It was the dumbest thing he ever did
Three years later he was sitting on a $700 million fortune
Just about every time someone told Mike no, he did it anyway.
He had a “hunch” he was onto something that people would want.
At the time, a hunch was about all he had too.
Mike didn’t have much money.
Yet he was determined to give it a go.
And since he knew a little bit about marketing, he figured why not use social media to spread the word about the new product he was developing.
When I say spreading the word, I mean it too. Mike wound up with f 1.4 million followers on Instagram alone. And over 240,000 followers on Facebook.
Today, you can find his “hunch of a product” in over 60,000 stores across the U.S.
What exactly did Mike create?
Well you could say he was the first person to put entertainment in a can.
You’re so Warped
There was no way Mike Cessario was going to miss the popular Vans Warped Tour music festival.
Started in 1995 by Kevin Lyman and Ray Woodbury, the festival was as a way to bring skate-boarding and punk rock bands together in one setting. But eventually the music side of the tour is what attracted people to the festival.
The year Mike attended in 2009 … the tour started on June 26 in California and ran through August 23, with stops set up in major cities such as Montreal Quebec, Oceanport New Jersey, and Detroit Michigan to name a few.
Plus tickets were cheap. Admission costs around $25 each and .25 cents from each ticket sold was donated to the Camp Hollywood Heart charity.
Don’t get me wrong. While admission won’t cost you a fortune, the tour itself generates a lot of money … around $14.5 million dollars. It’s also where some bands got their start like the Black Eyed Peas.
On this tour, a few of Mike’s friends had formed a band and were hoping to make it big at the Denver festival. So he made a point to be there.
Because his friends were performing, Mike was able to hang out back stage. That’s when he noticed that the musicians were drinking water out of a can. Monster Energy drinks was one of the sponsors of the tour and musicians had unlimited access to the beverage.
But that alone wasn’t enough to keep them hydrated. So when they finished drinking, they filled the empty can with water.
Mike wondered why aren’t there more healthy alternatives for staying hydrated but also had the cool appeal of energy drinks.
A Chance Encounter of the Drink Kind
Mike never thought much more about healthy alternative beverages until 2014.
Call it coincidence or chance, at the time he was working for a marketing firm that had just been hired to create a public service campaign on the health risks associated with consuming too many sugary energy drinks.
Mike remembered how the musicians during the Vans Warped Tour would fill their empty energy drink cans with water. At the meeting, he proposed that the campaign feature a stylish can filled with water. It was a way to poke fun of energy drinks.
But the client didn’t like it at all. In fact they flat our rejected his idea.
Just because the client said no, didn’t Mike wouldn’t do something with it.
So for the next two years, he tinkered around with creating a new brand of water.
Not knowing exactly what he’d come up with, the one thing he did know was that his beverage had to be served in a can.
Why a can? For three reasons:
(1) He saw the musicians drinking out of one, so he knew others wouldn’t mind doing the same …
(2) It would be hard to compete with the dozens of already existing bottled water brands if he used plastic …
(3) It’s better for the environment.
But before he could put water in a can, he had to come up with a name for his beverage. One that would immediately get someone’s attention.
That’s So Dumb
When it comes to getting attention, Mike is no stranger.
After all, he’s worked as a creative director for companies such as VaynerMedia, Porter & Bogusky and Street League Skateboarding.
When he wasn’t working on campaigns, and in his spare time, Mike would think up names for his new canned water concept.
He wanted a name that was a mix of being funny, edgy, and memorable.
Mike’s list of potential names was growing but nothing seemed to fit his vision. So he turned to a marketing trick he’d used in the past, which is to ask yourself: What’s the dumbest possible idea you can come up with?
As Mike explains, “You kind of have to trick your brain to come up with a bad idea to truly be thinking in innovative territory.”
So what’s the dumbest possible name for a super healthy and super safe beverage?
The only dumb name that came to mind was Liquid Death.
Are You For Real?
It was perfect.
In 2017, Mike trademarked the name Liquid Death. Then he created the logo and designed the can.
He was ready to start quenching the thirst of dry throats everywhere by bringing Liquid Death to life.
All he needed was funding from investors.
However when he showed them his design, they said it wasn’t going to work because retailers would never put something like that on store shelves.
Even a few of the beverage companies he approached said his design looked too much like a can of beer and that would confuse customers.
He was getting one rejection after another. But every no was another reason not to give up.
In fact to prove that Liquid Death was a viable product, he created a 3-D rendering of his design. Then he used $1,500 of his own money to create a 2-minute commercial. He also put up a Facebook page that showcased the new beverage.
Now keep in mind, there was no real beverage. Just pictures of the can. But for Mike, this was a test to see if people would even consider buying water in a can. If they didn’t like it, then he’d know his hunch was wrong.
But if they did … well he’d be able to show everyone he was right all along.
Just four months in, the video had 3 million views. It was being shared all over social media. And the Facebook page he set up had 80,000 followers.
He also received hundreds of messages and comments. Most people were asking “is this a real drink?” and “where can I buy a can of Liquid Death?”
Among those sending messages were beverage distributors.
We’re Not Joking
Since the video he created went viral, Mike was getting serious offers from potential backers. Eventually he secured funding from Science Ventures, a venture capital firm who provided $1.6 million in seed money to manufacture his canned water.
Already having a fan base, when Liquid Death made its public debut, it sold like crazy. Orders were coming from the Facebook page he developed and the website. Wasn’t much longer after that, it was in stores just about everywhere.
What helped those sales along, is the way Mike promoted Liquid Death. It’s not your traditional kind of marketing.
In fact Mike says it’s not about marketing at all.
In interviewed he explained, “Our company is an entertainment company first. We want to make people laugh. And we want to be the funniest thing in someone’s feed for the day. That’s our goal.”
No wonder their motto is, “Murder your thirst.”
This Way or No Way
Mike was so insistent that Liquid Death be sold in cans because he cares about the planet. A portion of company profits goes to a charity that is working to stop plastic pollution.
That’s a big problem.
According to the website Global Recycle, only 9% of the world’s plastic is recycled. There are 80,000 types of plastic resins but only 4 types are recyclable. The rest are extremely difficult to recycle because they would all require different processes.
Cans however are infinitely recyclable.
As for the water used in Liquid Death, it comes from a deep underground mountain source in the Alps protected by a few hundred feet of stone.
And its 100% pure water too. Unlike traditional bottled water brands that use processed tap water, Liquid Death has no additives.
Death Is Everywhere
Mike Cessario has built the fastest growing water brand in the country.
Just recently his company was valued at $700 million, which is pretty darn amazing considering it launched in 2019.
And 2023 looks even bigger. You can buy Liquid Death merchandise like hoodies and tee-shirts. You can even buy a Nixon Death Clock wrist watch.
Liquid Death recently partnered with Martha Stewart to create a Dismembered Moments candle. And there are more partnership deals in the works.
Sure seems like Mike’s one good idea to put water in a can turned out to be more than just a lucky hunch.
Awesome Quotes by Awesome People
“Innovation is taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way.” — Tom Freston, co-founder of MTV
I'm gonna have to find me some of this stuff! Thanks for the article, Sandy!