Liquid Death is the fastest-growing beverage of all time.

In 2022:

• Valued at $700 million
• $130 million in revenue
• Sold one product: water in a beer can

The founder, Mike Cessario, recently gave a masterclass on building a brand.

I broke down the lessons for you:

Your brand is your moat.

To truly own something, it is hard.

Big companies think they differentiate because of unique ingredients, but those can be easily replicated.

Your brand is your unique tone of voice & marketing style.

It is the thing that other people can't replicate.

Don't be afraid to be different.

Liquid Death is a unique brand that sells water in a beer can, a concept that many early VCs didn't understand.

If there are people who truly love something, there will also be people who truly hate it.

Don't be afraid to polarize your audience

Focus on emotion, not just logic.

Strong brands mean more to people than just the product itself.

Liquid Death gives people a feeling of rebellion, and the brand's marketing is all about entertainment rather than just the functional benefit of hydration.

Creativity is key, but so is execution.

Idea generation is important, but execution is everything.

Liquid Death thinks about its marketing team as being like SNL, with professional writers and comedians that are writing skits.

Embrace criticism and use it to improve.

Take a step back and look at everything in context when faced with criticism.

Most people aren't commenting - only the extremes - so don't put too much stock in the people that disagree.

Marketing is not storytelling.

Marketing is communication.

You want people to have a feeling.

Liquid Death makes fun of marketing, creating parodies and not taking themselves too seriously.

They want people to have a takeaway that's beyond simply "I should hydrate."

Keep it simple and efficient.

Liquid Death's success is due in part to its simplicity and efficiency.

They sell one product - water in a beer can - and rely on their strong creative team to execute ideas.

They rarely make big bets and can film content with an iPhone.

Know what you're measuring.

Out of 1000 ideas, 998 are bad, but you have to know what you're measuring to know whether an idea is good or not.

They measure their success by their brand's emotional connection to the audience rather than just their product's functional benefits.

That's a wrap!

8 lessons Mike gave in his masterclass:

1. brand = your moat
2. Brands are emotional, not rational
3. Focus on your differentiation
4. Don't please everyone
5. Experiment fearlessly
6. Keep it simple and efficient
7. Create memorable content
8. Criticism is OK

If you want the full masterclass, you can listen to the full discussion between @HarryStebbings & the founder of @LiquidDeath, @Cessario below:

open.spotify.com/episode/0RND91RVZNDRLZDgM8K8OV

And if you're a fan of Liquid Death, you'll enjoy the vibe of Andy's Newsletter with 9k+ other people:

andysnewsletter.com