Liquid Death CEO: 'People appreciate a brand that feels authentic'

  • 23.10.2022
  • Yahoo Finance

Liquid Death Co-Founder and CEO Mike Cessario joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the company's successful fundraising, building a strong brand, the outlook for growth in the beverage industry, and potentially exploring an IPO at some point.

MIKE CESSARIO: Yeah, I mean, I think people forget two things. One, how big the beverage industry really is, and two, how much brand actually plays a role in it. I think when you look at other industries, like fashion, for example, people can understand somehow easier why does a Gucci t-shirt that's 100% cotton sell for $750, when the same exact t-shirt from the same exact material you can buy in target for $15.99. Same exact thing, performs the same exact function, but people can clearly understand why brand can completely change the value story for a given product. It just doesn't happen as much in CPG.

But yeah, essentially we're building a brand that's bigger than just water in a can. And I think that's why we've sold-- last year, we did $3 million in merch and apparel as a beverage company, as a water company. We've got 4 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, which the only two brands ahead of us are basically Monster and Red Bull. So when you really are building a brand, it's a very different thing than when you're just a very functional, rational, transactional based approach to a product.