Jessica Bailey Hudgeons
Dr. Vrooman
Social Media & Society
May 1st, 2022
LIQUID DEATH
Introduction-
Social media phenomena are in every corner that you turn. From shock factors, to drop dates, to just run of the mill advertising companies have discovered just about every way to market anything on Instagram. Companies like Liquid Death use a strategy that goes against cultural normality to give their product an edge on other competitors. Many other companies can be seen doing this as well such as Netflix, Casper Mattress and Patagonia all take different approaches to the regular marketing style and millennials love it. Liquid Death almost takes this approach to the extreme but their Death to Plastic Campaign is value driven and has been very effective marketing strategy for them to use on millennials.
Finding ways to target millennials in marketing campaigns has been a task that very few companies have been able to achieve. Netflix has been able to do this by creating a way to watch movies and shows on demand while avoiding the excessive mark ups at movie theaters. Casper Mattress has effectively taken out the middleman and sells their mattresses directly to their consumers. Patagonia tugs on your feelings and donates a huge percentage of their profits to the national parks and other societies. Liquid Death is creating a movement to provide death to plastic and the social norms surrounding how to sell water. All these companies use a unique marketing strategy to provide a purpose in buying their products while the consumer is also getting the most bang for their buck. “By emphasizing their social responsibility and associating themselves with a good cause, firms create shared value that has attracted marketer’s attention” especially millennials (Baek et. al, 1320).
Literature Review-
“Millennial Consumers’ Perception of Sportswear Brand Globalness Impacts Purchase Intention in Cause-Related Product Marketing”
This academic journal aims to find the relationship between college aged millennials and how they decide who to buy their products from. “Today’s business organizations wish to build synergy between business and philanthropic acts because public concern over social and ecological issued has gradually grown” (Baek et. al, 1320). The authors speculate that there is a direct correlation between “millennials perception of brand globalness, brand- cause fit, firm motive, and their purchase intention towards” cause related marketing products (Baek et. al, 1320). “There is a growing body of literature in which findings suggest that CRM (cause-related marketing) improves the value of a firm’s brand equity, including brand image (Becker-Olsen, Taylor, Hill, & Yalcinkaya, 2011), brand attitude (Lafferty, Goldsmith, & Hult, 2004), and purchase intention of consumers (Barone, Miyazaki, & Taylor, 200)” (Baek et. al, 1320). Brand-cause fit is in relation to how the consumers think that the philanthropic organization fits with the company, and this has been shown to positively increase a company’s sales. Firm motive is how consumers view the reason behind a company’s CRM campaign and if it is socially motivated and not economically motivated, they are more likely to purchase the product.
The researchers chose to specifically look at the sportswear industry in South Korea. In order to analyze how well this marketing strategy works on millennials they created a pretest to decide which global sportwear brand to test on these college students. In the pretest they selected 50 students and presented them with a survey to test which sportswear brand they all recognize as a “global brand,” the end result was Nike. Once they determined their target brand, they devised a survey based off of the mall intercept method to conduct their research. The students were asked to take a look at the press release from Nike about their campaign with the fight for Aids called Red that Nike had previously implemented. After reading the press release, they were asked to fill out a self-administered survey that measured the participants perception of brand globalness, brand- cause fit, firm motive and their purchase intention. Translation of their responses was conducted using the back translation method to avoid any miscommunications with the results of the surveys. Once the results were inputted into a chart, they were compared using the structural equation modeling (SEM) to compare the results to their hypothesis. Once inputted all 5 of their hypothesis’ were supported. Hypothesis one stated that “Millennials’ perceived sportswear brand globalness will have a positive effect on their brand- cause fit perception in CRM” (Baek et. al, 1323). Hypothesis two stated that “Millennials’ perceived sportswear brand globalness will have a positive effect on their firm motive perception in CRM” (Baek et. al, 1323). Hypothesis three stated that “Millennials’ perceived sportwear brand globalness with have a positive effect on their purchase intention toward CRM products” (Baek et. al, 1323). Hypothesis four stated that “Millennials’ perceived sportswear brand- cause fit in CRM will have a positive effect on their perception of firm motive” (Baek et. al, 1324). And lastly hypothesis five stated that “Millennials’ perceived sportswear brand- cause fit in CRM will have a positive effect on their purchase intention” (Baek et. al, 1324).
After these results were examined, it is clear that “perceived brand globalness of a sportwear firm is a strong direct predictor of millennial consumers’ evaluations of the key factors of CRM effectiveness: brand- cause fit and firm motive, and of their purchase intention toward the CRM product” (Baek et. al, 1329). Therefore, when a big brand has partnered with a relatable cause to that brand, they are more likely to attract consumers. This correlation can also be explained by the theory of meaning transfer. “The process of meaning transfer starts with meanings initially residing in the culture, constitution a physical and social world. When two objects are presented to consumers, the associations between the consumers and the objects occur, and the meaning of one object derived from cultural experiences can be transferred to the other object. In the context of CRM, when millennial consumers are exposed to a global brand, the positive association that they might have with the global brand may be transferred to the brand-cause fit as well as to the firm motive and then to their behavioral intention toward the CRM products” (Baek et. al, 1329-1330). Therefore, when two brands begin association with each other their repertoires tend to mesh together. Creating, in most ideal situations, two companies made better because of the partnership.
Nike partnered with the Red Aids foundation not only to help a good cause but to simultaneously create a marketing campaign that will pull at your heart strings and encourage you to purchase this product to allow a donation to this foundation be made on your behalf. Liquid Death also uses this similar marketing style by creating their canned water to bring death to plastic and encourage others to “save the turtles” in a way.
Research Question-
How does Liquid Death’s unique marketing style positively affect millennials’ and encourage them to purchase their canned water?
Brand-cause fit-
Liquid Death is more than just a water company, they are a company that is aiming to murder your thirst all while bringing death to plastic. “Brand-cause fit refers to consumers’ perception of how good the fit is and how strong the association is between the brand and the cause” (Baek et. al, 1320). The cause fit for this company is on point. They are partnered with three non-profits: 5 Gyres, Pangeaseed Foundation, and the Thirst Project. 5 Gyres is a non-profit company that aims to provide empowering action against the global health crisis of plastic pollution through science, education and advocacy. Pangeaseed foundation is a globally engaged nonprofit organization that acts at the intersection of culture and environmentalism to further the conservation of our oceans through science, education and ARTivism. And lastly the Thirst Project is an also a nonprofit organization that works with the support of young people to end the global water crisis by building freshwater wells in developing communities. All three of these nonprofits that they have partnered with are right on point with their mission of Death to Plastic. In current society plastic recycling has almost ceased to exist due to the cost of recycling, and no profits to be made in this area. The price of recycling aluminum however is not as high, and it is more feasible. Out of all the aluminum produced since 1888 over 75% of it is still in current use according to Liquid Death’s website. Therefore, the produce all of their water in aluminum cans in an effort to truly bring death to plastic. After research into all the companies that they are in partnership with I deem that they have a very high brand-cause fit category that can provide a higher majority of clients choosing to switch to Liquid Death.
Breaking society marketing normality’s-
Method’s Section-
My method in examining this research question is to closely compare two opposing companies that represent the same motives, products, and goals to evaluate the progress of Liquid Death. The evaluation of progress will be taken off of the companies Instagram platforms in order to maintain a common ground. I will then compare how many likes and comments each company received on their first image post, and their most recent image post to then calculate the percentage increase of each company’s social media outreach. Once this is calculated I will then compare the percentages of each brand, their current followings to determine how Liquid Death sizes up to their competitors. And to really put to the test if this companies marketing strategy is effective and successful.
Data Analysis-
The company originally launched in 2017 with no actual product to sell. Their launch was just a picture of what the tall boy can would look like, and it sparked a huge social media wave. Most people called it a gimmick and that it was a “toxic masculinity run rampant” targeted towards punk kids and anyone who was dumb enough to pay the price of the can. They even created a teaser video that reached over 3 million views with no actual product to sell. Mike Cessario was a graphic designer who was just messing around on the internet until he realized that you can’t ask for a better response from the public. So eventually in 2019 the brand launched their actual product. This product was designed to be healthy and wanted to break the social norms that it is okay to drink water at a party which was the reasoning behind the tall boy can design. They wanted to provide a healthy alternative to the partying crowd. The Co-Founder Cessario didn’t want to use focus groups, so he used social media as his focus group to see what the people actually wanted. Cessario and some of his buddies took this crazy idea and ran with it. They created an alternative beverage for everyone that helps eliminate plastic waste and keeps you hydrated in a healthy way.
Their marketing strategy created almost a sonic boom on social media. They now have almost a million followers and have partnered with major influences such as Wiz Khalifa and Steve O. The main social media aspect that I would like to analyze is their Instagram campaigns. Their first Instagram post dates all the way back to 2018 with 1,161 likes and only 31 comments. This simple picture of their product on a bar top created a mass in the comments. Most of the comments revolve around “what is this” or “this has to be a joke” or even a select few praising this marketing. Either way you look at it this is an odd start as the Ad has little to no context. Except for “Proprietary thirst- murdering technology.” Now with their company heavily expanding they use very different marketing tactics such as merchandise, new flavors, and even collaborating with adult film star Cherie Deville to create their most recent commercial. Their latest gif video is a repost from a bar called Bohemian Bull who was one of the first suppliers of Liquid Death before it hit stores. This video contains their sparkling water with Seagram’s Gin and other flavors to show that it is a versatile drink. This video has 51,967 views and almost 100 comments since it was posted about five days ago an 4,376% increase since the brand has been out in the public for five years. Their marketing style may be obscure, but they have created a platform to share their product, gain interest from new viewers and this gives them the ability to take their hate comments and turn them into advertising gold.
Even though our two other comparison companies Instagram’s have lower numbers they are still making an impact on society by keeping plastic out of the ocean. Their marketing strategy has incised viewers from the very beginning of their corporation regardless of what company. Everyday Liquid Death is interacting with hundreds of thousands of people to encourage them to drink more water and save the planet. I believe that they have the probability to increase their percentage of viewers reached by dialing down their marketing style just a tad. Yes, the shock factor works, but once you have your consumers on your page you must keep them there and not deter them. If they keep inching to this line which they are very close to after partnering with adult film star Cherie Deville they may just cross that line and fall over the edge. The techniques they are using are groundbreaking but could cause an earthquake. But then again if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. They are making headway by attacking what millennials want, a cleaner planet, and giving them a cool way to do it. In conclusion, the marketing tactics of Liquid Death work in an unusual niche in social media. In comparison to other canned water marketing brands, they are successfully creating the clientele that they are desiring and reaching 396 times more consumers than opposing canned water brands. Other companies such as Casper, Air BnB and Netflix use the same approach regarding giving millennials what they desire in a cool, unique way. Millennials have been proven to have trust issues which is why they are so hard to market to. But if companies reach out and partner with nonprofit companies to increase their brand-cause fit status with society they will see a high increase in their profits. Especially in the case of Liquid Death when you bring togther a philanthropic partnership with a shock factor. Liquid Death created their marketing campaign based off of breaking societies normality’s and giving them a competitive edge on their competitors. After my conducted research I can say that they have established their diverse clientele and are making headway towards an even brighter future with the recent expansion of their products and their mission to bring death to plastic.
Citation-
Baek, W.-yeul, Byon, K. K., Choi, Y.-hwan, & Park, C.-woo. (2017). Millennial Consumers' perception of sportswear brand globalness impacts purchase intention in cause-related product marketing. Social Behavior and Personality: an International Journal, 45(8), 1319–1335. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6225
Liquid death mountain water: Murder your thirst. Liquid Death. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://liquiddeath.com/
McCarthy, A. (2021, December 6). The cult of liquid death. Eater. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.eater.com/22814834/liquid-death-water-sparkling-bottled-water-canned
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