Be Blunt.

Welcome back to Digital Gravity ☠️

Every Friday, we share strategies to help you grow your business with content marketing and reach ‘critical mass’ in the great online game.

This week, Katie shares some marketing lessons inspired by Mike Cessario, the CEO of Liquid Death.

Enjoy 👇

🧐 B.F.F.R. 🧐

By Katie Conover

I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of brand fluff around lately.

I’m talking about brands playing it way too safe.

Brands that are so afraid of upsetting different audiences that their messages are weak and flimsy. 

I didn’t realize how used to diluted brand ads I was until I watched Liquid Death’s new advertisement, “The Toxic Avenger”. 

It’s straight up. Real soda gives you diabetes. Liquid Death has a soda-flavored seltzer that doesn’t give you diabetes.

It was a refreshing ad. I haven’t ever drank Liquid Death, but I drink Shoprite brand seltzer like no one’s business. 

And now I’m thinking of making the switch.

So many health brands tiptoe around why too much sugar is bad for you.

But this ad shows high schoolers with big fake bellies drinking “Diabetes Classic” in the shape of a Pepsi bottle.

It felt like a relief. Finally, we’re being direct for once.

I was so enamored with this ad that I did a Liquid Death deep dive and found a Vice News Interview from last week with the CEO, Mike Cessario.

(I’ve got my opinions on Vice News, but let’s ignore that for the time being.)

Mike Cessario discusses that nowadays brands don’t want to piss off even one person.

And they’re killing their company because of it. You shouldn’t try to please everyone. Because you can’t.

You need to ignore the typical corporate marketing idea of finding a middle ground.

Most brands that try that flop because they don’t “understand how the masses will actually react to something.”

Don’t throw a huge net. You’ll end up catching nothing.

Your brand needs to have a strong belief and then speak on it. 

The people who believe it will respect your honesty (and your bravery).

Your ad about everyone being happy and having a good time on the beach isn’t going to make a consumer think that your product is going to make them be happy and have a good time. 

People who see that ad are going to glaze over it and never think about it again. 

Your brand needs to be impactful.

You have to stop being afraid.

Cessario says too many brands are afraid of people not liking them on the internet.

From the start, Liquid Death faced controversy for putting water in a can.

But instead of kneeling to the negative voices, they took all those hate comments and made a music album out of them.

They posted the album with the title “People on the internet love us!” And it galvanized people. They got more comments than ever before.

The campaign’s hashtag was "#proudlynotforeveryone”.

Liquid Death knows what it’s all about. They don’t let the haters get to them.

They just focus on being consistently themselves, and people who respect that respect them.

Good brands don’t fawn over everyone.

Good brands are honest.

And blunt.

—Katie