How Red Bull and a skydiver created the most watched live stream in history

Red Bull is no stranger to eye-catching stunts. Paul Steiner from their Sky Dive Team jumped from one plane to another in mid-air. They hold amateur flying machine competitions (known as Flugtag). They even have soapbox car racing competitions. 

Of all the brand’s extreme stunts, none are more memorable than Red Bull Stratos—when Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped from 127,852 ft. above earth. 

This week, Case Studied examines how the broadcast PR agency TVC helped Red Bull pull off the most watched live stream in the history of the Internet.

The Brief:

One of the goals of Red Bull Stratos was to break a 52-year-old record for highest free-fall parachute jump. It was set by former U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Kittinger, who made a 19-mile jump in 1960. 

But it wasn’t just about the record—the brand was also hoping to record data from the jump that could be used by various industries like aerospace and commercial flight. And on top of all that, there’s the credibility and brand affinity that comes with a large-scale stunt. 

The Red Bull Stratos project was 3 years in the making when TVC was brought in. The team was still 2 years away from launch, but Red Bull was struggling to garner press coverage for the event. 

The agency was brought in for one reason—to make sure people watch the event when it happens live.

The Execution:

To generate a buzz for the Stratos project, TVC’s Darren Smith developed a content strategy to build anticipation. Smith noted that Stratos couldn’t be a one-off event—they had to get people emotionally invested in the outcome. 

The strategy was based around telling stories that everyone could connect with. Each piece of content fell into one of three story categories:

🧑‍🚀Felix and his journey as a daredevil

🔭The science of the stratosphere

⚠️ The danger and risks of the stunt 

These content “milestones”, as Smith calls them, turned Baumgartner’s jump into an emotional story that people could connect to, not just a leap of madness. There were stories about the 55-story, 3,000-pound balloon that lifted Baumgartner above earth. There was coverage of failed equipment tests. And there were stories about Baumgartner meeting Kittinger, who, at the time, held the record for highest freefall. 

This content strategy turned Baumgartner’s jump into something a large audience could connect to—not just skydivers, outer space lovers, and extreme sport fans. 

The Results:

By the time launch day came around on Oct. 14, 2012, the Red Bull Stratos campaign had generated thousands of global news stories. According to Smith, there were 8,000 pieces of global TV coverage during the week of the jump alone. 

As for the jump itself, Baumgartner broke 9 world records by the time he parachuted lightly onto the ground in Roswell, New Mexico. His 4 minute, 19 second freefall had 8 million viewers, which set the record for the most concurrent views for a live event on YouTube and the largest audience for a livestream ad. To put that into perspective, Red Bull Stratos had a larger audience than the stream of President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony. 

Some notable records for Baumgartner:

🔇 First human to break the sound barrier in freefall

🪂 Highest freefall parachute jump at 127,852 ft.

💨 Fastest speed in freefall, accelerating from 0 to 843.6 MPH in 50 seconds

The campaign was also successful in its goal to contribute scientific research that could improve aerospace and related industries. Art Thompson, the Stratos technical project, pointed out multiple ways the project supported the future of the industry. 

“The effect that it had globally on education and on the next generation wanting to become aerospace or flight test engineers was huge. Additionally, the life support system that we designed on the capsule, we used that technology and data to change the configuration for life support for [high altitude jets including] the U-2.”

The campaign content from Stratos is still giving. For the 10-year anniversary, Red Bull created a documentary about the project that reveals behind-the-scenes stories, footage from launch day, and undisclosed “dramas” from the project’s development stages. 

And according to Tim Katz, YouTube’s director and head of sports and news partnership, the views have consistently been on the up. 

“Within the first couple of weeks, we saw over 100 million playbacks of the event. And now, ten years later, we’ve seen almost a billion views of content from Red Bull Stratos. It’s incredible to see the interest that is sustained over time.”

Of course, we can’t talk about results without talking about sales. In the year following the Stratos jump, Red Bull saw a 13% increase in global sales. On top of that, the campaign won a slew of advertising awards, including 3 Webbys and an Emmy.

The Takeaways:

Red Bull Stratos is about as extreme as a campaign can get—it involved very real risk to human life, world records, and a $65m investment from the sponsoring company. Regardless, this campaign still has plenty of learnings to offer. 

Here are a few:

1. Storytelling is key 

TVC made sure people were emotionally invested in Red Bull Stratos. And they followed a very specific content strategy to do it.

If you need to get people invested, give them a reason to be. Consider what stories you can tell and build a roadmap on how to earn those eyeballs.

2. Embellish your brand pillars

We’ve all heard the slogan “Red Bull gives you wings” but the Stratos campaign took that to a whole new level.

Repetition of your core message is vital and building campaigns and key moments around them will help strengthen their impact.

Brainstorm the most extreme personifications of your brand and perhaps you’ll find your next big marketing activation.

3. The bigger the scale, the earlier the planning

Three years is a very long time for a marketing campaign. But given the scale, it was justified and needed.

Consider your ambitions for a project and make sure your work back schedule is reflective of those. If external partners are involved, providing clear delivery dates that they are accountable to is imperative.

Reach new heights: You could be trying to set a world record or a company sales record. Whatever your goals are, Vendry can match you with an agency partner to help reach them.