The Invisible Bicycle Helmet video

Dietrich Mateschitz

American boxer Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) once said "“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

The life of Dietrich Mateschitz exemplifies Ali's quote. Born to school

teachers in Austria in 1944, his parents divorced when he was young. After taking ten years to graduate Vienna University of Economics, Mateschitz went to work for Unilver marketing detergents. He subsequently moved to Blendax, the German cosmetics company where he worked on the marketing of Blendax toothpaste.

In 1982, as a 36 year-old toothpaste marketer who suffered from jet lag in Thailand, Mateschitz discovered a local drink Krating Daeng (Red Bull). Krating Daeng is a non-carbonated energy drink popular in Thailand, based on the Japanese energy drink Lipovitan, and South Korea's Bacchus-F, which were imported into the country. Its ingredients include water, cane sugar, caffeine, taurine, inositol and B-vitamins. In addition to Krating Daeng being a jet lag treatment, it was also prized by locals for its ability to increase physical endurance and mental concentration, making it popular with laborers and long-distance truck drivers.

As a marketer Mateschitz believed it had a global appeal and started negotiations with Chaleo Yoovidya, president of Krating Daeng’s manufacturer TC Pharmaceuticals. In 1984 the two founded a new company - Red Bull GmbH.

Before launching, Mateschitz hired a market research firm to test Red Bull's acceptance. The result was a catastrophe. "People didn't believe the taste, the logo, the brand name," he recalls now with a smile. "I'd never before experienced such a disaster." Despite being told it was impossible to sell Red Bull as he envisioned, he ignored the recommendations, and went on with his project. 

In 1987 the first can of Red Bull went on sale in Austria. The main difference in the European and global formulation is that unlike it Thai forerunner, it is carbonated and contains the amino acid taurine. Two years later Red Bull went on sale in Hungary and Slovenia

To help market Red Bull, Mateschitz came up with the idea of a “Flugtag” (air show) in 1991. With Red Bull enthusiasts demonstrating their innovative, yet not always successful, attempts at flying, the tag line "It gives you wings," eventually helped Red Bull spread around the globe.

In 1997 Red Bull entered the U.S. market. Whether it's by sponsored air races, helicopters or extreme sports, Red Bull's brand has become synonymous with going big and going fast. Red Bull's brand message has been received well by young consumers around the world, promising that if you drink Red Bull, you'll be seen as a self-confident, unpredictable, edgy non-conformist. You become part of the "counterculture."

As of 2012 was selling sells upwards of 4 billion cans each year and dominates its main competitors Monster and Rockstar with a 40 percent market share. Red Bull now has a presence in more than 160 countries around the world and it employs around 8,000

And the one who was told it was impossible to sell Red Bull around the globe...yea has an estimated net worth of $5 billion. Not bad for someone who started out selling toothpaste, ignored the experts, and figured out a way to launch a global brand.

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Questions:

• Has anyone ever told you something you wanted to do was impossible?  If so, how did you respond?
• Why do you think some people tell others that something is impossible?
• Have you ever told someone that what they wanted to do was impossible?  If so, why?
• What lessons can you apply from Mateschitz's story to your own life?

Resources:

• Kirn Bhasin, “How Dietrich Mateschitz Ignored The Haters And Created The Top Energy Drink On The Planet,” Business Insider, February 15, 2012.
• Ty Montague, How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your  Business (2013) 
• Dietrich Mateschitz, Wikipedia

Why Were You Born?

Mark Twain noted that "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the

day you find out why." The sad reality is that too many people fail to realize this. 

Getting caught up in the routine of life, blaming others for their situation, or working at a miserable job blind people to the real pursuit of finding out why they were born. 

This takes tremendous effort. Living a life without purpose is exhausting.  Understanding that is critical to figuring out why you were born.

Navigating life while discovering one's purpose for being born is perhaps the most difficult of tasks. But it is certainly one of the most valuable. 

Questions to Consider:

• How much energy do you spend on finding out why you were born?
• What have you done lately to help yourself understand why you were born?
• It's not too late to identify your purpose.  Do you agree?

John Gardner

"The luckiest people are those who learn early…that it’s essential to take charge of your own life. That doesn’t mean you don’t accept help, friendship, love, and leadership – if it’s good leadership – from others. But it does mean recognizing that ultimately you’re the one who is responsible for you. No excuses. Don’t blame others. Don’t blame circumstances. You take charge. And one of the things you take charge of is your own learning. Life is an endless unfolding, and if we wish it to be, an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our potentialities and the life situations in which we find ourselves." John Gardner