This Branding Genius Has Made Millions SELLING WATER (His Branding Strategy) | My First Million

Sam Parr

Because everyone was like this is such a silly idea and they raised all this money

Mike Cessario

So, I mean, I guess at the heart of what Liquid Death really is, we're completely trying to change the way healthy food and beverages are marketed. At the end of the day, most of the most hilarious, memorable ad campaigns that you ask most people about from the last 10 years, they'll tell you Bud Light, Dos Equis, Snickers, Doritos, Skittles—like all junk food and alcohol. That's the funniest, most memorable kind of youth culture, owning energy drinks like Red Bull. That's like the most...

Shaan Puri

let's not leave old spice out

Mike Cessario

Well, it's not really a poodle beverage, but yes. It's like all the junk food and alcohol that does all the funniest, coolest youth culture marketing. Whereas healthy food is traditionally marketed to moms. It's quiet and responsible, or it's like "look better" with fitness models drinking bottles of water. It's a very different approach. They don't use fun to market. Whereas unhealthy beverages, stuff like that, they want to own fun. So we're basically doing that with water. We want to take the healthiest thing you can drink, which most people don't drink enough of, and brand it. We aim to build a cool image around it, where you feel totally comfortable drinking Liquid Death in a bar, at a house party, at a music festival, at work, or in the gym. We're just making it more fun to walk around and have a drink.

Sam Parr

And then he definitely made headlines when he raised all that money because everyone was like, "This is such a silly idea," and they raised all this money. I did... it's a stupid reason. I mean, it seemed like an awesome company and totally worthy of going big, but so it kinda worked, right? Like, you definitely ruffled some feathers, and I think that's good.

Mike Cessario

No, yeah, I think, you know, I always bring up... I listen to the Reid Hoffman podcast a lot.

Sam Parr

master of scale

Mike Cessario

Master of Scale... Yeah, and it's like, I love that he always pushes. He's like, "Truly innovative ideas are almost comical at first." Because if it seems like it makes a lot of sense right now, it probably means there are four other companies that have been working on it for five years already. It's like the things that are truly unique and innovative almost don't make any sense at first or seem laughable. I think that's kind of the case with Liquid Death. We're really trying to disrupt the category in a way that's not just disruption for the sake of disruption. You know, I think we strongly believe that, and I don't think it's something hard to understand in a category where almost all the products themselves are perceived as the same. People aren't assuming, "I only drink Fiji because it's got 0.75 more electrolytes than Smart Water, which has 0.5." The pH is 7.7; it says 7. No, it's like most people assume water is the same. It's more of a brand play. We believe if we can make you laugh, we have a way better chance of you giving us your $1.69 than the faceless brand next to us who's trying to shout at you about electrolytes. I'll let you know, they're like, "Guys, this all seems like snake oil to me." I feel like there are real human beings behind Liquid Death that I'd want to have a beer with, so I'd rather give you my $1.69.

Shaan Puri

And let's talk a little bit about the form factor. So, it's a tall can, is what I've seen. Are there other form factors, or no?

Mike Cessario

no it's just a tall can

Shaan Puri

The tall can, which is cool. The branding of it is sort of like, you know, almost like heavy metal or punk rock. How do you describe it?

Mike Cessario

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, you would say we're like an alternative punk metal-inspired design and vibe. I think the way I like to think about our brand is like we're a professional wrestler. It's all theater and fun, and no one thinks it's trying to be real. No one thinks the Undertaker is really an evil guy from the dead who likes metal. No, it's a character, and it's fun to have a character. Yeah, and that's kind of how we think about it. We're just playing this fun... sorry, a second... we're just playing this fun character.

Shaan Puri

it's fun to choose to believe

Mike Cessario

that yeah yeah

Shaan Puri

That this is what it is and not take it too seriously. You're right, like, you know, if you're at a bar or a music festival and you choose water, you feel like you're opting out of the fun. In fact, they'll sort of make you feel that way. You'll get the small, plastic, rinky-dink cup with a baby straw, right? Versus if you ordered an alcoholic drink or something else.

Sam Parr

It's kind of that... that's actually good. I mean, I don't drink and I still go to bars. I always felt like a... I used to order a Sprite with lime in it because I was like, "I don't want to make..."

Shaan Puri

it gin and tonic

Sam Parr

Yeah, I'm like, I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable. So I'll just, even though I don't like to drink soda, I'll drink it anyway. I don't want to have an O'Doul's because I'm like, then everyone's just going to notice, and it's just going to come up. So it's a great alternative to that.

Shaan Puri

and so mike I'm curious where does this idea come from

Mike Cessario

so I think this was really just like a culmination of all my passions and experience sort of like converged into 1 you know it's like I grew up in high school playing in punk rock and metal bands and skateboarding and you know I would do all of the show flyers and album art and stuff for our bands which kinda got like the entrepreneurial probably side of things because like you know we're booking shows and we're selling merch and like we're pressing records and doing all that kind of stuff then I got into a career of like graphic design which led into advertising so then I was like an advertising creative director for a long time and I worked on big brands like nestle and toyota and volkswagen and naked juice and all this kind of stuff so I I think I got a good sense of where I think big companies screw up I guess like where I think they're shortsighted like I can't tell you how many boardrooms I've been in and where I'm trying to convince people that social media isn't some like niche little thing you add on to your business like it is the internet when you say I'm going on the internet 9 times out of 10 you're going on social media yeah you know and it's like I think a lot of brands are just way behind the ball to understand what it really takes to be successful in the social environment like your little social posts aren't just competing against other beverages you're competing against influencers who are uncensored and can do great easy off the wall stuff you're you're competing against everything awesome on the internet when you're scrolling through your feed that's what your marketing is competing against so when you really think about it that way do you really think your little ad that seems like a typical beverage thing is gonna actually stand out in someone's quick scrolling feed amongst all this other amazing stuff probably not so I think the bar for what stuff needs to be is way higher and I think that's what I built liquid death around like we think about marketing like entertainment I don't ever want to put something in your feed that feels like marketing I wanted to feel like actual entertainment that made you laugh or it was the funniest thing that you maybe saw that morning that you wanna share with your friends or whatever that like we're never just sticking marketing in your face like it's always gonna entertain you or it's gonna do something of value that it gives you

Sam Parr

I've got a question I've got a question

Shaan Puri

I'm looking at their Facebook ads right now, and what you're saying is true. So, here are the two ads I see. I wish I could show this through a podcast; I'm going to describe it to your ears. The first ad features a giant can of Liquid Death in front of a mountain, and it says, "This is dumb, don't buy this." The second ad is a bit more complex. It's like the mountain from *Game of Thrones*, but instead of his head, there is a can of Liquid Death erupting from it. He has a muscular body and is standing in a grocery store aisle, holding an axe. The text says, "Liquid Death is available nationwide in Whole Foods."

Sam Parr

So, I’m gonna... I wanna ask a question about that. But first, is there any indication? Is there anything you can give me that shows, or the listeners, how big this business is? Like, what size you guys are?

Shaan Puri

yeah why should we why should we care about what you say

Sam Parr

is this working or not I want you to like impress people

Mike Cessario

Yeah, I mean, I can't get into specific sales numbers, but since we launched nationally in Whole Foods, we basically launched the day the pandemic started. We went into Whole Foods on March 15th, and even though we've been in a pandemic where they've had like an 80% decrease in store traffic and everything else going on, we've had insane growth in Whole Foods. We're now the fastest growing water brand in Whole Foods, right?

Sam Parr

and you've raised like how much money to make this 9 10 10

Mike Cessario

We have raised a grand total of $10,000 since the very beginning of everything. I think we've raised around $12,000 total right now.

Sam Parr

So great! Okay, so we kind of have an idea a little bit about sizing. When you were looking at this business and what to start, was that your perspective? What is something that, I mean, it sounds like you're into health and that type of stuff. What is something that is good for you but has poor marketing? And how can I build a business around that? Was that your perspective?

Mike Cessario

In a nutshell, I think it really came from, you know, when I grew up playing in punk bands and metal bands and stuff like that. I was still, and a lot of my friends in that world were very much into health. Like, I was a vegetarian at age 16. A lot of my friends in that scene were even vegan. Many of them, you know, didn't drink alcohol. I do, and I don't. I think that's one thing that we've been misbranded about: Liquid Death. It's water for the straight edge crowd. That is not what we're trying to do. I think it's something that's been adopted by them for the reasons of, yeah, it is more fun to walk around in a bar if you don't want to drink than something like this. But I think another thing that the health food industry does, that I don't think we want to do, is we don't want to be preachy to people. We don't want to say, "You should be doing this," and "You shouldn't be drinking this," and "You shouldn't be doing that." We're like, "Hey, you want to go rip some shots in a bar? Fine! But maybe take a break and have a water for an hour." You know? Or like, "Hey, you want to smoke weed or whatever? It's great! Maybe hydrate while you're doing it."

Shaan Puri

know right

Mike Cessario

Even if, like, "Hey, you wanna go buy a Monster Energy drink or whatever?" Great! Maybe buy a water too and have a water after you just pound a bunch of sugar and caffeine.

Shaan Puri

That's the good news! Anybody who adopts any lifestyle also drinks water. So, you can compare it to any lifestyle that you want. It sounds like you guys are trying to do that.