I was incredibly reluctant to spill ink (bits?) on this topic when it first broke, but when Fast Company covered it, I couldn't restrain myself anymore.
The headline leads to the premise of the article - "These converging trends leads us to an inevitable and important question: What the hell is happening to water?" I think this is a false premise. As with any category, when a disrupter has success the copycats will follow. I wouldn't state this as a trend until several of these companies can exhibit sustained success.
The biggest problem I am seeing in these challengers is that none of them are doing anything truly unique, or tapping deeply into any culture. If they aren't outright rip offs of Liquid Death just with fake moustaches then they are the cousins at the brand family reunion that everyone was hoping would not show up.
Mike Cessario has been consistent on the founding and design of Liquid Death:
“How do you hedge against someone like Pepsi or Coca-Cola? You do something that they could never: something grotesque,” Hernández says. “Branding became their moat, because there’s no way Coca-Cola or Pepsi could even touch that with a 10-foot pole.”
And he's done it with some of the best talent in the game (Stephen Nilsen, Andy Pearson, et al)
Now other companies are trying to walk onto LDs field with the same playbook and win. They need to do something "grotesque." Or in this case maybe bright, cheery and positive!
Not Beer and Spirit work as a joke and can probably pop some initial sales. Spirit even admits that they only intended to make one run. These are cultural copy paste jobs that can't resonate with consumers long term because they are brands built on what people are NOT enjoying. Andrew Katz likened Not Beer to the equivalent of a "Party Trick" and I agree.
Do you think Coca Cola is ready to compete? I like the Smartwater drop in a sleek can, but reading this statement that seems to have fallen out of the brand-o-matic tells me that they are not.
“expanding the occasion for Smartwater” was top of mind with the new design: “Whether that’s at a party, the beach, or a bar, we’ve got you covered with a pure, crisp hydration option,”
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