How Liquid Death Used Ambassador Programs to Make Canned Water Cool Among GenZs

Liquid Death is the ultimate success story of a beverage brand that dared to be different. The brand's founder, Mike Cessario, saw a gap in the market for a healthy beverage that wasn't just boring old water. He wanted to bring the attitude of punk rock and heavy metal to the world of hydration, and that's exactly what he did.

When Liquid Death first launched in 2017, it had a marketing budget of only $4,500 and a Facebook video that went viral. With 80,000 followers and 3 million views, it was clear that something big was happening. The brand approached investors and quickly became the fastest-growing non-alcoholic beverage company in the world.

Now, Liquid Death is the most-followed beverage brand on TikTok, with over 3.2M followers, 15M+ likes, and 21B social media impressions. The latest round of funding increased their valuation to $700 Million, and they’re projecting $130 Million in revenue this year. That’s +188% from 2022!

In this blog, we will see how they tapped into ambassador programs, creators, and influencers to reach this level of popularity and success.

A Look into Liquid Death's 'Killer' Ambassador Program

Liquid Death partners with 3 types of ambassadors — students, creators, and celebrities.

1.  Student Ambassadors

It's no secret that Liquid Death's target audience is young adults aged 18-25. This is why partnering with students on college campuses makes perfect sense for the brand.  So what better place than on college campuses?

College students are the ultimate influencers among their peers, and the brand can leverage this to keep the product top of mind. Liquid Death can also tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing because college campuses are like small cities, where one good word can spread faster than a viral TikTok video. Students are always looking for new and exciting products to try, and by working with them, Liquid Death can ensure that their product is at the top of students’ minds.

Here's a post for recruiting student ambassadors that we found online. The main responsibility of the Student Ambassador is to drive awareness and trial of Liquid Death on campus through planning and executing product drops at Greek houses, clubs, sporting events, or other on-campus social activities. Ambassadors also work closely with the local Field Sales team with on-premise product seeding, sampling, and on-premise relationship building.

2.  Social Media Creators

Liquid Death is always on the lookout for unique and talented creators, be it skydivers, skateboarders, or entertainers who have a creative edge. They partner with these creators to create exciting and adventurous videos that have the potential to go viral on social media.

One great example of this is the partnership with a professional 'taco critic' to create a funny Instagram video.

From the videos created, it's clear that there's no strict brief or script given. Each video is different from the others and doesn't have a hard sell at the end, creators just organically integrate Liquid Death’s cans in the content.

This makes the post look less sales-y and builds brand awareness. After all, when it comes to water, there's not much to sell. It's just water in a can. So, it's important to build a strong brand identity on social media to connect with the customers rather than just drive sales.

3.  Celebrity Ambassadors

And the third type of ambassadors that Liquid Death partners with are celebrity brand ambassadors like Steve O, Whiz Khalifa, or Tony Hawks. These celebrities not only bring their fame and popularity to the table but are also onboard to try unique campaign ideas.

And the best part? They are also investors in the brand, which not only saves costs but also adds authenticity to the endorsement. When a celebrity believes in a brand enough to invest their money in it, it speaks volumes about the brand's quality and appeal. These partnerships help to generate a buzz and attract attention, creating viral campaigns that can reach a wider audience and boost the brand's visibility.

One such partnership was with Tony Hawk, the professional skateboarder and founder of the skateboard company Birdhouse Skateboards. Together they launched a limited-edition Bloods skateboard designed by Tony Hawk himself. The interesting part was that every skateboard was painted with a red color that was created by taking a vial of Hawk’s actual blood and mixing it with red paint, making sure there was a piece of Hawk DNA in every one of the 100 boards.

“We always take the approach of making entertainment over marketing,” says Any Pearson, the VP of Creative at Liquid Death, in an interview with Fast Company.

“Celebrity endorsements usually feel like marketing because who knows if they really like the product. With Tony, we knew he loved Liquid Death, so we made him put his money where his mouth is and pony up his own blood for us.”

Liquid Death took the smart approach here. They could’ve paid these celebrities thousands of dollars for a post. But they didn’t. They instead got them to invest money in the brand, and now they get promoted perpetually in return.

Reposting content & fueling the community of creators

The brand also has a clever strategy of reposting content from its creators regularly. This has multiple benefits for both the brand and the creators.

Creators get recognized in front of an audience of millions, which helps them grow their following and get noticed. The brand gets additional content for its social media without investing in shooting new content. It also lends credibility to the brand when people see popular accounts being associated with it.

Entertaining content that makes people notice them

Liquid Death Has a unique approach to influencer marketing and branding that reflects the philosophy of creating entertaining content. “Marketing doesn’t work the way it used to,’’ Cessario said in an interview. “You have to create something that’s actually funny, actually interesting—something people haven’t seen before.”

This is evident in their branding, social media, and website, as well as in their approach to content from influencer marketing or ambassador programs.

Liquid Death's Manifesto

The brand sponsors punk and metal tours and creates quirky, viral campaigns with celebrity ambassadors. One of the most surprising examples of celebrity collaboration was with TV personality and former jailbird Martha Stewart for Halloween. They launched a $58 scented candle called Dismembered Moments, which takes the shape of a life-sized severed hand holding a can of Liquid Death Mountain Water. These strategies help them to stand out in the crowded market and appeal to their target audience.

Martha Stewart X Liquid Death Candle

By marketing water in a way that's never been done before, they tapped into the Von Restorff effect, that psychological quirk that makes us remember the things that stand out from the crowd

Entertaining skate-boarding video by a creator for Liquid Death

Takeaways for your brand

• Diversify your ambassador program beyond social media by recruiting offline ambassadors who are plugged into a network of your customers.

• Utilize unique and talented creators to create viral content that aligns with the brand's identity. Partner with unique and talented creators such as skydivers, skateboarders, or entertainers to create one-off videos that have the potential to go viral on social media.

• If your brand appeals to a young audience, partnering with college students on campuses is a great way to tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing and keep the product top of mind.

• If you’re a smaller brand that can’t afford the fees of bigger influencers, consider an Equity Incentive Model (link to the creator offers blog), which involves sharing a small % of your company with them for permanent ambassadorship!

• Repost creator content on the brand's social media channels to maximize the impact of your and your ambassadors’ efforts

Next Steps

In conclusion, Liquid Death's success story teaches DTC brands that to stand out in a crowded market, you have to be bold, different, and a little bit crazy.

By utilizing the Halo Effect and tapping into the cultural zeitgeist with students, creators, and celebrity partnerships, they made sipping water out of a can "cool."

But creating entertaining content is not just about making something funny, it's about creating something that people haven't seen before. It's about standing out, being different, and tapping into the psychological quirks that make people remember the unusual. That's where partnering with different creators comes into the picture.

However, it's easy to get lost in all the tips, tricks, and noise you get in the influencer marketing space. That's why we recommend subscribing to our newsletter, No BS Influencer Letter —  for all things influencer marketing, providing valuable insights, case studies, and actionable strategies that will help you cut through the noise and make your brand stand out.

Whether you're about to launch an influencer marketing program or have already started, make sure to sign up for No BS Influencer and stay ahead of the game in the ever-evolving world of influencer marketing.

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