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“Some of the most fun brands out there in commerce and CPG [consumer packaged goods], they're actually the products that aren't the healthiest for you … and that's where our team really thought, ‘OK, how can we bring those same principles to categories and products that are actually healthy for you?’” — Natalie Cotter, Senior Director, Digital Retail, Liquid Death Mountain Water
How do you make something as mundane as water appealing to consumers? You start with a brash, bold, and contrarian brand personality that piques their curiosity.
Liquid Death Mountain Water has made entertainment-led marketing a core part of its brand strategy, with great success. According to Forbes, the beverage company, which started as an Amazon listing in 2019, is now valued at $1.4 billion.
Natalie Cotter, senior director of digital retail at Liquid Death, joined a recent episode of the Unpacking the Digital Shelf podcast, “How to Activate a Killer Brand,” to share the secrets behind Liquid Death’s unique marketing sensibility, how the digital-first brand bridges the gap between the digital and physical shelf, and what’s next for the company.
Liquid Death started with social media video ads before it had produced an actual product.
Cotter says Liquid Death’s CEO Mike Cessario wanted to generate consumer interest first before he started building the company. Once Cessario had this proof of concept, he created an Amazon listing in 2019. Nearly all of Liquid Death’s sales were online until it launched in Whole Foods in 2020.
Since then, the company has expanded its assortment, experienced rapid growth, and is now officially a $1 billion unicorn.
“We're a robust, better-for-you beverage company with products across water, sparkling water, ice tea, and now hydration packs with our newest launch of dust [powder] last month,” Cotter says. “We've added new flavors and disrupted stagnant categories with our fun entertainment-led marketing.”
Entertainment-led marketing is what sets Liquid Death apart from other consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.
The company calls its customers “humans.” When you go on its website, you can “sell your soul” to Liquid Death and receive a certificate, “which is a fun contractual way for you to engage with the brand,” Cotter says.
Liquid Death calls its ratings and reviews section “Feedback from Internet Randos,” and it has launched a “Greatest Hates” album on Spotify, inspired by its negative reviews.
Even the company’s product packaging is engaging. Liquid Death doesn’t look like your typical bottled water brand. The drink is in a tall aluminum gold and white can with gothic typography that resembles a premium beer.
Liquid Death, whose slogan is “Murder Your Thirst,” has relied on authenticity, creativity, and community to grow its brand.
“We definitely try to get creative in how we entertain our humans and the folks that are buying our products. Oftentimes, that's not even always a product-first approach,” Cotter says.
But Liquid Death’s brand marketing isn’t just entertaining for the sake of entertainment, there’s a smart brand strategy behind it.
With every activation, whether it’s at a Live Nation concert or in a store aisle, Liquid Death thinks about how it can drive long-term loyalty, Cotter says. It focuses on engaging customers both on social media and in the real world.
For example, the company partnered with its buyers at Target and produced exclusive Metallica case art, which attracted new customers and drove repeat buys from shoppers who were already familiar with the brand but also heavy metal fans.
Liquid Death also launched its biggest campaign yet with a Super Bowl ad. Instead of your standard 30-second spot, the company auctioned off the back of its case, allowing potential advertisers to bid for a logo placement.
Video Source: Liquid Death YouTube
“It was actually a really fun marketing activation for us,” Cotter says. “We ultimately partnered with someone that will be producing their logo on our cases later this year, which will be a fun way to bring both of our companies together, and then give the shopper a unique experience when they're purchasing in-store or online.”
In an era when many brands are placing all their chips on performance marketing, Liquid Death shows that combining brand marketing with product content optimization can be just as potent.
The company’s entertainment-led marketing drives traffic and awareness to its website and product detail pages, which also offer an engaging experience that’s authentic to the brand.
“Once we get someone on our product page, that's where our team is looking to optimize. Are we priced right? Do we have the best images?” Cotter says. “How do our ratings and reviews look? Is there any confusion with our products? Can we answer some questions to help our humans better understand our products? That’s when we start to look at the actual product page conversion level. As a company, we're very fun and creative, but we're also very data-driven in how we approach a lot of these things.”
Liquid Death has created an authentic brand voice that resonates with its “humans.”
The company, which doesn’t work with an agency and manages its ad campaigns in-house, balances boundless creativity and brand strategy to differentiate itself. Cotter says that other companies can find opportunities to do the same — even as they navigate a fragmented retail landscape where different platforms have varying product content requirements.
“From a very tactical standpoint, we're always looking to do things differently.” — Natalie Cotter, Senior Director, Digital Retail, Liquid Death Mountain Water
Cotter adds that it’s even more important to be nimble.
“It’s really remaining light on our feet and extremely flexible in our strategy, which is the core of a startup,” she says. “As we get to become this bigger company, what's really great is we've been able to maintain those philosophies to still stay quick on our feet, flexible to the market, and really close to the ground with our humans that are buying our products, which will continue to be core to our DNA as we work together as a team and grow the business.”
Listen to the full episode to learn more about Liquid Death’s brand strategy.
