Liquid Death: The Epitome of Killer Branding

Liquid Death, the canned water pioneer that has recently been valued at $700M just three years after launching, became a sensational brand even before the product was put together, owing to its unconventional and eccentric branding. 

You would not be able to guess that a brand named Liquid Death with a punk-rock personality would be selling water in a tall can to fight the woes of plastic pollution, and you cannot be blamed for it. The skull illustration and grunge-inspired typeface doesn't exactly scream water, but it does scream intriguing. 

The Mastermind, Mike Cessario, co-founder and CEO of Liquid Death, was all in on the idea of branding his product, which was basically just water, as bold, brave, and bewildering meanwhile also promoting a social cause- reducing plastic pollution.  

However, he did test the waters before jumping in.  

Even before they put together a physical product, the team designed a 3-D rendering of a Liquid Death and created a Facebook Page, and run a promotional ad to see if his idea would appeal to the masses, considering its eccentricity. And it did. Within 4 months their video had over three million views and their page had managed to entice 80,000 followers. That's all the team needed to dive head-first into what seemed like an obnoxious idea to many critics.  

Cessario came up with the concept of Liquid Death while he was at the wrapped tour and noticed the band members had cans of Monster Energy, an event sponsor, filled with Tour Water. That's when it hit him. Water in tall cans that would be cool enough for everyone, even funky musicians, to carry around in the scorching heat. 

How did a brand that sells water manage to stand out and become a sensation?  

It was designed to do so. That's why.  

Conventionally, you start imagining a brand that would sell water, and you immediately visualize streams flowing through the Himalayas, nature, birds, saints, and people who've unraveled the hidden truths of life. And then there's Liquid Death with a skull illustration and a metal/grunge-inspired typeface advocating environmentally conscious hydration. The brand changed the conversation and its edge is the unique approach to the underlying challenge of plastic pollution, the communication that is far from stereotypical for a water brand, the attention-seeking design, and the consistency of it all across all channels.   

Selling water in an aluminum tall can to fight pollution is one way to promote a cause but to brand it by making bold designs and statements like "Murder your Thirst", or "Death to Plastic", is what makes it a prodigy. You would mistake it for an energy drink, or an alcoholic beverage. Anything but water, and that is what it is all about. It makes drinking water feel like a cool thing. 

 
From its social media creatives to its website to OOH to every design and word Liquid Death puts out, the creativity and consistency is unmistakable. It is a brand that sells water from the Austrian Alps, promotes hydration, and is on a mission to eradicate plastic pollution, and it does it in the most aggressive way possible. Water that gives you an adrenalline rush. 

Not only did the brand nail its branding but also its positioning by identifying the gap in the market and realizing the threat of plastic bottles of water and the need for an alternative, aluminum cans. But that wouldn't be enough to get attention unless the cans were designed to be irresistible. The product is designed to ensure that it catches the eye of whoever even looks slightly in its direction. That’s all it takes, curiosity, to sell the first product, and the storyline to gain a customer for life.  

“We saw that all the unhealthy brands in the world of marketing were doing all the coolest, funniest, most irreverent marketing,” said Cessario. “So we thought it would be interesting to take the healthiest thing you could possibly drink, which is water, and one-up the marketing of all the unhealthy stuff.”  

Founded in 2017, Liquid Death offers a selection of still and sparkling water packaged in aluminum cans. Products are sold in 60,000 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, 7-Eleven, Sprouts, Publix, Sheetz, and others. The brand is the top-selling still water and second top-selling sparkling water on Amazon.com. Additionally, Liquid Death has also launched its merchandising line, a club of its own, and endeavors to make it possible for the public to own a share of Liquid Death in the coming times. So much for selling water in a can.  

That is the power of an original idea, it can help you become the best seller of a universal product. That's what branding and design are all about. Selling a product by creating a story and giving it an angle of your own, addressing real challenges, and giving people a solution in the most interesting way.  

People need to buy the story, and the product will sell itself. 
 
To think of an idea that is far from conventional is one thing, but to act upon it and turn it into a paradigm is another thing altogether. Had Cessario let the critics pour cold water on his plans, Liquid Death would've evaporated into thin air.  

 Have you ever thought of an idea that you abandoned because it seemed too far-fetched or irrational to act upon, or because people said it was? Would you want to revisit it?