🧠 Making water sexy... HOW??!

Hey there 👋

Welcome back to the 8th edition of Brandish

 Your guide to crafting an iconic brand

I hope you’re having a great Labor Day Weekend and are enjoying some time off with your loved ones.

In this newsletter, we’ll talk about a brand that has completely redefined the rules of branding.

… and that is:

Liquid Death

Most of you have probably heard about this brand, but in case you haven’t - let me give you a brief intro:

Liquid Death was founded by Mike Cessario, who had a simple vision…

Make a healthy product (water) with exciting branding.

His inspiration for this million-dollar brand idea came from studying bands on tour, who were often disguising their water in energy cans.

Why?

Because traditional water bottles just look so basic, right?

Anyway, let’s dive into what you can learn from the brand.

(PS: Remember to kick your feet up and grab your Brez - as always)

Dare to be bold & different.

From the get-go, Mike’s goal has likely been to make a product that shocks people and gets them to think:

“WTF is that”

This can be seen in everything from his choice of name to the color scheme on the packaging.

1.  Liquid Death? What’s that, and what does it have to do with water?

2. The metal cans have a big skull on them

3. Last but not least, the color scheme on the packaging is similar to that of alcohol and energy drinks

So when you see someone drink a can of liquid Death - you immediately think: “What is that”

I believe this is the goal Mike tried to achieve from the beginning…

And hey.

It seems like it’s working with the current trajectory of the company.

All about impact

There are the brands who say they care about making a social impact…

And then there are the brands that truly care about making a social impact.

By now, consumers have become sophisticated enough to see through the BS of the first group.

So if you’re going to say that you care about making a social impact - you better find a way to actually do it.

If you look at a brand like Liquid Death, you’ll find that impact is integrated into everything they do;

1. They chose aluminium bottles instead of plastic bottles to fight plastic pollution

2. They saved over 100 plastic bottles from landfills/oceans

3. They donate 10% of the profits from every can sold to “help kill plastic pollution

Master at Viral Marketing

Sometimes, I wish I was as courageous as the CEO of Liquid Death.

These guys are taking viral marketing seriously - and in so doing, they’re taking it to the next level.

How, you may ask?

Let me give you a few examples:

1. The CEO tattooed a customer’s face on his arm

2. They hired the adult movie creator Cherie DeVille to create a campaign called “Don’t fuck the world.”

Show me one brand that has ever dared to do this…

What can you learn from Liquid Death?

There are many things to learn from Liquid Death from a brand marketing perspective, but the two that stand most out to me are;

1. Be bold, courageous, and different. Dare to challenge the status quo and do things differently

2. Even the most generic & commoditized product can be made exciting by creating a good brand story around it

3. Make your brand engaging, entertaining, and relatable. You win market share by winning your customers’ hearts.

Thanks for reading along

Thanks for reading along

I appreciate you and look forward to keep writing these newsletters for you.