Safe marketing is expensive and forgettable. Bold marketing is risky but if successful, scales far beyond its cost. Mike Cessario speaks about brand-building in the attention economy, the mechanics of virality, and why creativity is the last defensible advantage.
After years of working with brands like Netflix, Domino’s and Toyota, Mike Cessario noticed a simple imbalance. The most creative, entertaining marketing was reserved for products that were bad for you. Meanwhile, healthier options were presented with all the excitement of a public service announcement.
So he flipped the model.
As founder and CEO of Liquid Death, Cessario built a company that treats marketing not as support for the product, but as the product itself. If people are going to spend time with your brand, it needs to earn that attention. Not interrupt it.
The result is a business that behaves more like an entertainment studio than a beverage company. Liquid Death’s campaigns are designed to be watched, shared and talked about. A $1,500 launch video grew into millions of views. A stunt involving Tony Hawk generated global media coverage. Collaborations attract cultural figures not through large fees, but through relevance.
Under Cessario’s leadership, Liquid Death has grown from a niche idea into a billion-dollar brand, stocked by major retailers and recognised as one of the fastest-growing names in non-alcoholic beverages.
While the brand appears chaotic on the surface, the economics are tightly controlled. Marketing budgets are kept deliberately low. Content is produced in volume. And every campaign is judged by one standard: would anyone care enough to share this?
Cessario often describes Liquid Death as “an entertainment company that monetises through beverage.” This reflects his broader view of modern business. In a world saturated with content, attention is the scarcest resource, and brands must compete on cultural relevance, not just product quality.
On stage, Mike Cessario’s sessions are sharp, practical, and grounded in lived experience building a category-defining company from scratch.
Mike Cessario
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Speaker Topics
After years of working with brands like Netflix, Domino’s and Toyota, Mike Cessario noticed a simple imbalance. The most creative, entertaining marketing was reserved for products that were bad for you. Meanwhile, healthier options were presented with all the excitement of a public service announcement.
So he flipped the model.
As founder and CEO of Liquid Death, Cessario built a company that treats marketing not as support for the product, but as the product itself. If people are going to spend time with your brand, it needs to earn that attention. Not interrupt it.
The result is a business that behaves more like an entertainment studio than a beverage company. Liquid Death’s campaigns are designed to be watched, shared and talked about. A $1,500 launch video grew into millions of views. A stunt involving Tony Hawk generated global media coverage. Collaborations attract cultural figures not through large fees, but through relevance.
Under Cessario’s leadership, Liquid Death has grown from a niche idea into a billion-dollar brand, stocked by major retailers and recognised as one of the fastest-growing names in non-alcoholic beverages.
While the brand appears chaotic on the surface, the economics are tightly controlled. Marketing budgets are kept deliberately low. Content is produced in volume. And every campaign is judged by one standard: would anyone care enough to share this?
Cessario often describes Liquid Death as “an entertainment company that monetises through beverage.” This reflects his broader view of modern business. In a world saturated with content, attention is the scarcest resource, and brands must compete on cultural relevance, not just product quality.
On stage, Mike Cessario’s sessions are sharp, practical, and grounded in lived experience building a category-defining company from scratch.
Books
This speaker has no books yet.
Articles & Videos
Why Playing It Safe Kills Brands
How cultural tension fuels marketing breakthroughs
The Anti-Marketing Strategy
On using techniques that went against all commonly held marketing beliefs
Creating a Billion Dollar Water Brand
How to defy the odds, break convention and disrupt a category on a shoestring budget
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