How Red Bull Beat Coca-Cola With the Worst Strategy Ever

Well, how did somebody do that with Coca-Cola?

Well, Red Bull was literally a case where anybody who wanted to compete with Coke would say, "Okay, the drink's got to taste nicer than Coke. It's got to cost less than Coke and it's got to come in a really big can cuz people want value for money these days."

And Red Bull comes along, it cost a fortune, comes in a tiny can, and it tastes disgusting. Okay. And when I say that, I mean, they objectively researched it and some of the research respondents and they said, "It's the worst drink we've ever researched." Some of the respondents are saying things like, "I wouldn't drink this piss if you paid me to."

If you sell something as medicinal or psychoactive or psych psychotropic, the fact that it tastes horrible actually convinces you of its efficacy.