Marketing
Issue 8:
This is the story of a big US brand struggling to make an impact in the UK market. But hidden beneath the big numbers (and the big ambition), is a really useful story for any SME that’s planning to break into a new market.
Know your target market.
Liquid Death is US company, launched in 2017, selling canned water. In 2023 the company was valued at $1.4bn, with global sales of $263m. 2024 saw 139% growth. With a provocative name, cool packaging and “disruptive” marketing campaigns, it’s been a big hit in the US.
So in 2023 it launched in the UK. It was stocked in a range of retail outlets (including Tesco), making it easily available. And it was supported by high profile sponsorship at Download festival (reaching their Gen Z target market). A great platform for success, surely?
But in February 2025 Liquid Death announced they are “pausing international efforts”. The company claim as a result of “supply chain” issues. However questions have also been raised about the company being built on packaging and promotion, rather than a quality product - an unsustainable combination.
The true reasons may take a while to emerge. But there seems to be a couple of issues that have influenced the situation.
- The US success of Liquid Death was built on raising awareness, and sales, gradually. In the UK they went straight onto the shelves in Tesco. But this wasn’t supported by a nationwide advertising campaign. Liquid Death had mass-market availability, but lacked mass-market awareness.
- US consumers drink more bottled water than UK consumers. Consumption in the UK (per capita) is 25% of the US market.
This story offers a valuable lesson to any SME that wants to launch their product into a new market: Know your target market.
Don’t make assumptions that what has worked for existing customers will work for new customers - your target market - even if they seem to share a lot of characteristics.
A good way to avoid this issue is to create customer profiles for each of your customer categories - even your target market. A good customer profile should tell you four things about your customer:
Who they are: These are “facts” about your customer. For example: B2C; age, gender, salary. B2B; turnover, size and sector.
Where they are: This is the location of your customer. They could be regional, national or international.
Why they buy: This is what influences your customer’s decision to buy, things like values, experience or attitude.
When they buy: This is how your customers act in certain situations, and what triggers their buying decision.
With this information you are in a much stronger position to make decisions about doing something new or different. There is always a risk involved in doing something new or different. But a good customer profile will help to reduce that risk.
Whether you measure your turnover in hundreds of million, hundreds of thousands or just thousands, understanding your customer will help you to be more successful when you’re trying to break into a new market.
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If you want to know more about creating customer profiles, take a look at page 35 of Brand in the Boardroom. You can find a copy here.
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If you would like to have a chat about what we have discussed in this post, please do get in touch.