If the bottled water industry is the king of marketing, Liquid Death is Tutankhamen.
If you’re not American, this could be the first time you’ve heard of Liquid Death. I only know about them because I listen to marketing podcasts for fun. So cool.
Liquid Death is a water brand that acts like a beer brand. While other mineral water companies are all wellness, relaxation and health, Liquid Death is intense and chaotic and colourful. It stands for something. And it makes sure you pay attention.
It’s time to stop going with the flow. Get inspired by Liquid Death and make a splash in your industry. Even if it’s dull AF.
Death to boring website copy
“DON’T BE SCARED. IT’S JUST WATER.”
Liquid Death’s hero copy is the polar opposite of that of other water brands.
Evian - “Water the way nature intended.”
FIJI Water - “Earth’s finest water”
Volvic - “Exceptionally pure, uniquely mineralised”
“DON’T BE SCARED. IT’S JUST WATER” sits next to a video montage. Nope - it’s not glistening waterfalls and flowing streams. It’s people shotgunning cans of Liquid Death, people jumping off cliffs holding the drink, and some weird inflatable spiky man thing dancing with a can.
It gives energy drink vibes. It gives beer vibes. And those vibes match the fact that this mineral water comes in a can instead of a plastic (earth-polluting) bottle. But we’ll get to that later.
CTAs with impact
The CTAs across the Liquid Death site veer way off the beaten path.
They sound like this:
- HELL YES!
- STALK US ON SOCIAL
- SELL YOUR SOUL FOR A FREE SHIRT
- SUMMON US
It’s these little details that give your website its feel. Liquid Death’s feels hardcore and confident - there’s a hellish, rock band theme at every turn. They don’t just call their stockists “stockists”; they call them “Death Peddlers”. How much better is that?!
The ‘about’ page - short & sweet & v v sticky
Babbling on in your ‘about’ page about your awards and the date you founded your business and how much of a superstar you are? Make sure your audience wants to hear it first.
Liquid Death’s ‘about’ page is the shortest I’ve ever seen. It’s three lines long.
As a B2C company, the brand knows what its customers care about. And that’s aligning themselves to cool companies that stand for something. They keep the whole thing personal by opening the conversation to the user with “tell us about you”.
This is how you get to know your audience.
A ‘careers’ page that isn’t a carbon copy of every other careers page
Imagine that! No list of benefits that aren’t really benefits. “We give you the minimum amount of holidays we’re legally allowed to, some mouldy apples, and we call ourselves a family so you’ll work extra hours without moaning about it.”
Bullet-proof values
Liquid Death walks the walk. It isn’t just weird for the sake of being weird. Its branding is more aligned with the beer industry than the water industry because it’s sold in aluminium cans, not plastic.
They’re on a mission to kill plastic pollution. And in 2022, sustainability gets consumers all turned on.
Aside from using aluminium because it’s infinitely recyclable, Liquid Death created these creepy collectables made from single-use plastic. They’re called Cutie Polluties.
Side note: Not only does aluminium not kill the turtles, but it makes the water feel colder, too. Science, bitch.
When marketing doesn’t feel like marketing
From their kooky collaboration with Martha Stewart, to an actual album available on Spotify, Liquid Death goes far beyond your standard boring funnel. SEO, social ads and PPC campaigns? Zzz. How else can you get the world hyped up about your product? And beyond the product… get them hyped about the experience and lifestyle you offer.
The brand’s Spotify album is called ‘Greatest Hates’. It includes songs like ‘Fire Your Marketing Guy’, ‘I Thought This Was Alcohol’ and ‘Dumbest Name Ever for Water’.
Just been to Spotify to check it out? Welcome to the fan club.
