‍Early Life and Inspiration

Mike Cessario was born and raised in Pennsylvania where he grew up with collections of Mad magazine, a comic magazine. These comics were the early inspiration that led Cessario to become interested in design. In high school, Cessario became a huge rock fan and played the guitar in a punk rock band. Despite being great at the guitar, he eventually decided to pursue a career in design. In 2008, he graduated from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena with a graphic design and advertising degree and began his career.

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The Seed of an Idea

In 2008, the initial seed was planted in his mind when his friend got him backstage for the Warped Tour in Denver. At the time, only energy drink companies such as Monster would sponsor bands and so the sponsored performers had to be seen drinking the beverage on stage.

However, most rock band members preferred water over energy drinks and would simply replace the drink contents in the can with water. This got Cessario thinking about why most healthy products have irrelevant and lame branding. He began to think about how to create a cool water brand that bands could drink while performing. 

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Advertising Career and Netflix Campaigns

Despite the idea, Cessario never ended up pursuing it and continued working in the advertising industry for many years. On his Linkedin, he describes his role as an Advertising Creative for “Lots of Agencies” which includes Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Vayner Media, Humanaut, Doner LA, Street League Skateboarding, and Eleven SF. During his time with these marketing agencies, Cessario got to work on multiple viral campaigns for Netflix series such as “House of Cards”, “Stranger Things”, and “Narcos”. In 2014, Cessario was working on an ad campaign about the negative effects of energy drinks and suggested the idea of selling canned water to add a satirical twist to these sugary drinks. Despite the client not liking it, Cessario kept working on the idea in his free time. 

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Birth of Liquid Death

In 2017, Cessario finalized the idea of an edgy, funny, and cool canned water brand and started the company with 3 other partners, including a bartender and an artist. The final piece of the puzzle was the name and Cessario wanted something “insanely interesting” in order to compete against the other big water brands. Cessario used the marketing trick of thinking of the dumbest possible idea for a name of a healthy, safe beverage, and eventually landed on “Liquid Death”. Cessario felt that he was onto something and trademarked it. 

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‍Viral Marketing Success

Using his experience from working on several viral promotions, Cessario decided to create the first Liquid Death commercial with only $1.5k for production costs and $3k for Facebook ads. Within 3 months of the commercial launch, Liquid Death had more followers than Aquafina and the ad had garnered over 3 million views. 

After seeing the amount of interest on social media, Cessario pitched his idea for 2 years to a handful of investors. In 2019, he received $1.6 million in seed funding from Science Ventures and other investors such as Michael Dubin, the founder of Dollar Shave Club. Cessario launched Liquid Death in the same year and kept up with the idea of viral marketing. 

“I don’t know what other water brands spend, but we’re not going to have Coca-Cola or Pepsi-like budgets to spend. We don’t have $300 million to throw at something, so every piece of marketing that we make has to be interesting or entertaining so that people organically spread it.”

Some of these marketing promotions include celebrity endorsements such as Tony Hawk who teamed up with them to sell 150 skateboard decks embedded with some of his blood. Other gimmicks included Cessario tattooing the face of a loyal consumer on his arm and creating a heavy metal album inspired by hate comments. In addition to marketing, Liquid Death expanded to stores across the US and started selling on Amazon. On Amazon, Liquid Death became the top-selling water and the second-best-selling sparkling water. These decisions helped the company grow from revenues starting at $2.9 million in 2020 to $45 million in 2021 to $130 million in 2022. 

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Controversies and Ethical Concerns

Despite its successful marketing, Liquid Death has faced quite a few controversies due to its wild and unpredictable promotions. Its marketing campaigns have been known to be edgy and provocative which has sometimes led to backlash. For example, one of their ads featured an animation of a man being dismembered. They also often partner with controversial, yet popular figures in the industry such as comedians like Bert Kreischer and Steve-O. Additionally, others have found disdain for the company’s off-putting name and cans designed to look like beers. However, Liquid Death’s strategy is meant to be shocking and this perfectly aligns with its target audience of Millenials and Gen Z. Liquid Death understands its young audience so well that none of its ads and tactics feel “cringey” or manufactured, which displays their marketing genius. Liquid Death has even stated that its brand is more sustainable for the environment due to the use of aluminum cans instead of plastic bottles, as aluminum is more recyclable.

With Science Ventures leading its latest round of funding of $70 million in October 2022, Liquid Ventures is now valued at $700 million. To date, they have raised $195 million and speculations are floating around that they are expecting an IPO in 2024 with the recent hire of Goldman Sachs. 

Liquid Death's punk rock-inspired journey showcases the power of innovative marketing and understanding its audience. Mike Cessario's edgy approach fueled growth, yet controversies arose, sparking ethical concerns. While an IPO may tempt investors, scrutiny of the brand's marketing tactics and sustainability is essential. As Liquid Death disrupts the beverage industry, finding a balance between rebellion and responsibility will be crucial for its future success.

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