marketing teardown: 💦💀 liquid death

hey, marketer! 

the age-old question that every marketer loathes: “does marketing work?”

liquid death is a case study on the power of marketing – they literally sell water, but they added powerful branding into the mix and are now a household name.

but I’m lasering in on a marketing campaign liquid death did particularly well: “better than back sweat?” 

this type of ad is called “badvertising” or “reverse testimonial” advertising.

brand in the hot seat: 💦💀 liquid death

today's treasure trove

• who is liquid death?

• liquid death’s branding

• liquid death’s “badvertising”

• why this badvertising campaign worked

who is liquid death?

quick stats:

• youtube – 44.7k followers, 141 videos

• instagram – 4m followers

• facebook – 314k followers

• x/twitter – 52k followers

• tiktok – 6.2m followers

• monthly website traffic – 700k

a creative director asked himself, “what commodity product can I sell completely on marketing?”

and liquid death was born. 

the heavy-metal canned water company started in 2019 has gone to a $1b valuation in 5 years through branding and packaging.

but hey, you’re a marketer – you know liquid death’s meteoric rise and have probably read countless case studies and listened to a multitude of podcasts.

so, I’m gonna do a quick overview of their branding and focus on their “badvertising” campaign.

liquid death’s branding

liquid death’s branding is a metalhead’s dream wrapped in a tallboy. 

with the tagline "murder your thirst," this is no dainty sipper for yoga moms. instead, it's a hardcore rebellion against boring hydration, where a skull-crushing can of mountain water gleefully mocks the soft, delicate world of bottled water marketing. 

liquid death’s edgy, irreverent tone dares you to crack open a can and chug like you’re at a rock concert, all while being eco-friendly. 

if liquid death’s branding and marketing can be summed up in one word, it’d be “opposite.”

they do the opposite of what other water companies do at almost every turn:

• big bottled water brands are elegant, liquid death is heavy metal, ugly, and in-your-face

• big bottled water is blue, liquid death’s cans are black and gold, with their logo being pink

• big bottled water has see-through plastic bottles so buyers can see how clear the water is, liquid death comes in an opaque can

to stand out, they bucked the trends – severely.

I mean, just check out their mascot on the homepage.

liquid death’s “badvertising”

“badvertising” or “reverse testimonials” means using a brand’s one-star reviews in marketing campaigns to create brand affinity in a self-aware, self-deprecating, and entertaining way.

one of my favorite examples was actually pulled off by a cafe here in austin, tx. the coffee shop was well-regarded in the coffee community, often considered one of the best in the city. 

they got a one-star review on yelp that simple stated: “gross.”

the shop took and screenshot and posted it to their instagram account with the enticing caption: “what do you think?”

fans and followers of the cafe quickly took up proverbial arms coming in to defend the cafe. It worked like gangbusters.

liquid death takes this a step further by creating an “actual” study based on a review reading “I'd rather lick sweat of a fat guy's back than drink liquid death.” the review was shown in the campaign with the name blurred out – so was this random internet troll even real?

well, let’s not let the truth get in the way of a good story.

thus, this video was born.

but it’s not just their super viral videos, they know how to take this badvertising approach and put into a static ad, too (this one was posted at Funny Ads Club).

most companies try to hide or brush off their bad reviews – but again, liquid death did the opposite.

why this badvertising campaign worked

don’t think that any brand can do this though. to successfully pull it off, your brand needs to:

• be inarguably high quality or have a strong brand

• and have a fanatical fan base

this campaign worked for the cafe because they’re high quality, but it worked for a commodity like canned water because liquid death has a strong brand – and both have fanaticall fan bases.

in the cafe example, the review could be picked apart and shot down because it was extremely vague. if the reviewer had mentioned that the service was bad or the espresso was under-extracted, no one could argue against that one person’s unique experience.

in liquid death’s campaign, they used a review that created a hilarious, gross-out image: drinking back sweat. their campaign also set the stage that if you watch this video, you’ll see people actually drink back sweat ( 🤢). 

what a disgusting payoff.

even if you’ve never tried liquid death, the video and testimonial is sooo enticing.

wrap up

liquid death has jumped into being a major player in almost no time by doing the opposite of the legacy brands with a commodity product they knew they could power with a brilliant marketing engine.

their “badvertising” is some of the best – they make these campaigns entertaining and, as with most of their marketing, add some shock value.

what would a “badvertising” campaign look like for your brand? 

I hope you learned something new and enjoyed this deep dive on liquid death (check out other deep dives here)

✌️,

tom from marketer gems