Red Bull set out to liven up stores and cash & carry depots this summer, with a promotion looking forward to the next cricket series between England and the West Indies.

The mechanic of ‘Flying Wickets’ was simple: depot managers were judged on the displays they mounted in depots and the sales uplifts they achieved, while retailers who bought five cases could send in pictures of their displays. The prize for the winners was four nights in Barbados and tickets for one-day international matches between England and the West Indies.

The way many retailers found out about the promotion was when they visited their local cash & carry and saw huge promotional displays as depot managers pulled out all the stops in a bid to win. Some managers were even offering retailers the chance to bowl them out to win extra discounts on their purchases of Red Bull. 

Jasvir Singh was one of the retailers inspired by the spectacle at his local cash & carry and his display won him a place on the trip.

For other retailers, like Londis retailer Tony Sandhu, Red Bull’s Academy Team of representatives told them about the competition and inspired them to enter. Like many independent retailers Tony says he’s a keen cricket fan and was pleased to take part.

This was the third year Red Bull has run the Flying Wickets promotion. The first year it was piloted within the Bestway/Batleys Group and the winners won a four-night trip to Mumbai, where they were able to watch England during the test series with India, and met future England captain Kevin Pietersen.

Following the success of the 2006 promotion Red Bull worked to get more cash & carries involved the following year and this time the incentive was four nights in Sri Lanka with tickets to an England test match, and again the winners met England players while they were out there.

This year the promotion was taken up by Booker and members of Landmark Wholesale and Today’s Group, in addition to Bestway and Batleys.