Case Study: Liquid Death
Novel x Liquid Death
Liquid Death is the hardcore water brand that's equally good for consumers and the planet. They're on a mission to end single-use plastic and get people to hydrate more on the way.
We sat down with Daniel Murphy, Liquid Death's SVP of Marketing, to hear how Novel enriches their fanbase experience and improves the brand’s longevity. We dive into topics like:
The effortlessness of creating token-gated NFTs with Novel
How their web3 enthusiasm is inherent to the brand’s ethos
Why Liquid Death will always put their fan community first
“We see the long-term potential of web3 as revolutionary and almost limitless.”
Phase 1: Searching for Accessible web3 Integrations
Liquid Death gained a cult following by playing with people's perceptions of their brand. Many buyers initially assume they produce beer, but they exclusively sell water.
Sustainability is also a (surprising) core value of the brand — inspired by the sad reality that 90% of plastic winds up in landfills or the ocean, even when recycled.
In response, Liquid Death packages its water in aluminum, which is actually sustainable, and tops this off with fun, subversive marketing.
As Daniel puts it, the brand boasts some of the “craziest, most die-hard fans on the planet.”
They run a successful Web 2.0 loyalty program called their Country Club, where 200,000+ fans have "sold their souls" for early access to limited-edition merch drops, private events, and more.
Revamping a Successful Web 2.0 Platform with web3
The Liquid Death team had been intrigued by web3 for some time, but the infrastructure just didn't exist yet to integrate it easily with their brand.
They mainly sell products online and in major grocery and convenience stores across the U.S., so their options for integrating web3 into that model were limited and complicated.
Most recently, they'd promised to provide exclusive merch and other lifestyle goods to loyal fans but were grappling for the best way to make it available.
The team didn't have the bandwidth for anything that requires heavy lift, so they searched for a tool that could easily plug into their established Shopify site.
Fortunately, they discovered Novel, which quickly fulfilled all of these needs.
Phase 2: Seamless web3 Onboarding with Novel
Novel was the Shopify-compatible, turnkey solution Liquid Death needed.
The onboarding flow was straightforward, as the team:
Installed the app, while the Novel team guided them from start to finish
Easily imported their NFT collection onto the Novel platform
Selected items and officially token-gated them
As Daniel sums it up: Novel made Liquid Death’s web3 products look good from the start.
The day the brand dropped its first batch of web3 merch, Novel made sure to check in throughout the process to troubleshoot and solve any issues that might have arisen.
That kind of proactive service went above and beyond anything the Liquid Death team could typically expect from their vendor partners.
“We understand that Liquid Death has successfully captured something in the zeitgeist, and we want to continue on that path through web3.”
Benefit #1: Immediate Upgrades to Liquid Death's Loyalty Club
Novel’s web3 tech has allowed Liquid Death to elevate their loyalty and VIP programs.
Their NFT VIP program is called Murder Head Death Club, which essentially wraps all of their branded offerings in a premium shell.
Holders receive a variety of Novel-enabled benefits, including but not limited to:
Exclusive discounts — A rare perk for the Liquid Death brand
Celebrity experiences — Interactions with their celebrity ecosystem, with names like Wiz Khalifa, Steve-O, and Joanna Angel doing live AMAs on their private Discord
Live event access — Such as their Country Club at music festivals and NFT events in NYC and LA (with more locations to come in the future)
Daniel notes that most brands can’t envision or understand just how transformative an avid and passionate web3 community can be.
Liquid Death recognizes the value of audience enthusiasm and consistently works to nurture involvement and foster its community. For instance:
Members of the Murder Head Death Club can DJ on their radio station: Radio 666.6 FM
They filmed a horror movie and screened it on Discord (on top of other film viewings)
They’ve also simply hosted communal poker nights and remain active on Discord
At the end of the day, the team views this community as their biggest fans — and genuine friends. The end goal is ensuring they enjoy their private access to all things Liquid Death.
“As a brand with eventual plans for world domination, seeing how our global audience reacts to our token drops comes in handy.”
Benefit #2: web3 Plugins Enable User Loyalty & Brand Longevity
Daniel believes that, had Liquid Death launched in the nineties, it would have been one of the first brands with a website.
Or, if they’d launched in 2006, they’d have been the first brand to try out early social media.
As a company, they’re always looking to pursue the next niche, intriguing path — even if it seems a bit dangerous or straight-up nonsensical for a commercial brand.
This pursuit of the cutting edge is motivated by their biggest advocates: hardcore communities in music and other creative spaces. So, Liquid Death seeks inspiration from its fans.
Along those lines, the web3 community, in Daniel’s experience, follows the brand’s ethos to a tee. They’re punks who believe they can truly, interestingly reinvent the world as we know it.
That attitude put web3 on Liquid Death’s radar long ago and led to their Novel partnership today.
How web3 Verticals Weather the Current Markets
Many brands entering web3 so far have viewed it as a marketing stunt or revenue channel, which Daniel argues is the wrong way to approach these innovations.
Liquid Death is on the web3 train because it genuinely aligns with the community and will serve their fans who are interested in the space and have gotten them this far.
web3 also makes sense for Liquid Death because they already have the native resources to apply to this new sphere, like well-oiled engines for design, events, and PR.
Daniel also affirms that the ongoing bear market won’t harm them long-term because they understand their metrics well enough to stay the course.
If anything, they're amped to see where the tech will be in two years.
They’ll simply keep grinding at their strategy through the market downturn — in order to emerge rock solid and well-established on the other side.
“Liquid Death has a company ethos of finding rebellious, niche parts of a culture and running with them. That’s what interests us.”
Benefit #3: Long-Term Plans for NFT-Gated Perks
As for Liquid Death’s big-picture product roadmap, they plan to continue providing fans with insider access to everything about the brand, including:
Amped up lifestyle perks, live events, and celebrity involvement
Connecting with execs, like a private Zoom with their CEO
More early previews and access to merch drops
All in all, Daniel considers Liquid Death one of web3’s current best-kept secrets. They haven't made much noise and are strategic about partnerships that align with their community values.
This often looks like linking up with figures in the comedy, music, event, and other artistic spaces. They’re not pursuing paid marketing or any other typical channels of Web 2.0.
Instead, they’re supporting the arts and the artists who are rising organically through web3.
Liquid Death approaches growth with a brick-by-brick strategy: One day, they'll hit a breaking point, and the world will see what they're doing.
If (or when) that happens, they’ll see a brand that's built itself up patiently and intentionally.
Beyond this, Liquid Death has gained exposure through recent events like Lollapalooza, where several influencers discovered their tent and Tweeted about it to their followings.
Streamlining & Elevating Token-Gated Benefits
As mentioned, the Liquid Death team was especially looking forward to using Novel to streamline fan access to exclusive benefits.
In the past, they would manage benefits through Discord. Users would have to submit a ticket whenever they hoped to access certain perks.
With Novel, if a fan wants to secure their benefits, all they have to do is go to the Liquid Death site. It’ll recognize their token-based membership, so they can self-fulfill whatever they want.
Looking forward, they’re aiming to kick token-gated features up another notch — perhaps with:
Token-gated VIP access to festivals when you attend with Liquid Death
Or adding more one-time-only perks to future partner collaborations
Overall, Daniel emphasizes that Novel makes almost all of their pipeline ideas easy to roll out.
“With how easy Novel is, the future of our expansion into web3 is somewhat limitless. We can rapidly execute these ideas of what we want to give the world.”
