Red Bull beverage aims for top spot in |energy-drink market

Over the period, the company plans to overtake the current leader, Osotspa's M150 drink, which has 55 per cent of the market.

Assistant marketing manager Ruangyos Vitavaskarnvej, who joined the company at the beginning of the year, yesterday said Krating Daeng had been in second place over the past three to four years.

"We want to become the market leader in the Bt16-billion local energy-drink market within five years and to have a market share of not less than 50 per cent," he said.

Ruangyos said Krating Daeng currently had a 35-per-cent market share, followed by Carabao Daeng with 10 per cent. Thai Beverage's Wrangyer is the other main player.

"My priority mission in joining Red Bull Beverage is to modernise the look and image of Krating Daeng and to enlarge the customer base to younger, white-collar people. The new extended group of Krating Daeng customers will be those who have self-confidence and a strong commitment to achieving their work and living objectives," he said.

Before joining Red Bull Beverage, Ruangyos spent about nine years working |with Procter & Gamble as key account manager for customer business development. He also spent nine years at Food & Drinks as domestic business manager and in charge of original-equipment manufacturing business.

He then turned to work with a property firm, DT Group, and looked after the Magnolia project for about two years, and then worked at 3K Battery as marketing manager for another two years.

Ruangyos said he wanted to increase the proportion of young and modern customers, including white-collar people, from about |10 per cent currently to about 30 per cent by the end of the year. He also wanted to increase the frequency with which existing grass-roots customers, notably truck drivers, use the |product.

"We have seen a new segment of customers coming in, which reflects our success in modernising Krating Daeng energy drink as well as the popularity of Red Bull in many markets abroad. Nowadays customers also have more understanding of energy-drink products and their functional benefits," he said.

The company expects the market to increase by at least 10 per cent over the full year, having grown by between 7 and 8 per cent year on year in the first six months.

"The growth of the energy-drink market this year has been heavily stimulated by more aggressive marketing campaigns and activities, and higher budgets allocated by many key players aimed at stimulating consumption," said Ruangyos.

He added that Red Bull Beverage alone |had set aside Bt500 million this year for |marketing activities to promote Krating Daeng.

The company yesterday launched its latest Bt30-million sports marketing campaign with the Red Bull Drift Team Thailand, led by well-known drift driver Kiki Sak Nana.

The motorsports team will be a Thai representative at the 2010 D1GP World Cup in Japan in October, and at the Red Bull World Drifting Championship to be held in the United States in November.