Red Bull Founder: A Poor Duck Farmer Turned Multi-Billionaire

red bull gives you wing red bull is one of the world's most recognizable brands it is distributed in more than 170 countries and about 7.9 billion cans are sold every year that's more than one can for each person on the planet the caffeine-filled concoction is beloved by drowsy office workers and exam cramming college students but did you know that it was originally targeted at thailand's working class or that it was invented by a man who was once a poor duck farmer when red bull first hit the market there was nothing like it the energy drink

market was non-existent and most were convinced red bull was doomed to fail but its founders had a different idea they had faith in their innovative concept and by following their gut they turned a niche market into a billion dollar global industry are you ready to uncover red bull's unusual history and learn some interesting business lessons along the way then keep watching chaleo uvidia would someday be known as thailand's third richest man but you couldn't have predicted his success story by looking at his upbringings his whole life chalio was rather reclusive and rarely gave an interview

in fact he was so reclusive that his exact date of birth has never been confirmed what is known about him though is that he was born in the northern thai province of pachit his parents were poor chinese immigrants who farmed ducks and sold fruit to make a living due to his poor upbringing chalio didn't have much of a formal education ever since he was a child he had been helping his parents out on the farm but the income was meager and he eventually decided he wanted something more hoping to carve out a better life for

himself young chaleo moved to bangkok thailand's bustling capital city the change was enormous but while the city was exciting life didn't necessarily become easier for him his main expertise was duck farming and selling fruit and without an education he was forced to work several odd jobs to make ends meet after a stint as a bus driver and pharmaceutical salesman he felt it was time to begin his own company he named it tc pharmaceutical industries and it produced and imported antibiotics and cosmetics little did anyone know one of the company's future beverages would one day change

chalio's entire life chalio's pharmaceutical company was doing well and the new source of income allowed him to get more and more creative at the time energy drinks were something people drank out of necessity rather than for pleasure most didn't taste good and they had a very distinctive medicinal flavor to them even the market leader lipovatin faced the same problem seeing a good business opportunity challio decided to do something about that he began blending things together and one day in 1976 he created an interesting syrup concoction krating daeng krating daeng is tied for red gore or

red bull so i guess you already see where this story is going at the time chalio had no idea how big his drink would once become though and it's safe to say that many experts didn't either you see chalio's beverage wasn't much of a success at first it was initially only sold in pharmacies and instead of focusing on bangkok's elite the drink was promoted as a refreshment for rural thai laborers who needed a little pick me up as the thai economy became industrialized however kreiteng daeng slowly gained in popularity more and more people started to

see that there were more lucrative ways to make a living than by farming and the number of truck and taxi drivers and factory and construction workers rose immensely chalio had always pitched his beverage as a stimulant which improved speed endurance and concentration and that was exactly what exhausted day laborers and weary long-haul truckers needed the working class loved the beverage and within a few years krating daeng became the top selling energy drink in the country according to chalio's second eldest son sarah vut kraitang daeng set itself apart from its competitors by targeting blue-collar workers outside

bangkok my father stressed on brand building a marketing strategy that had not been widely employed up to that time he pushed into the provincial market first and gained a foothold by distributing free samples to truck drivers krateng daeng's working-class image was further boosted by sponsorship of thai boxing matches by displaying the logo with the two red bulls at these events chalio aimed to create a lasting association between his drink and thailand's beloved sport and of course the logo itself was also well thought out the two charging bulls represent power the red signifies perseverance and the

backdrop of the sun symbolizes energy but would a nifty logo and high profile sponsorships be enough krateng daeng was a success and in the 1980s chalio began selling his beloved beverage internationally first in singapore and then in hong kong but soon enough the expansion would go much much further further than chaleo could have ever dreamed of during a business trip to thailand in 1982 an austrian salesman named dietrich matasheets got his hands on an energy drink it was called krating daeng dietrich was amazed by the drinks jet lag eliminating properties and he was hooked right

away dietrich was born on may 20th 1944 in a little austrian village called sancte marin by the time krating daeng first touched his lips he already had a fruitful career as a sales and marketing executive under his belt he mainly worked for shampoo and toothpaste companies though not energy drink manufacturers dietrich traveled far and often for his job but he was increasingly getting bored by it all he had enjoyed his trip to thailand and the magical jet lag remedy that was crating daeng but it wasn't until he later visited hong kong that the ball really

got rolling during his stay in hong kong dietrich read a news article that stated that lippovatin was japan's greatest taxpayer the marketing genius that he was dietrich immediately understood that this was a business opportunity that he couldn't let pass by hearing how successful these energy drinks were in asia was a turning point for him there was nothing like this in the west and he could already envision the massive success he would have by taking the drink global not one to waste time he immediately quit his job and tracked down chaleo at first chalia was reluctant

but dietrich quickly managed to convince him they each invested 500 000 and in 1984 red bull was founded innovation often encounters resistance and this wasn't any different this time around when preparing for the launch of red bull the duo's plans were not well received trial groups said the drink tasted disgusting and that it left a sticky feeling in the mouth and the results of the market research were not encouraging either red bull would fail they said the drink was too unhealthy and both the logo and the brand name were not appealing enough the recommendation abort

the mission while this chorus of critical voices would be enough to make many give up dietrich decided to listen to his instinct he believed that he had his hands on something good and he continued to pursue his vision but a lot still had to be done before introducing red bull to the austrian market the next three years were spent adapting the drink for western pallets and refining the brand's marketing strategy dietrich wanted to carbonate the drink and make it look more special he also swapped the bottle packaging for a slim silver can after years of

tinkering with the recipe red bull was finally released in 1987 and by 1988 they already sold 1.2 million boxes the beverage became widely regarded as the first energy drink to win over consumers from east to west the drink's energizing qualities won over drowsy office workers and exam cramming college students and red bull success turned both chaleo and dietrich into multi-billionaires this goes to show that following your intuition is often a good idea as important as data facts and preliminary studies are if your gut feeling has something to tell you it's good to pay some attention

after all consumers listen to their guts when making buying decisions too now the question remains how did the duo manage to enhance their drinks appeal so drastically much of red bull success can be traced to their innovative marketing strategy they understood that a new type of product required a completely novel approach to marketing and advertising that's when dietrich decided to follow one of chalio's strategies mixing his business with his passion dietrich had always loved extreme sports and at the time very few big corporate sponsors were targeting those events becoming the leading promoter would surely be

a good idea from then on sports became red bull's new focus particularly those that could get the blood pumping there were several reasons for this it made the brand stand out and it also meant that they didn't have to invest thousands of dollars in competing for advertising time during mainstream events but most importantly by embracing adrenaline sports they signaled that red bull was more than just an energy drink it was a lifestyle and a cool one at that from then on the two charging red bulls were omnipresent at extreme sports events and little by little

red bull became synonymous with exciting words like adrenaline energy and adventure in short anything outstanding from formula one to soccer to snowboarding and mountain biking you can be sure to find red bull there just think of felix baumgartner's attention grabbing stratos jump for example or their famous red bull fluke tag competitions the competitions are named after the german word for flying day and they challenge people to create their own human powered flying machines this gives their slogan redbull gives you wings a whole new meaning by holding these fun events red bull engages with customers in

a deep way and by continuously focusing on selling a feeling instead of just a product they anchored themselves in the minds of their target group at the time of the company's inception the brand's creative marketing techniques were completely unique but their bravery paid off and it turned both of its founders into multi-billionaires when chalio passed away in 2012 he was thailand's third richest person with a fortune estimated at 5 billion dietrich on the other hand is currently austria's richest man with a fortune of 13.4 billion dollars not bad after chalio's death red bull continued to

do well and even 2014's lawsuit couldn't stop the brand's success up until then red bull had always stated that one of its cans contained about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee and for many years nobody investigated this claim but when an american man named benjamin carrathers discovered this was a lie he wasn't pleased he found red bull's slogan to be dishonest and he felt there were grounds for a lawsuit the jury ruled in his favor and red bull had to compensate all american customers who bought a drink between 2002 and 2014

in addition they also changed their slogan by adding two eyes in the word wings today red bull is the best selling energy drink in the world dietrich still owns 49 of the company while the other 49 is shared by 11 members of chaleo's family the final two percent still belongs to chaleo's eldest son chalerm one of the reasons why red bull continues to do so well today is because the brand knows how to spot a winning horse over the years they have doubled down on their lucrative marketing techniques and they have sponsored and created numerous

interesting events and to this day they continue reaping the rewards of their creative genius this was the story of red bull while he has unfortunately passed away chalio created something many entrepreneurs can only dream about a global brand the reclusive thai billionaire made his fortune with his special energizing drink and to this day people from all over the world drink it on a daily basis for over four decades red bull has been setting milestone after milestone in terms of marketing and branding and the company has become a blueprint for innovative startups eager to make a

lasting impression it turned a niche market into a billion dollar global industry and in the process it became one of the world's most recognizable brands what part of the story did you find the most remarkable and which one of the four business lessons do you think made the biggest difference in red bull success share it in the comments i'd love to hear what you think and as always don't forget to check out our channel for more inspiring business videos