How Liquid Death Generated Half a Billion in Sales By Doing Everything Wrong

Sometimes Going Against the Grain Works Beautifully

For over 20 years, I've worked with Fortune 500 companies and startups to help them build better customer engagement, acquisition and retention strategies. Every issue of Backstage Pass pulls back the curtain and shares what I've learned, and teaches you how to apply these same concepts to grow your own Substack into a sustainable business.

One of the common themes we cover here is understanding your customers. Part of that comes from being willing to look at the marketplace with fresh eyes. This helps you see opportunities that other companies either haven't noticed, or haven't capitalized on.

One emerging brand that has done an amazing job of creating stellar branding in a 'boring' space is Liquid Death. Earlier this year, CEO Mike Cessario made an amazing claim: Liquid Death is on pace to have half a billion in retail sales in 2024.

Of canned water.

The Liquid Death story will be relevant to many of us here. The CEO, Mike Cessario built the brand with very little resources, competing against some of the largest brands in the world, like Coke and Pepsi.

This extreme financial and business disadvantage forced Cessario and his team to hunt for unique ways to position and grow the brand. Here's 10 takeaways from Liquid Death's branding success that you can learn from: