Marketing 101 🎯
Technology to pick the best avocado and how matches are made in UK pubs
Good morning. Well, I’m officially the most hated person in my apartment community, because I ran out of candy on Halloween. I blamed it on the inflation crisis coupled with my limited budget and started handing out earnings call transcripts of Amazon, Google and Meta as proof to disappointed kids. Better for their enamel, anyway!
In the food world
🥑 The perfect guac
Some folks squeeze, some poke and some visually inspect it from every angle. These are great methods for popping pimples and finding the ripest avocado. But California-based startup Apeel purports to have found THE method — a scanner that can “peek behind the peel” and tell consumers just how ripe an avocado is using messages like “Your avocado is ready for a salad” or “Your avocado will be ready in about 4 days”.
🏩 Forced romance
British pubs are turning to candlelight dinners to combat high energy costs. Energy bills in the U.K. have more than quadrupled since February 2021. To lower costs, the pubs have forced couples to rekindle their romance by turning off the lights. Surprisingly, the move has drawn more people in, like a moth to a flame (literally). Moreover, the candles add to the coziness with temperatures dropping.
🥡 Not so cool
Tupperware’s stock declined by almost 40%, marking an end to a rough week for the maker of plastic containers . The 76 year old brand’s jump from grandma’s closet into the cool kid’s home backfired. Contrary to expectations, their situation was like a Tupperware lid that doesn’t fit any container as it failed to resonate with the more utility seeking, environmentally conscious Gen Zers and Millennials, causing the drop.
Wings of success 💸
What does the current Formula 1 world champion, a student cramming through homework, a road tripper and a party animal have in common? They all need Red Bull to be functional. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans in a variety of flavors have been sold globally, contributing to its massive success on the world stage.
Last month Red Bull co-founder and owner of the Red Bull Formula 1 team, Dietrich Mateschitz passed away. He played a major role in making Red Bull the world’s largest energy drink brand. And while it kills the blue top/silver shorts combo, it’s not the only reason for the fruity flavored can’s success. Here, in what is the closest thing to an obituary on Simmer, we dive into some of them. Checkout the full version here.
History 101
In 1984, a time when an energy drink meant a shot of espresso and wings came from Buffalo Wild wings, Dietrich — an Austrian toothpaste marketer was offered Krating Deang (literally translated to red bull) in Thailand to overcome his jetlag.
A lethal combination of the flavor, adrenaline, fatigue and drowsiness spurred him to partner up with the owner of Krating Daeng 50-50. They later renamed to drink to Red Bull.
It’s not a drink… It’s energy!
A good marketer strives to turn a product into a feeling. And with Red Bull, it wasn’t just a drink, the brand was perceived as energy through a well orchestrated marketing strategy. Since its inception, Red Bull has pioneered some of the most creative marketing tactics. Here are few of their star performers:
University ambassador program: Red Bull found a product market fit among sleep deprived students. Soon enough, you had college kids giving students free samples with claims that it would help them power through their assignments. The use of “free” and “students” in the same sentence, made this campaign a huge success.
Explore the uncharted: Instead of going after the big leaguers, Red Bull went after alternative sports like log rolling, cliff jumping, kayak derby, Quidditch etc. where their marketing dollars/Galleons had little to no competition.
All in: Red Bull did not stop at sponsorships and buying stadium naming rights, they started buying their own teams. At one point, they owned four soccer teams and three F-1 teams. They even offered to buy out Simmer but we’re not ready to part ways with you folks.
Invest in joy: In 1992, Red Bull started Flugtag — an event where competitors attempt to fly DIY, human-powered machines because.. it sounds cool (can you blame them?). This uncanny event now happens yearly in 35 cities, drawing several hundreds of thousands of crowds in attendance, making it an unforgettable experience.
Quiz
A special thank you to everyone who took our quiz last week. However, despite your best efforts, we were just short on making bail (38% answered correctly). But don’t worry… we haven’t given up on you and are having another go at this. One of the four Red Bull facts is false. The bail amount is set to 40%. You know the drill. Get going!!
Red Bull has its own paper airplane competition.
Red Bull sent someone to space.
Red Bull has an annual “Bull pong” tournament using Jägerbombs.
There's a special version of Red Bull only available to Formula 1 VIPs.
*Answer at the bottom.
Why art thou trashing me?
The fight against climate change appears to have a new front line: art museums. And the weapon of choice is food. For the second time this month, protesters in Europe threw food on priceless pieces of art and posted the video of the incident online.
What did they do? Two groups of protesters were arrested after tossing mashed potatoes on the Claude Monet painting "Grainstacks" in Potsdam and throwing canned tomato soup (yuck!) at Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in London. The combined value for these paintings is ~$200 million.
Luckily, the purchases were backed by eBay’s 30 day buyer protection policy and came with an Otter Box equivalent of a glass cover, preventing any damage.
Why the vandalism? The short answer is a means to have their voices heard. Throwing food at priceless art pieces is the protestor’s version of someone changing the TV channel while you are watching your favorite show, grabbing instant attention.
What next? Both these protests have similarities to an earlier incident in May where a man threw cake at the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre. With neither soup, appetizer or dessert satiating the protestor’s demands, Europe needs to brace itself for an entree covered artwork in the near future.
Cooking tips
A falling knife has no handle. Forever true. Please don't learn this the hard way!
Turn any blender into a Magic Bullet with a mason jar — turns out MOST mason jars will fit the blender blade as a lid... just fill, fasten, and flip.
If a soup, sauce, or casserole ends up too fatty or greasy, drop in an ice cube. The cool swagger of the ice attracts all the fat...Make sure you scoop the ice out before it melts.
Did you know?
Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world — it is also known as cat poo coffee.
The earliest beer was like thin porridge, consumed as a nutrient-rich food instead of a beverage. Brewers started using hops only in Late Middle Ages.
The most dipped into sauce is ketchup. The most dipped item is chips. Yet not many people have dipped their chips in ketchup, even though everyone has dipped fries into ketchup.
Energy Bite Recipes
Red Bull may as well be perceived as energy. But these recipes are great to charge up those depleted energy levels. Simple and delicious, these are for all the go getters out there! Please don’t use expensive art as a charcuterie board to serve these.
Trail mix energy bites: Interesting combo of crispy rice cereal, corn flakes, pretzel bits with chocolate and peanut butter… Perfect for a hike or a drive!
Lemon poppy seed energy bites: Healthier alternative to the tasty muffin. Combine protein powder (ideally vanilla) with oats, poppy seeds, and lemon zest.
Strawberry shortcake energy bites: For when you’re craving something fruity and delicious that isn’t too sweet.
While this simmers…
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Answer
We made up the one about Bull pong. God bless the person who has to have those Jägerbombs though!