Whenever Liquid Death makes content, its team asks the same question: Will this get shared on social media?
Likes and comments are fine, but shares are what it really craves. “Because if it’s not compelling enough for people to share,” says Dan Murphy, the brand’s SVP of marketing, “then it’s probably not good tip-of-the-spear, top-of-the-funnel marketing.”
The proof is in the numbers: Sharable marketing propelled Liquid Death into being a $1.4 billion juggernaut, with 7 million followers on both Instagram and TikTok — even though, at its heart, it’s just a brand that sells canned water and iced tea. But it’s marketed and sold like an overly aggressive beer, which gets a lot of attention.
So, how do they do it? Murphy says that their formula is easily replicable — and he’s happy to share it. Here’s how Liquid Death creates viral gold, in five steps.
Step 1: Build an “entertainment-first” brand
“The internet has completely shattered the attention economy,” Murphy says. Consumers can skip anything they dislike, which means you must earn every second of their attention .
That’s why your marketing must be conceived of, produced, and presented as entertainment — and your brand must operate as an always-on content machine. Or as Murphy calls it: “You must be entertainment-first.”
Liquid Death didn’t invent this idea, he admits. Red Bull proved the model decades earlier, by becoming a leading producer of extreme sports content. Liquid Death thinks of itself as a comedy producer. And your brand? It could produce anything — so long as it’s entertaining, and appeals to your target audience.
Step 2: Prioritize top of funnel
Early-stage brands often get bogged down in optimization, Murphy says. They spend too much time on bottom-of-funnel elements like manufacturing and distribution — which is understandable, but leaves them vulnerable.
“If nobody knows about the product, and if nobody’s stopping on the shelf or searching for it on Amazon, then your other efforts were for naught,” he says.
Instead, he says, brands should lean heavily on social media. It’s the only tool that can reach millions of people for free — and if you get it right, your other operational pieces will fall into place.
Step 3: Invest in your entertainment
Image Credit: Liquid Death
Once you choose your lane, he says, you must lean into it heavily and fully.
For example, Liquid Death doesn’t just hire marketers; they hire comedy writers who have written for the likes of Adult Swim. Then they keep these writers “hermetically sealed” from the rest of the business — so that they can focus on the funniest ideas, and not be watered down by sales or marketing concerns.
The result: They’ve sold kegs of water for pregnant women, called Kegs For Pregs. They a toilet-water taste test. They gave away a real jet. And they often partner with unexpected brands, like co-creating the Pit Diaper (for people who drink a lot in the mosh pit) with the adult-diaper company Depend.
“We’ve been dropping at least one banger a month since our origin,” Murphy says. “It can’t just be, ‘Oh, we did this, and then it’s gone.’ As an early company, you have to have that repetition and stay out there in culture.”
Step 4: Be nimble and take risks
On social media, Murphy says, small brands have an advantage over large brands: “You can get stuff to market very quickly, you can test it, you can learn, you can react,” he says — while larger competitors will move slowly and be risk-averse.
Sure, small brands have small budgets. But Murphy says that can be a superpower — because small budgets force creative constraints, which he likes to call “budget haiku.” Sometimes, the best content is also the cheapest, scrappiest, and most clever.
He offers a challenge: Create ideas that you can articulate in a single sentence. If it takes longer than that, the idea might be too complicated. For example, he says, the Pit Diaper started like this: “What if we made adult diaper for the mosh pit?” he says. It’s a clear, funny, instantly shareable idea.
Step 5: Problems? Entertain the solution
Being “entertainment-first” doesn’t mean abandoning all marketing principles, Murphy says. You must still be alert to the market and your consumers’ perceptions. But your solutions must also be entertaining.
Here’s an example:
Liquid Death identified a problem: Although the brand is parodying beer advertising, too many consumers think that Liquid Death actually is a beer… or maybe an energy drink.
To address that, Liquid Death bought its first Super Bowl ad in 2025. It featured pilots, cops, and doctors chugging a can on the job, while a jingle sings, “Drink on the job. Everybody’s drinkin’ on the job.”
“You couldn’t watch that and go, ‘It was a beer,’ right?” Murphy says. It was funny, but it was also strategically responding to market research.
Step 6: Turn your fans into content
Once you start a conversation online, your fans will keep that conversation going — which creates a new wave of opportunity.
“A lot of what we’re doing right now is combing social media, looking for people’s posts about Liquid Death,” Murphy says. “We go to them and say, ‘Hey, love that content. We’ll put media behind your post and do some sophisticated targeting at different people. Then you will get exposure. And you will get followers.”
Sometimes, Liquid Death also pays these people a small amount of money — maybe $100 or so. But mostly it’s not necessary. They’re just psyched to help their favorite brand.
In short: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.
It feels like something people choose to watch — because it was made to entertain them, not to sell product to them. When that becomes your brand’s ethos, your audience (and their loyalty) will follow.
