Mike Cessario
Liquid Death, Founder and CEO
Disrupt with discipline
They sold a $300 coffin. They made a candle with Ozzy Osbourne’s DNA. And built a $1.4B beverage brand doing it.
Mike Cessario, founder and CEO of Liquid Death, has turned irreverent ideas into a marketing juggernaut. But behind the stunts is a seriously disciplined approach to brand, strategy, and execution.
If you're building a challenger brand—or just trying to make people actually notice your product—don’t miss this episode.
You’ll also learn:
- How to earn attention, even on a tiny budget
- The kind of “unsafe” marketing ideas that break through the noise
- What challenger brands can do to beat the big guys
- Why you should market to the customers everyone else ignores
More from Mike Cessario
Small companies can't afford “safe” messaging
If you want to get people’s attention, you’ve got to take risks with your marketing. It’s how you earn the reach that the big companies pay for.
Design your brand like you can’t afford advertising
Consumer attention is scarce, especially without a big ad buy. Let your brand do the heavy lifting with bold packaging, naming, and design.
Great marketing can’t save a bad product
Top-notch marketing will get people in the door. But if you want sustainable success, you also need a great product that keeps them coming back.
Clips
| Clip | Leader | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Design your brand like you can’t afford advertising | Mike Cessario | 1:29 |
| Great marketing can’t save a bad product | Mike Cessario | 1:58 |
| Invent brands for people no one else is serving | Mike Cessario | 1:54 |
| Use your opponent’s strength against them | Mike Cessario | 1:35 |
| Stretch a small marketing budget by diversifying your spend | Mike Cessario | 2:04 |
| Small companies can't afford “safe” messaging | Mike Cessario | 0:42 |
| Don’t expect focus groups to give you real-world reactions | Mike Cessario | 1:26 |
| The most innovative ideas sound ridiculous at first | Mike Cessario | 1:25 |
| If you’re small, use agility to your advantage | Mike Cessario | 1:29 |