Hydration for a Thirsty World
The creators of Liquid I.V. had good news for a thirsty world — a truly breakthrough hydration product. The science was brilliant: Speed healthful hydration to the bloodstream – aka, feel better faster. As a hyper-local LA brand, Liquid I.V. approached Moontide in the early start-up stage with a big idea and a big challenge — they needed a partner to help them scale their thirst-quenching concept into a national brand despite lacking formal retail distribution, infrastructure and a brand platform at the time. The fledgling company needed equally breakthrough thinking to reach water bottles coast to coast in a $8 billion hydration category in the U.S. that had grown at a CAGR of 9% from 2018 to 2022 (Fact.MR).
BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP
Our multidisciplinary team dove right in, utilizing our strategic experience, business acumen, and creative talent to build Liquid I.V.’s brand from the ground up starting with an iconic visual identity and system that both honored their “why,” while signaling their ambitious growth aspirations.
Prior to our partnership, Liquid I.V. had been sold as a bottled product. We participated in consultation on the product itself and helped the company rethink their packaging and delivery method to shift to a powder that could be delivered into the liquid beverage of the consumer’s choice. As part of this fundamental pivot, we worked together on their pricing strategy and supported the naming of Cellular Transport Technology (CTT®). which has become a core part of the brand’s identity and innovation strategy. Moontide was a true strategic and creative partner in successfully positioning Liquid I.V. as a premium brand in the category.
ACTIVELY SHAPING THE MARKET
Our talented team of photographers, filmmakers, and writers created the brand’s first library of world-class, dynamic editorial content that visually brought the Liquid I.V. story to life across various platforms and helped educate early enthusiasts on the revolutionary science behind the formulation. We fully redesigned the Liquid I.V. website into a bolder ecommerce presence that helped communicate the brand’s mission to provide the world more efficient hydration than H2O alone. Our edutainment ecosystem created a watershed moment for the brand to influence the early majority’s adoption of its innovative offering.
We built a multi-pronged regional marketing and media plan designed to support retail partnerships and build brand awareness in launch markets across the country that coincided with consumer insights on the total addressable market. The cornerstone of the plan was growth-minded social media, which served as content delivery platforms in both paid and organic channels. Campaigns were efficiently targeted by geography and active lifestyle interests, with local retail partners tagged to boost awareness and the brand’s philanthropic efforts interwoven to authentically engender affinity.
In addition to content marketing and national advertising, we increased visibility and drove trials in the retail footprint by conducting in-store demos at top-performing locations and having an active presence with our prioritized strategic audience segments at relevant and high-traffic city events like marathons and bicycle races.
Satisfying Results
Our cohesive and integrated approach created a real thirst for the revolutionary product. Our approach led to a groundswell of B2B and B2C advocacy that opened the floodgates for the brand to expand through best-in-class influencer marketing, membership and loyalty programs.
In just 24 months, Liquid I.V. went from a virtually unknown LA brand to a household name stocked in over 5,000 stores, to an acquisition by Unilever. It was an incredible growth trajectory in which we are proud to have played a foundational role.
