted to carbonate the drink

and make it look more special he also

swapped the bottle packaging for a slim

silver can

after years of tinkering with the recipe

red bull was finally released in 1987

and by 1988 they already sold 1.2

million boxes the beverage became widely

regarded as the first energy drink to

win over consumers from east to west

the drink's energizing qualities won

over drowsy office workers and exam

cramming college students and red bull

success turned both chaleo and dietrich

into multi-billionaires

this goes to show that following your

intuition is often a good idea

as important as data facts and

preliminary studies are if your gut

feeling has something to tell you it's

good to pay some attention after all

consumers listen to their guts when

making buying decisions too

now the question remains how did the duo

manage to enhance their drinks appeal so

drastically

much of red bull success can be traced

to their innovative marketing strategy

they understood that a new type of

product required a completely novel

approach to marketing and advertising

that's when dietrich decided to follow

one of chalio's strategies

mixing his business with his passion

dietrich had always loved extreme sports

and at the time very few big corporate

sponsors were targeting those events

becoming the leading promoter would

surely be a good idea from then on

sports became red bull's new focus

particularly those that could get the

blood pumping there were several reasons

for this it made the brand stand out and

it also meant that they didn't have to

invest thousands of dollars in competing

for advertising time during mainstream

events but most importantly by embracing

adrenaline sports they signaled that red

bull was more than just an energy drink

it was a lifestyle and a cool one at

that from then on the two charging red

bulls were omnipresent at extreme sports

events and little by little red bull

became synonymous with exciting words

like adrenaline energy and adventure

in short anything outstanding

from formula one to soccer to

snowboarding and mountain biking you can

be sure to find red bull there

just think of felix baumgartner's

attention grabbing stratos jump for

example

or their famous red bull fluke tag

competitions the competitions are named

after the german word for flying day and

they challenge people to create their

own human powered flying machines this

gives their slogan redbull gives you

wings a whole new meaning

by holding these fun events red bull

engages with customers in a deep way and

by continuously focusing on selling a

feeling instead of just a product they

anchored themselves in the minds of

their target group

at the time of the company's inception

the brand's creative marketing

techniques were completely unique but

their bravery paid off and it turned

both of its founders into

multi-billionaires

when chalio passed away in 2012 he was

thailand's third richest person with a

fortune estimated at 5 billion

dietrich on the other hand is currently

austria's richest man with a fortune of

13.4 billion dollars

not bad

after chalio's death red bull continued

to do well and even 2014's lawsuit

couldn't stop the brand's success

up until then red bull had always stated

that one of its cans contained about the

same amount of caffeine as a cup of

coffee and for many years nobody

investigated this claim but when an

american man named benjamin carrathers

discovered this was a lie he wasn't

pleased he found red bull's slogan to be

dishonest and he felt there were grounds

for a lawsuit the jury ruled in his

favor and red bull had to compensate all

american customers who bought a drink

between 2002 and 2014

in addition they also changed their

slogan by adding two eyes in the word

wings

today red bull is the best selling

energy drink in the world dietrich still

owns 49 of the company while the other

49 is shared by 11 members of chaleo's

family the final two percent still

belongs to chaleo's eldest son chalerm

one of the reasons why red bull

continues to do so well today is because

the brand knows how to spot a winning

horse

over the years they have doubled down on

their lucrative marketing techniques and

they have sponsored and created numerous

interesting events

and to this day they continue reaping

the rewards of their creative genius

this was the story of red bull

while he has unfortunately passed away

chalio created something many

entrepreneurs can only dream about a

global brand

the reclusive thai billionaire made his

fortune with his special energizing

drink and to this day people from all

over the world drink it on a daily basis

for over four decades red bull has been

setting milestone after milestone in

terms of marketing and branding and the

company has become a blueprint for

innovative startups eager to make a

lasting impression

it turned a niche market into a billion

dollar global industry and in the

process it became one of the world's

most recognizable brands

what part of the story did you find the

most remarkable and which one of the

four business lessons do you think made

the biggest difference in red bull

success