On October 22, 2020, the Chinese Athletics Association announced a partnership with Thai Tiansi Group, the founder and owner of the global Red Bull brand and trademark, officially making Red Bull an official partner of the Chinese Athletics Association. It was stated that during the one-year cooperation, the Chinese Athletics Association and Tiansi Group will jointly promote healthy lifestyles to the public, advocate a culture of fitness for all, and contribute to the goals of building a sports powerhouse and 'Healthy China'.

Mr. Cai Yong, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Athletics Association, and Mr. Wang Dao, representative of Thai Tiansi Group, signed the agreement, officially making Red Bull an official partner of the Chinese Athletics Association.

At the press conference, Red Bull Anaji launched a special edition 'Story Can' and a 'Support the Chinese Athletics Association' 100% cash-red-packet lottery can, effectively supporting Chinese athletics and inspiring Chinese athletes to set new records at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Champion athletes representatives attended the press conference.

Not long ago, Red Bull Anaji collaborated with Luo Yonghao in the livestream e-commerce wave, sparking buzz across various circles. Now it has turned to supporting athletics. This series of compact marketing activities shows its firm determination to rapidly accumulate brand momentum and accelerate expansion into various circles.

Habitually, after seeing the news, I pondered: What does this cooperation bring to Red Bull Anaji? What message does it convey?

-01- The 'True Bull' Spirit: Sports Marketing is the Foundation

The cooperation with the Chinese Athletics Association is not surprising. The Red Bull brand was embedded with strong competitive sports genes from its inception; it is also one of the few brands that extensively and continuously supports sports and builds its image through sports marketing. It is fair to say that sports marketing is its foundation.

In fact, earlier, Red Bull Anaji had been conveying the brand spirit of 'challenge yourself, break limits'. The cooperation with the Athletics Association is also because the athletes' spirit of 'constantly challenging and setting records' highly aligns with this.

From a brand perspective, the cooperation not only supports athletics but also stores energy for its market explosion. As an energy functional drink, Red Bull Anaji also needs to continuously establish its brand image of 'challenge yourself, break limits'.

Mr. Cai Yong, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Athletics Association, delivered a speech.

Regarding this cooperation, Mr. Cai Yong stated: Through this cooperation, we hope to leverage the brand influence of Red Bull Anaji to mobilize more public participation and cultivate exercise habits, promote national fitness, and achieve national health.

Three champion representatives discussed the 'True Bull' spirit on stage.

Moreover, as representatives of the Chinese national athletics team about to compete in the Tokyo Olympics: Su Bingtian, Chinese male sprinter and Asian record holder in the 60m and 100m; Wang Yu, Chinese male high jumper and gold medalist; and Li Ling, Chinese female pole vaulter and Asian record holder, attended the signing ceremony and shared their 'True Bull' stories and spirit of constantly challenging themselves on their championship journeys.

These official recognitions will bring Red Bull Anaji a huge boost in credibility, influence, and brand image. It is important to note that for functional drinks, consumers care most about safe quality and genuine functionality. The endorsement and promotion by world champions and official sports organizations are the best backing.

Looking back at the global popularity of the Red Bull brand, it was through the accumulation of momentum from events and sports projects that it eventually achieved a qualitative change. Any sports enthusiast knows and recognizes the brand.

Now, Red Bull Anaji's cooperation with the Chinese Athletics Association is similarly empowering the brand. Partnering with athletics is just the initial phase for Red Bull Anaji; in the future, more projects and events will be covered by Red Bull Anaji.

Red Bull Anaji specially designed four special edition 'Story Gold Cans'.

It is worth mentioning that Red Bull Anaji specially designed four special edition 'Story Gold Cans', corresponding to four athletics events: sprint, throwing, hurdles, and race walking. The cans feature honor rolls and glorious moments of these events. Red Bull Anaji hopes to pay tribute to Chinese athletics with these gold cans and encourage more people to follow and participate in athletics.

The special 'Story Gold Cans' will be sold nationwide. Red Bull Anaji will also launch a 'Support the Chinese Athletics Association' 100% cash-red-packet lottery can. Consumers can purchase the 'Story Gold Cans' and lottery cans to support Chinese athletes, which is quite innovative.

Most sports enthusiasts are very pleased to see brands like Red Bull Anaji cooperate with more and more sports. Sports projects and brands leverage each other to expand influence, and consumers also benefit from tangible discounts. It is indeed a win-win-win result.

Moreover, distributors of Red Bull Anaji are also happy to see such frequent marketing activities.

Distributor Mr. Chen told reporters that he just started representing Red Bull Anaji this year and is gradually promoting distribution and consumer cultivation activities. The cooperation with the Athletics Association perfectly complements his ground efforts from a high level, and it is very timely. Consumers tend to have high recognition for brands or products with such official cooperation, which makes his consumer cultivation easier and also boosts product sales.

The venue for the upcoming cooperation press conference.

The reporter happened to know a distributor friend present that day. He said, Seeing the brand he represents sign a cooperation agreement with the Chinese Athletics Association, with several champion athletes present, provides the best proof of product quality and gives him ample confidence to do well in the Red Bull Anaji market.

-02- What Kind of Functional Drink Do Chinese Consumers Need?

Leveraging sports marketing to empower the brand, expand brand coverage, and enhance consumer recognition in their minds. From a marketing perspective, this move indeed fits Red Bull Anaji's brand image positioning. But to continue to ignite the market, another question needs to be addressed: What kind of functional drink does the Chinese market need?

From a consumption scenario perspective, consumers of functional drinks mainly face the problem of wanting to rest but not being able to. Functional drinks are an excellent solution to this problem. Refreshing and anti-fatigue are the basic attributes of functional drinks, but it doesn't stop there.

From a consumption trend perspective, after the pandemic, consumers globally are more concerned about health. The functional drink category has been closely associated with the word 'health' since its inception, and it is inevitably a focus of consumer attention. Today, functional drinks are one of the fastest-growing categories in the beverage market.

To be healthy, the first priority is safety. Only on the basis of safety can one seek better functionality, which requires sufficient quality endorsement. Of course, safety is just the foundation; beyond that, the essence of a functional drink lies in its functionality. The functionality of a drink is reflected in the types and contents of its nutritional elements.

Mr. Xu Xinxiong, CEO of Tiansi Group, delivered a speech via VCR.

At the cooperation press conference, Tiansi Group CEO Xu Xinxiong said: "At a time when the global pandemic remains severe, China, as one of the few countries to have overcome the pandemic first, better understands the significance and importance of national health."

This shows that Red Bull Anaji is well aware that as a functional drink, the consumer pain point lies in health, which has been amplified after the pandemic. As long as it grasps this point, Red Bull Anaji's products will surely be good products that meet consumer needs.

In summary, Chinese consumers need functional drinks with strong quality endorsement, genuine ingredients, guaranteed functionality, and the ability to refresh and resist fatigue while being truly beneficial to health.

So, has Red Bull Anaji achieved this?

-03- Returning to Product Value Itself to Win a Larger Market

First, look at quality endorsement. Red Bull Anaji comes from a 'noble family'. As a new product launched in China by a globally renowned energy drink brand, Red Bull Anaji is currently the only product authorized by Tiansi Group in mainland China and approved by the China Food and Drug Administration as a Red Bull brand beverage. With its strong background and the 'health food' status approved by the FDA, its quality foundation has already surpassed most functional drinks on the market.

Next, consider actual functionality and health attributes. Many functional drinks' main nutritional ingredient is taurine, which has multiple effects such as promoting infant intellectual development, preventing cardiovascular diseases, and enhancing immunity. Each can of Red Bull Anaji contains 475 mg of taurine.

Moreover, Red Bull Anaji creatively adds American ginseng extract, which can quickly relieve fatigue and replenish energy.

Genuine ingredients endow Red Bull Anaji with powerful refreshing, anti-fatigue, and health-beneficial effects, demonstrating its commitment to product value first.

Such a product hits every consumer pain point. Coupled with its position as a global leader in functional drinks, it has rich brand-building experience, and sports marketing is its forte. From this perspective, in the current consumption trend, category dividends will also converge to such leading brands, and it is likely to see further rapid expansion in the future.

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