Red Bull’s unofficial Winter Olympics

How the brand shows up without showing up.

---

The Olympic Games is a famously difficult space for brands. Advertising is banned during competition, logos are stripped back and only a small group of official partners are allowed any visible association.

For most brands, this makes having a meaningful presence at the Winter Olympic Games challenging. And yet, Red Bull – despite being banned from advertising by the International Olympic Committee in 1998 – remains everywhere.

Instead of fighting for visibility, the brand invested time and money directly into the sports overlooked by traditional sponsors. In the early days, Red Bull chose to support the athletes while funding grassroots competitions, creating its own events and launching entirely new forms of content. By backing snowboarding, freeskiing and other freestyle disciplines before they were profitable, Red Bull positioned itself as a brand synonymous with winter sport.

As these sports gained popularity and eventually Olympic status, a new generation of athletes emerged whose careers and personal brands were inseparable from Red Bull, creating a presence that is impossible to miss. Sporting stars like New Zealand free skier Nico Porteous, American freeskier Nick Goepper, Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris and American alpine legend Lindsey Vonn have all been part of Red Bull’s roster for years with many working with the brand since they were teenagers.

This sustained investment means athlete success functions as indirect exposure, meaning when Red Bull athletes dominate podiums, land sport-defining tricks or redefine what’s possible in competition, the brand benefits by association. Performances by athletes such as Anna Gasser in big air or Henrik Harlaut in freestyle skiing don’t just generate medals, they generate shareable moments that live far beyond the Olympics thanks to Red Bull’s global content machine.

Red Bull films its athletes year-round, capturing behind the scenes content and building athlete profiles on social media platforms where Olympic restrictions don’t apply. By the time the Winter Olympic Games begin, audiences already associate Red Bull with excellence in winter sport.

This is where Red Bull’s strategy really shows its brilliance. The brand doesn’t rely on banners or venue takeovers. Instead, its athletes become the brand, competing, performing, posting, vlogging and documenting every move. Each jump, spin and landing becomes a Red Bull moment, not through overt branding but by repeated brand association.

Red Bull doesn’t need official Olympic signage or apparel branding because it has already captured the most valuable asset in sport: cultural relevance. By investing early, backing athletes long-term and shaping entire sporting cultures, the brand has positioned itself as the beating heart of winter and extreme sports. In doing so, Red Bull has redefined what modern sports sponsorship looks like, prioritising influence over exposure.

The future isn’t about who buys the biggest banner, it’s about who tells the best stories, builds the deepest loyalty and owns the moments that fans care about. When athletes live the brand, they don’t just wear it - they carry it with them and stream it directly to millions of viewers around the world. Red Bulls strategy demonstrates that sustained relevance is achieved through proximity, belief and long-term commitment, proving you don’t need to sponsor the Olympics when you’ve already sponsored the stars.