Case Study: Liquid Death
Novel x Liquid Death
Liquid Death is the edgy 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:
An effortless wallet pass experience
IRL Country Club activations
Why Liquid Death will always put their fan community first
“We see the long-term potential of wallet passes as revolutionary and almost limitless.”
Phase 1: Searching for effortless wallet pass solutions
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 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 loyalty program with wallet passes
The Liquid Death team had been intrigued by wallet passes 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. and now Europe as of the last year, so their options for integrating wallet passes 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.
Brand image created by Liquid Death for their wallet pass launch campaign
Phase 2: Seamless wallet pass 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 designed their wallet pass
Began distributing their wallet pass to Country Club members
As Daniel sums it up: Novel made Liquid Death’s wallet passes look amazing from the start.
The day the brand dropped its first set of wallet passes, 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 with wallet passes.”
Benefit #1: Immediate Upgrades to Liquid Death's Loyalty Club
Novel’s wallet pass tech has allowed Liquid Death to elevate their loyalty and VIP programs which historically were disjointed. The pass now 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 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 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 wallet passes comes in handy.”
Benefit #2: Wallet Pass 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 Country Club 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 wallet passes on Liquid Death’s radar long ago and led to their Novel partnership today.
“Liquid Death has a company ethos of finding rebellious, niche parts of a culture and running with them. That’s what interests us.”
Footage captured by a fan at an IRL event featuring wallet pass activations
Benefit #3: IRL Wallet Pass Activations
Liquid Death continues to innovate in building its cult-like following, recently leveraging mobile wallet passes to create an unforgettable experience at Lollapalooza, Rolling Loud, and other Live Nation events.
Festival attendees who were part of the "Country Club" loyalty program received exclusive wallet passes, granting them VIP access to Liquid Death's oasis - a air-conditioned tent featuring live music performances and, of course, free cans of the coveted beverage.
The seamless wallet pass integration allowed Country Club members to breeze through the lines, sparking a frenzy as influencers caught wind and shared the experience across social media. This real-world activation demonstrates Liquid Death's masterful ability to surprise and delight its community while fostering brand loyalty.
By tapping into location-based push notifications, the brand can continue to elevate the Country Club experience at future events, ensuring their diehard fans never miss out on exclusive opportunities to bask in the Liquid Death lifestyle.
“With how easy Novel is, the future of our expansion with wallet passes is somewhat limitless. We can rapidly execute these ideas of what we want to give the world.”
