Furthering its foray into adventure-culture branding, Red Bull has announced the launch of its Red Bull 
Playgrounds app.
The app is an interactive, community-driven platform in which outdoor sports enthusiasts can share photos, videos, messages and geo-tagged location information with likeminded users. Those who download the app will be able to swap details about where to find hockey ponds, bike trails, ski hills and more, in addition to letting others know about unsafe conditions or facility closures.
The Playgrounds app comes loaded with information about approximately 1,300 spots, and users can add location data as well as experiential details of their own. At present, the app is available in Canada, with concurrent products being launched in Austria and Spain.
According to Lubor Keliar, director of communications at Red Bull Canada, the company wanted to target “Canadians with an active lifestyle, whether in sport, culture, or both.” He added that “each spot within Red Bull Playgrounds is an environment, versus an address,” meaning that users can add any personal commentary and content they associate with a particular place.
“The cataloguing of all these spots delivers a thriving eco-system to discover new spots, to create content, and to ultimately share where you play,” said Keliar. “We truly see it as the premium social mobile platform for sports and entertainment enthusiasts.”
He also mentioned that future versions of the app will include weather reports. The current version offers a newsfeed.
“The genesis of the whole concept occurred because Canada is the world’s largest playground,” said Keliar. “It was a matter of capturing that idea. Essentially the entire world is available to document. In terms of the functionality of the app, you can go anywhere.”
Keliar said he expects a “pretty rapid expansion” into other international markets starting in 2013, but noted information can already be added about any spot in the world. Red Bull Playgrounds users are not the only ones generating the app’s content—a roster of Red Bull athletes including triathlete Kirsten Sweetland and snowboarders Mark McMorris and Sebastian Toutant have signed on to offer their own tips.
“This is definitely a social tool,” said Keliar. “What we’re trying to do is provide a platform for communities to engage with each other and celebrate their respective spots. They can communicate within the app, but they can also push out.”
Red Bull Playgrounds was developed by Red Bull Canada with Red Bull Media House and is available for iPhone (as well as other Apple platforms) and Android.
