Red Bull Awards Media Duties to Carat

Red Bull has handed its media buying and planning account to Carat following a review. The assignment covers both on- and offline media for the energy drink manufacturer’s products, events and programs.

The account formerly belonged to Siltanen & Partners in El Segundo, CA. Creative duties remain with Kastner & Partners in Los Angeles.

Red Bull has forged a reputation in recent years for being at the forefront of digital advertising trends. It was among the first to develop a branded widget on Facebook , and was one of Twitter’s launch partners for the Promoted Tweets program.

Red Bull has even shown a willingness to experiment with lesser-known social networks: In June, it became the first branded partner for location-based service Whrrl.

“Red Bull is a company we have long admired, and I am delighted they want to work with Carat,” said Martin Cass, president of Carat, in a written statement. “The consumer is at the heart of everything they do, and they execute brilliantly, which matches our approach and the way we are building our agency.”

The Austria-based energy drink maker spent $50 million on advertising last year, according to Nielsen.