LIQUID DEATH: STANDING OUT SELLS

Morning!How's the week been? Hope it's been a good one. Today's article is my 54th Growing Viral in 54 weeks. I was going to celebrate the anniversary but honestly, I completely forgot. So, I'll take this time to say wow. 54 Sunday's on the bounce. Never missed a week. 

Anyway, less reminiscing, more marketing gems. This week I'm going to be talking about a brand that I am 110% bought into. If you know me personally, you'll know I am not one for splashing cash. But for this brand, I am more than willing to pay a 15-20% premium. Better quality? Nope. Something special? No. I just love their branding and so do 1.2M others.What you're in for:- How Liquid Death took the water industry by storm.- Why their branding is so great.- How you can market like Liquid Death.

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Company Overview

Valuation: $525M (Source)

Revenue: $45 million (Source)

Liquid Death is a canned-water company created in 2019. In terms of the product, that's all it is - canned water. Yet, in just 3 years Liquid Death has gone from $0 in ARR to $45M. That isn't the craziest part though. They've also amassed:- 1.2M Instagram followers- 2.7M TikTok followers

To put that in perspective, the two highest-selling water companies globally - Dasani (Coca Cola) & Aquafina (Pepsi) - have a combined Instagram following of 21K.So why in the world is everyone raging about Liquid Death?

Breaking Down The Strategy

If you've never seen or heard of Liquid Death let me catch you up to date with a quick image:

You know what it doesn't look like? A can of water.But that isn't by mistake, in fact, it was their exact intention from inception. To really get to grips with why Liquid Death is positioned so differently, it's important to understand the founder - Mike Cessario - first. 

Cessario played in punk bands growing up, later cutting his teeth in advertising for Toyota, Nestle, and Volkswagen. The former Netflix creative director also led viral promotions for the original series “House of Cards,” “Stranger Things,” and “Narcos.” 

(Why am I telling you this? To show you the industry Liquid Death's founder came from. He's not a water guru, he's an advertising guru - remember this for later on.)

In 2008 on a punk rock tour, Cessario noticed energy drink companies heavily sponsor rock bands and rock tours. However, when speaking to the bands, he realised they actually prefer to drink water while performing but have to put the water in an energy drink can to uphold sponsor obligations. That was his light bulb moment. Why is there not a brand of water that bands would actually like to be seen drinking?

Next thing you know Liquid Death is born, with one intention: to be anything but boring. 

To show how impressively they did that, let me start by showing you who they were competing against:

11 of the biggest brands in the world. They all look the exact same: clear plastic bottles, natural look with branding, most use the colour blue. The only one which is any different is Pellegrino who simply made their bottle green - so disruptive!!!

Liquid Death took what a brand of water was supposed to look like and completely flipped it on its head...

- Brand Name

No "Pure Life" or "Aquasomething". If you want to be different, you have to look and feel different. So, they went with "Liquid Death" - does that sound like a water brand to you? The name immediately separates them from the pack and more importantly makes them stand out on the shelf.Don't underestimate the vital part this plays in their marketing.

- The Can

All their drinks come in cans. This is important for 2 reasons: 1. Because their target audience cares about the environment and cans are recyclable and 2. Because it's the complete opposite of what water usually comes in. The can is also a "Tall boy" just like all the other cool drinks: Monster, Twisted Tea, Bud Light, etc - an important thing to note.

- Packaging

Arguably the biggest stand-out feature is the packaging. Black cans, gothic font, bright gold skull, "Murder Your Thirst" across the bottom. Again, it goes against everything the water industry has been pushing for years.Usually, we see clear bottles with a logo full of trees and nature. Liquid Death went the exact opposite (we'll get into why they did this in a second). 

- The Message

Whilst all the other water brands push the fact their water is natural, pure and straight from the heart. Liquid Death push, well, the fact they're nothing like any of their competitors.

Just watch this advert:

Their message is simple: WE ARE NOT LIKE OTHER WATER BRANDS. They deliver the message in the perfect way and the ad is hilarious - she is literally waterboarding someone whilst explaining how water is deadly. People clearly enjoyed it too, with the video currently sitting on 4.78M views (not bad for an ad). But that's not why I wanted to show you it, I wanted you to see how they push that message of being different. 

I know what you're all thinking at this point... "Niall, I get it, they're different. But why does that matter?"

That is the whole strategy here - give a boring product awesome branding. They are there to disrupt the industry in every way possible. They aren't trying to compete on price or taste or how "healthy" their water is. They are competing for attention, and are currently winning that attention at extraordinary rates. 

Do you know what get's attention more than anything else? Being different.They talk different. They look different. They feel different.

They aren't the first brand to rocket to success by focusing their marketing on garnering attention though. In fact, we've seen it a million times before:

• Virgin - Virgin took a boring business (airlines) and made it fun. The brand now has a cool enough cache that whenever they enter an industry, they are able to bring a cool factor with them.

• Boring Company - Elon Musk's Boring Company went from 0-100 overnight by selling flamethrowers before transitioning to digging tunnels under Las Vegas.

• Dollar Shave Club - Everything they put out is focused on going against everything the personal care industry is doing.

The greatest thing about all of this, is I am one of the people who buy Liquid Death for its branding. I don't drink, and for years I've been on nights out with boring bottles of water with every man, woman, and their dog saying "Oh, are you not drinking" or "Oh go on, just have one". This year, I've started buying a case of Liquid Death before I go out. The difference? No one says anything. I don't buy it for the water within it. I buy it for its packaging, I buy it for the brand. In fact, I'm currently drinking one as I write this! (I did tell you I was a fan)

I'm not the only fan though, there are millions of others around the world too. If you're still doubting how successful they are though, just look at these stats from just 3 years in business:- $0-45M in ARR- Amassed 3.9M followers on socials- Raised $75M in Series C funding- Valued at $525MThey're 3 years in and already so much more than a water company. But their competitive advantage was never their water. It's the can the water is in.

How To Implement It

Stop copying, start creating.

Billion-dollar companies aren't created by replicating what someone else has done. That doesn't just mean in terms of product, it means branding and marketing too. 

There is nothing special at all about Liquid Death's product. It's literally water. Even the flavoured version I've been supping on whilst writing this - nothing special by any means. But the Liquid Death experience is.So, if you want to market like Liquid Death, you have to be different. Make a list of your competitors, scroll down their social media, and identify what they are doing. Then map out a way to do the complete opposite. Look to disrupt.Run a PR agency and noticed that all the other brands are serious and corporate? -> Figure out a way to come across as super personable and creative. Run an accounting firm and noticed that your competitors keep everything behind closed doors?-> Invest in personal branding to allow people to get to know your accountants.Sometimes it's not about being better. It's just about being different. It's just about standing out.Attention is everything!NOTE: I can't end this without mentioning that I have barely touched the surface of what Liquid Death has done with its marketing over the last few years. NFT projects, a country club, sponsoring a water boy and more. So, if you found this interesting I heavily encourage you to check out their website (HERE) and just scroll - you're in for a treat.That's all for today though!

I'm off to get some well-deserved rest. Enjoy your Sunday.— Niall

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This has been a breakdown of Liquid Death's marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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