Facsimile of Thought

Images of a “new” brand called Not Beer seem to be doing the rounds on the internet over the last couple of days.

The brand sells a 0 carb, 0% ABV, 0 calorie beverage. Sparkingling Water. They claim that it is “the world’s first zero carb, zero alcohol, zero taste... beer”.

Whilst there are some novel twists at play (use of Budweiser colours, anchoring the category vs. Beer), this appears to be a direct re-hash of the Liquid Death approach and brand positioning. A brand which has taken an incredibly bold and challenging position relative to the rest of the water category. Press releases from Not Beer may try to convince us otherwise, but this is a pale imitation of Liquid Death and is clearly an attempt to ride on the coat-tails of a brand now valued at $1.5bn

Having worked for a long time with Oatly, it’s interesting to see how this sort of copy-cat behaviour happens. Oatly didn’t create the dairy alt category, but they certainly shook it up. They moved it from ‘medicine’ to a positive lifestyle choice. Their timing was superb, but they have worked hard to bring a new sensibility to a category previously marketed as a means of managing allergies. As Oatly’s star rose, a host of copy cats emerged. Some borrowed from their ‘philosophy’ - Minor Figures for instance. Other borrowed more directly, using a similar style of art direction to drive their packaging and tone of voice. Having been ‘counter category’, Oatly quickly came to define and drive the category.

What happens then?

Do you double down? Or do you pivot?

Oatly have clearly had a challenge in maintaining the growth which has characterised much of the last ten years for them. Increased costs of living and increased competition from look-a-like competitors and own label rivals have seen consumers evaluate their choice to buy Oatly more readily than they might have in years gone by.

I’d wager we’ll see more brands mimic Liquid Death’s approach within the water category. It’ll be interesting to see the level to which those brands copy their playbook (Not a Beer, like Liquid Death, also seem set on ‘irreverence’ as a strategy) and the the impact that might have on the ability of Liquid Death to grow or defend market share.

Sadly, just another good example of Bill Hick’s view that some ad professionals are the ‘ruiners of all things good’. Liquid Death is a very powerful brand idea, one which took guts to bring to market and one which also requires real skill and ingenuity to execute against (especially with the level of consistency that they have).

This is a pale, imitation. A facsimile of a thought.