Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
When Mike Cessario worked at creative agencies such as VaynerMedia and Crispin Porter + Bogusky (now Crispin), he observed how many corporate clients came to those firms to solve problems with their brands. “It was always like, ‘We have a perception problem’ or ‘Something’s not working,’” he recalls.
So, when Cessario started Liquid Death, a beverage company, he was attuned to how marketing would drive every phase of the business, from its upstart days when it had to get attention for free, to its evolution as a lifestyle brand that reached a $1.4 billion valuation on $263 million in retail scanned sales as of March 2024. The company has not released updated sales data.
In the beginning, he says, Liquid Death had to find a way, on a shoestring, to get consumers to talk about its first product, water. That led to its provocative name and distinctive packaging—tall metal cans emblazoned with a skull logo—aimed at inspiring customers to photograph it and share pictures on social media. Indeed, the company launched with a commercial on Facebook in 2017 but didn’t start selling its first cans of water until 2019. Says Cessario: “Everything had a marketer’s vision and creativity from the onset.”
As the company has expanded into big retailers such as Target, Kroger, and Walmart, Cessario remains focused on cheeky messaging rather than discounting to grab shoppers’ attention. The company, which now produces sparkling and flavored waters, iced tea, and energy drinks, deploys clips on social media and 30-second spots on connected TVs, where Liquid Death’s humor stands out amid a sea of pharmaceutical and insurance ads.
“I’m essentially stealing Red Bull’s playbook, thinking of ourselves as an entertainment company that monetizes via beverage,” he says. Sample videos may be found on the company’s website in a section labeled Timewaster 5000.
Dream collabs
While corporations may not have adopted Cessario’s scrappy approach, other startups are taking a page from Liquid Death’s playbook. The sunscreen maker Vacation (also started by former ad execs) surged to a spot on the Inc. 5000 list last year via viral marketing and experiences.
That’s not to say big companies aren’t eager to partner with Liquid Death. The beverage maker has launched several unconventional collaborations with companies such as the home builder Taylor Morrison and the cosmetics maker E.l.f. Beauty, whose limited-edition Corpse Paint created for the partnership sold out in less than 45 minutes.
I asked Cessario if he has a dream collab, and he didn’t hesitate: “We’ve always wanted to do a Liquid Death shoe with Nike,” he says. “Something really interesting and cool with a funny story behind the shoe that makes everyone say, ‘Oh, my God, did you hear about what Liquid Death and Nike made?’”
Yes, you Cannes
Modern CEO is coming to you this week from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. I asked two executives to share their advice on how CEOs and other leaders should approach this annual event, which has evolved from a celebration of advertising to a place where top executives and entrepreneurs come to network and mingle. Here’s what they said:
NDIDI OTEH, CEO, ACCENTURE SONG
“There are two things that everyone should consider when planning for the festival. First, your mornings: Let them be slow. Before the day fills up is when you can have high‑quality, focused conversations. Secondly, plan well in advance, but don’t book yourself wall‑to‑wall. Leave space to be surprised. Some of the most valuable moments in Cannes come from chance run‑ins on [La] Croisette,” the coastal boulevard.
SHELLEY STEWART III, SENIOR PARTNER, MCKINSEY
“Cannes Lions attracts a nice tech and earlier-stage ecosystem, which creates opportunities for learning. That’s so important in the context of where we are now, where the thing that was relevant two weeks ago is already being replaced. You have to have some sort of way to stay in the flow of what’s happening at the edge. Cannes presents that opportunity because of the broad set of organizations that show up there, not just the big, marquee companies but smaller, upstart companies.”
Are you a CEO in Cannes this week? Drop me a line at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com and let me know what’s been the most meaningful part of your experience thus far.
Read more: CEOs who get marketing
- Inside the playful and provocative approach of Peter Rahal, CEO of David Protein
- The former Accenture Song CEO David Droga says a “ridiculous idea” led to a remarkable outcome
- Inside Brian Niccol’s bold Starbucks redesign