Arun Hozack

Arun Hozack

Vice President Marketing

Red Bull North American

While much of the world—52 million people, in fact, most watching live stream-- focused on Felix Baumgartner’s spectacularly daring “space jump” in October 2012, courtesy of Red Bull, Arun Hozack, Vice President of Red Bull North America who heads the marketing team at the center of the Stratos initiative, proved that the company’s high-energy associations and signature marketing efforts can indeed wildly increase sales.

Baumgartner’s "mission to the edge of space," featuring a freefall jump from 24 miles above the earth, broke numerous records, including the first human to break the sound barrier-- without engine power.  (Think about that!)  However, we now know that Red Bull broke some records of their own.  In the six months immediately following Stratos, IRI data indicated that US sales rose 7%.  Although a private company, Red Bull has stated a 13% increase in total cans sold worldwide last year—with an amazing 17% sales increase in the US. Other varied markets—from South Africa to Saudi Arabia and from Japan to France-- showed double-digit sales gains.

The purpose of the Red Bull Stratos mission was to transcend human limits while gathering key scientific data.  Nonetheless, popular culture has indelibly linked Red Bull and Stratos, a marketing feat of enormous proportions.  Plus, the social media interactions, the extreme sport connections, and event participation and sponsorship are an essential sweet spot in Red Bull’s brand DNA. No doubt, Arun Hozack is smiling.

The Red Bull Stratos team actually brings together the world's leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. Retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, previously held the record jump from 102,800 ft. in 1960. This was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Today Felix Baumgartner and his specialized team want to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more than 50 years ago, and combine that with data acquired during Felix's supersonic freefall.

Arun Hozack oversees the effective implementation of the entire Red Bull marketing mix— brand management, sports & culture marketing, along with the content management strategy. Before joining Red Bull, Arun showed his entrepreneurial spirit by successfully founding (ironically) the “No Gravity Design Studio” = a multimedia ideas factory, specializing in branding and executing design based projects, with a focus on youth culture. He joined Red Bull in 2000 in South Africa and has filled a variety of roles including Marketing Manager in South Africa and General Manager in Japan.

Created by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, the 27-year-old energy drink has dramatically affected the beverage category, as well as ideas about how to market to a Millennial generation in a high-impact style.