Latest / Content Marketing with Fexingo: Blogs, Videos, and Long-Form Content That Converts / Why Red Bull's Content Empire Works Better Than Your Campaigns
Transcript
- Lucas: So in 2012, Red Bull spent about $65 million to send a skydiver named Felix Baumgartner to the edge of space. Let him freefall from 128,000 feet. Break the sound barrier with his body. Luna: And everyone watched. I remember streaming it live on YouTube — it was one of the first truly massive live events on the platform. Lucas: Exactly. Eight million concurrent viewers. But here's the number that stuck with me: Red Bull's own analysis later claimed that the Stratos jump generated media value equivalent to $6 billion in advertising. That's almost a hundred times their investment. Luna: Which is incredible. But I think a lot of marketers hear that and think, 'Okay, but I don't have $65 million.' So what's the actual lesson for the rest of us? Lucas: The lesson isn't the budget. It's the mindset. Red Bull doesn't act like a beverage company that does marketing on the side. They act like a media company that happens to sell a drink. And that distinction changes everything about how you plan content. Luna: Right. So they're not trying to sell you a can of Red Bull in the video. They're selling the feeling of adrenaline and achievement. The product becomes a backdrop. Lucas: Exactly. And they've been doing this since the 1990s. Way before content marketing was a buzzword. They started with a magazine called The Red Bulletin. Then they bought a Formula One team. They own soccer clubs. They produce films and TV shows. By 2020, Red Bull Media House was generating over $250 million in revenue just from content and media. Luna: Wait — that's revenue from the content itself, not from selling more cans? Lucas: Correct. They license footage, sell ad space, produce branded entertainment for other companies. The content unit is a profit center, not a cost center. That changes the ROI question entirely. Luna: So how does a smaller brand approximate that? Because most of us don't have a media house budget. Lucas: You start with the same principle: don't make content that's about your product. Make content that's about what your customer cares about. If you're a running shoe company, don't make videos about your shoe's sole technology. Make a series about ultramarathon training. Or trail running safety. Or how to pick a race. The product appears naturally, not as the star. Luna: But that requires a certain editorial discipline. You have to resist the urge to pitch. Lucas: And that's where most brands slip. They call it content marketing, but it's really just advertising in a longer format. The audience can smell it. So the content doesn't earn attention — it buys it. And bought attention is expensive and fleeting. Luna: Let's talk about the consistency piece. Red Bull publishes something like 50 to 100 pieces of content per day across all channels. That's insane. Lucas: It is. But they didn't start there. They started with one magazine. Then one event. Then one video. The key is that they never stopped. Most brands launch a content initiative, see mediocre results in three months, and pull the plug. Content marketing compounds. It takes eighteen to twenty-four months to see real traction. Luna: So you're saying the biggest mistake is quitting too early. Lucas: I think it's the single biggest mistake. HubSpot published for years before they became the authority. Red Bull was publishing The Red Bulletin for a decade before the Stratos jump. You can't point to one viral hit and call it a strategy. Luna: Speaking of which, let's talk about measuring ROI. Because if you're a CMO, you need to justify the spend. Red Bull uses something called advertising value equivalency — AVE — which is controversial. Some marketers hate it. Lucas: AVE has problems. It basically estimates how much it would cost to buy the same reach through paid ads. But earned media is fundamentally different from paid media. A live stream of a guy jumping from space has way more impact than a thirty-second spot. So the $6 billion number is probably inflated. But the directional truth is undeniable: they got extraordinary value. Luna: What metric do you use instead for content marketing ROI? Lucas: I like the approach that the team at Content Marketing Institute recommends. They say to measure against your actual business goals. If you want brand awareness, track share of voice, direct traffic, and search volume for branded terms. If you want leads, track content-assisted conversions. If you want customer retention, track engagement rates among existing customers. The mistake is trying to use one number for everything. Luna: That makes sense. But I think there's also a cultural lesson here. Red Bull's content works because the company's entire culture is built around the same values the content expresses. It's not a marketing department pretending to be extreme. The brand actually sponsors athletes and lives that lifestyle. Lucas: That's the authenticity piece that everyone talks about but few execute. If your content says one thing and your product or company culture says another, the audience will notice. Red Bull's content is credible because they actually do these things. They have the footage. They have the relationships. They have the expertise. Luna: So what's the one takeaway for someone working on a content marketing strategy right now? If they can only do one thing differently after this episode. Lucas: Pick one topic that your audience genuinely cares about — not one that's convenient for your product — and commit to producing something on that topic every single week for a year. No exceptions. No pivots. See where you are at the end of twelve months. Luna: And if you have a podcast or a blog that's been around for a while and you find value in shows like this one, we'll just say that listener support is what keeps Fexingo ad-free. If that kind of independent content matters to you, there's a quick way to help. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just mentioning it. Lucas: Yeah, and it honestly makes a difference. We're able to spend more time on research and bring in better guests because of that support. So thank you to anyone who has already done that. Luna: Alright, back to Red Bull. One more thing I want to touch on: the risk of what some call 'content theater.' Where you're producing stuff that looks good but doesn't actually serve your audience or your business. Lucas: That's a real danger. Especially with the pressure to be always on. You end up with content that's generic, safe, and forgettable. Red Bull avoids that by being extremely specific. They don't try to appeal to everyone. Their content is for people who are into extreme sports, adrenaline, pushing limits. If you're not that person, you're not the target. And that's fine. Luna: So the lesson is: specificity over reach. Lucas: Exactly. One example: they have a show called 'The Art of Flight' about snowboarding. It's not a general sports show. It's for serious snowboarders. But that audience is loyal and passionate. And when that audience buys energy drinks, they buy Red Bull. Luna: And that's the conversion that matters. Not a click, not a view, but a customer who believes the brand understands them. Lucas: Right. So when we talk about content that converts, it's not about a call to action button. It's about building an identity that the customer wants to be part of. The conversion happens in their mind long before they ever visit your website. Luna: Alright, that's a good place to wrap. Next time we'll look at a brand that does this on a much smaller budget and see what specific tactics they use. Lucas: Looking forward to it. Thanks for listening.