Was Neil Armstrong a hero? We’d say he was; same for Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. These three guys made it to the moon backed by millions of dollars and the entire US government. Granted, Felix Baumgartner didn’t get quite that far, but he managed to jump from the Earth’s stratosphere, out of a helium balloon backed by an energy drink company, notorious daredevils Red bull. The Austrian adrenaline junkie plummeted into history with a total of three World records and major man kudos watched by a crowd of admiring viewers. Alongside breaking the mark for highest ever skydive; Felix smashed the sound barrier at 1.24 Mach – travelling at an incredible 833mph.
Making use of more ‘traditional’ mediums, the ‘supersonic freefall' was streamed live on YouTube to more than 8 million viewers, who watched in admiration as Felix quite simply stepped into thin air; Felix celebrated his greatest stunt yet and Red Bull made history. The ‘brand-turned-media’ company has not only contributed to the future development of aerospace and medicine, they have also redefined the idea of content marketing, PR stunt and brand utility.
Needless to say, cyber space embraced the hype. Twitter reminded us of the beauty and immediacy of social networking with tweets such as: "That awkward moment when you realise an energy drink has a better space program than your nation". Ouch! Lego also jumped on the bandwagon and paid tribute to Felix’s daring leap within hours. Lego models were depicted in an ingenious recreation of the event which also promotes the upcoming Vienna Model Maker Fair.
It's genuinely impossible to put a value on such coverage or to guess how many cans it sold; but if the $30 million guesstimate of the overall project costs is accurate, Red Bull have arguably secured themselves the greatest bargain in the history of advertising. Buying out the front page of almost every newspaper and website in the world, getting into the opening credits of every TV and online news programme, and generating thousands of pages of subsequent follow-up stories, Tweets and conversations around the office is PR that money simply could not buy. Red Bull hasn’t just blurred the line between production and advertising, they’ve created a whole new paradigm that other brands can only stare at in wonder! To infinity and beyond!
Felix Baumgartner:
Lego Tribute: