ESCP ALUMNI magazine - #205 - Mars 2024 - 30

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Dossier ❙ Interview
Par Adrien CANDAU
Viotto gives you wings
Red Bull is the best-selling energy drink in the world and has built both a funny and iconoclastic
image through a sports-oriented marketing strategy worth billions of euros every year. It
sponsors hundreds of events and athletes across the world, as well as two Formula One teams
and four professional football clubs. The brand has become unique by telling new stories
and bringing a new form of structure in sports. Red Bull global sport marketing manager
Pierumberto VIOTTO (MiM 16) tells us how this strategy works.
Pierumberto VIOTTO (MiM 16)
global Sport Marketing Manager
of Red Bull Europe
How did you end up working for
Red Bull?
Pierumberto VIOTTO: From the start
of my academic course, I knew I wanted
to work in marketing and in one of my
passions, i.e., music or sports. I am into
extreme sports; I worked as a snowboard
instructor in Italy and France. I did my
last ESCP internship at Red Bull, which is
famous for the revolution it has brought
about in terms of sports communication,
especially regarding extreme sports. It went
really well, so I kept working for them and I
climbed the ladder. I now work in Salzburg
as head of the global sports marketing
department, which features about 60 people
who work on sports marketing projects
only. We are in charge of all the brand's
sporting events in Europe, as well as all the
Red Bull water and winter sporting events
across the world.
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Why is Red Bull considered a
textbook case when it comes to
bringing a new type of experience
in sports?
P.V: Sport is different from the other areas
and fields, as it relies on a crucial emotional
factor. It is the opportunity for people to
experience something completely new. As
for professional athletes, they have made
a living of their passion. Our marketing
strategy is actually quite basic, as we focus
on the feelings, emotions, and passion of
the people. Formula One was the first sport
in which Red Bull invested [through the
Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing teams]. It is
a mainstream sport. The brand then focused
on more obscure sports, and it is when it
got interesting. It focused on extreme
sports, which have a big emotional impact
on people. I mean, when you see someone
doing something crazy on a mountain
bike or skydiving, you feel something
much more intense than when you watch
someone playing football or running.
Extreme sports are all about emotions; they
are less 'normal'. Red Bull's main product is
energy drink, and it is connected to doing
something crazy that will bring you more
power. It makes you bolder when you need
it; you feel in line with what the product
conveys when you watch snowboarders or
motocross pilots.
What did Red Bull do to reinvent
some sports and sporting events?
P.V: When we started focusing on sporting
ESCP Alumni Magazine numéro 205 ❙ MARS 2024
When you see
someone doing
something
crazy on a
mountain bike
or skydiving, you
feel something
much more
intense than
when you
watch someone
playing football
or running.
Extreme sports
are all about
emotions.
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ESCP ALUMNI magazine - #205 - Mars 2024

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