📦 - Liquid Death Copycats

DTC 618 - Liquid Death Copycats, VIP Programs and Apple’s iOS Update   Wednesday, August 7, 2024 Good morning, Uh oh, Google is in hot water. A federal judge ruled this week that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining its search monopoly through exclusive contracts with key mobile ecosystem players, such as Apple. The ruling also mentioned Google is able to charge such high ad prices due to its monopoly power. More on this breaking story below. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: 👀 We spotted three water brands who are ‘strongly inspired’ by Liquid Death’s packaging. 💰 Learn how Montana Knife Company doubled revenue by leveraging a drop model to create scarcity and excitement. ✉️ And…Apple’s iOS 18 update means major changes for email marketing. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: [Duffle&Co](, [Pebble & Pine](, and [Boho Beach Hut](. 👋   PROFIT 😰 Lack Of Clarity Is Causing DTC and Retail Brands To Bleed Cash When was the last time you looked at your cash flow and felt 100% confident it was updated and accurate? What was your store’s net income last week? Or contribution margin? Not sure? Neither are most DTC and retail brands. And they bleed cash because of it. With [Finaloop](, the only ecommerce accounting software with native inventory management and expert service, brands like Duradry, The Magic Brand, and Tabs stopped the bleeding and started optimizing their profitability with confidence. [Download Finaloop’s guide]( to learn how you, too, can start navigating ecommerce accounting, bookkeeping, and even taxes. 😱 Written by ecommerce accountant expert Rayla Rappaport and DTC thought leader Aaron Orendorff, it has all the actionable templates, definitions, and tips needed to move from chaos to clarity. ✅ [Download The Free Guide For Profit]( *Sponsored   BRANDING ☠️ Three Brands Inspired By Liquid Death’s Packaging [Liquid Death]( is known for its eye-catching packaging and disruptive content marketing campaigns, so it's no surprise that many other brands try to follow the billion-dollar brand's disruptive playbook to stand out in the canned water space. Here are three influenced brands we’ve spotted: 👇 [Thirst Trap](: This Australian sparkling water beverage launched last year and social media users immediately noticed how the packaging’s bold font and gold accents resembled Liquid Death’s design. However, rather than highlighting a customer pain point, they focus on a benefit instead. Their bottles are ‘Sustainable A.F’, and they hope to target a Gen Z audience by presenting themselves as a sustainable brand. [Not Beer](: This brand takes a page from Liquid Death’s playbook by injecting humor into its website copy. Although its color palette veers away from Liquid Death’s aesthetic, it’s also adopted that cheeky fun tone that surprises and delights customers. Plus, going back to Liquid Death’s roots, the beer can bottle makes it easier for non-alcoholic drinkers to blend in at a party with the tagline ‘Never a Bad Time.’ [Bloody Water](: This brand’s product follows a similar color scheme to Liquid Death. They also use an irreverent tagline to get customer’s attention. But instead of telling customers to ‘Murder Their Thirst’ the German brand’s irreverent tagline is ‘Drink or Die!’ which seems a tad more aggressive. When your business achieves wide success, there are bound to be a few copycat brands that are ‘strongly inspired’ by your marketing playbook.   PODCAST 🎧 How Montana Knife Company Doubled Revenue With a Secret VIP Program In this episode of the pod, we are thrilled to have Brandon Horoho from [Montana Knife Company](. Brandon shares the incredible journey of growing his brand to eight figures using a unique drop model in just three years. He delves into the nuances of their secret VIP program and how it has fueled customer loyalty and repeat purchases. Brandon shares: “We separated customers into nine different tiers. We didn’t tell our customers what the tiers were, they just started receiving free products in the mail. For customers in our super high tiers, we personally called and thanked them for investing in our company.” In this podcast, we cover: - Drop Model Success: Learn how Montana Knife Company uses a drop model to create scarcity and excitement, ensuring consistent sales. - Secret VIP Program: Discover the secretive yet effective VIP program that has significantly boosted customer loyalty. - Culinary Market Expansion: Understand the strategies behind their successful entry into the culinary market, leading to record sales. - Navigating ad restrictions: How they dealt with restrictions on Meta and mainstream media since knives are categorized as weapons. 👉 You can listen to the full episode with Brandon [here](.   🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Agencies and brands must pay attention to Apple's major iOS 18 update. With the update, users will see an AI-generated summary of each email, so make sure to do some preview tests! Can't view the image? [Click here](   ⚡ QUICK HITS 🤑 Get ready to sell more with your influencer partnerships! SARAL helps you find perfect creators, manage campaigns, and track ROI effortlessly. Join 100s of brands already crushing their campaigns. [Try SARAL free for 7 days](. * 😣 How many final versions did your latest asset go through? That’s what we thought. Paige by Air takes the intuitive user-friendly experience from smartphones straight to your content management system. [Join their design program here](. *   📰 NEWS - A U.S. judge [ruled that Google has an unfair and illegal monopoly over internet search](. - Three OpenAI founding members [leave to join rival companies like Anthropic](. - e.l.f. cosmetics [partners with fitness organization Hot Girl Walk on an Olympic-inspired video campaign](.   SPONSOR DTC 📥 Got a B2B Biz? Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. [Talk to our team to learn more](.   Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 🔪 Brandon Horoho on [Scaling Montana Knife Company with VIPs]( - ⭐ [AKNF 427:]( How to Structure Your Google Ads Campaigns - 🥟 Jen Liao on [How MìLà Became a Nationwide Frozen Food Brand]( - ✉️ [AKNF 425:]( How To Fix Email Automation and Improve Retention - 🍺 Duncan Frew on [the Whisky Business and Return of The Rascal]( - ⚡ [AKNF 423:]( Optimize Post-Click Experience With Landing Pages Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Unsubscribe](