Red Bull's new campaign targeted to college students is rooted in mobile. While the campaign still leverages paid media (with smart buys for this target on Spotify), a major component is a mobile game. The game prompts the user to find Red Bull cans in classic college settings: a dorm room, gym, etc. After completing the four rounds, you can either play again or share a link on Facebook.

The president of a mobile firm in Chicago (unassociated with Red Bull) commented that mobile is the ONLY medium that consumers, especially college-aged, are consuming 24/7. It's a very personal relationship between a 20 year old and his/her smartphone. Red Bull has put together a great campaign leveraging that relationship.

What's so great about this is it's a perfect example of integration between paid advertising and content creation. College kids are getting entertainment, which is concrete value from the game. But those kids would never be provided that value if they didn't know about the game. That's where a great media strategy comes in. The Spotify ads encourage viewers to click to launch a mobile-optimized site to play the game.

Beyond the outstanding integration between paid spots and brand content, their creative concept is damn good as well. The tagline, "Nobody ever wishes they slept more in college," resonates completely with the target audience. As a member of that audience, I can truly say that tagline makes the feel like Red Bull gets me. They get the college kid thing. And that's what good marketing does.

Source: Red Bull bolsters brand awareness via mobile game