DarrenBarefoot.com

Just hazarding a guess here, but it’s probably not the caffeine you’re paying extra for, but rather the taurine: the big ingredient in most (all?) of these energy drinks. Taurine, and also the image that you’re hip and edgy if you drink Red Bull.

I’m not sure I agree with Brian above though, who suggested you should actually try Red Bull. Not unless you think the experience of downing several hundred millilitres worth of carbonated cough syrup is going to be a pleasant one. The only energy drink I’ve found so far to have any kind of halfway decent taste is Full Throttle, which tastes like lemonade with a sharp bite.

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Maybe they get away with charging more than Coke because of the ‘medicinal’ ingredients presented in the Red Bull product (as mentioned above, Taurine)… vitamins, etc.

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“carbonated cough syrup” is right.

These soft drinks that we get here taste are inferior in taste than the ones u get in Canada, the UK & the US. Even then, when I tried a Red Bull for the first and only time hopefully, it was worthless. I wanted to finish it just because i bought it & it cost a whole lot more than any drink I had ever bought without alcohol in it. It sucks. Yuck.

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Some people hate it, some (like me) are addicted to it, many more are completely indifferent to the taste which is a little like cough medicine I think.

Anyway, the reason it costs so much is simple: because that’s what people are willing to pay. And it’s because of that they can blow up to $200M a year on a mediocre Formula 1 team.

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The extra price is merely because they’ve done a good job of building the brand and the perception that there’s more to it than a coke. Coke is priced almost the same as a bottle of water here in North America, however, in parts of the world, Coke is much more expensive than beer, water, etc.

I don’t drink Red Bull regularily (even when I lived with a Red Bull athlete) but they sure come in handy at the tail end of a long drive.

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What about the $5 lattes at Starbucks?

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Red Bull is more or less a club/rave drink. Most people will be mixing it for some form of cocktail so it’s associated as being a mixer and has the price from the bars tagged along with it. Go to a club one day, order a bottle of off brand water for $2, a can of coke for $3, and then your red bull, which will still be $3.50 at most clubs I’ve been to. It’s simply that stores don’t come off the price because they don’t have to, mainly being people that want it will buy it regardless.

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Branding, it’s all about branding.

Red Bull has done an amazing job of defining the energy drink market. They’ve portrayed themselves as the cool, hip drink, and people are willing to pay $2/can to be associated with that image. (Check out the Red Bull events such as their highly hyped Flugtag.)

They’ve also aggressively protected their brand, making sure it doesn’t dilute.

I remember seeing one write up praising the company for it’s brilliant marketing and strategy, especially as they’re basically selling soda, with a markup that Coke or Pepsi can only dream about (and why you see all these knockoffs as well . . . )

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Why not sell it for that much. Red bull has set it’s mark globally. People from all of the world are buying them, it doesn’t matter that they are 3.50/can. Red bull has a reputation and the company is making one hell of a profit; their revenue is definitly exceeding their expenses.

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If you are interested in an energy drink you should try one that is actually good for you. Try efusjon you can learn more about it at myefusjon.com/jeffbarton

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Thanks for the comments.
I do also believe it is a marketing issue
I am a caffeine addict, and when I tried a can of Red Bull I felt nothing special !
On the contrary, I felt somewhat sleepy !

Save your money, my friends.

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