Liquid I.V. spends more in ads to reach Gen Z, millennials

Last summer, Liquid I.V. marketed its product as a high performance sports beverage, but the company found that too many people did not relate to it. Instead, this year, the focus will be on hydration, said Stacey Andrade-Wells”, vice president of marketing at Liquid I.V.

“This is really an opportunity for us to broaden the platform of the brand, focus on real people, real life moments, and carve a more definitive position for the brand,” said Andrade-Wells.

Liquid I.V. has increased its marketing budget by 45% this year from last year, but it’s unclear how much of Liquid I.V.’s advertising budget is allocated to this campaign, as Andrade-Wells declined to share overall budget specifics. She also did not share more precise spend figures.

Liquid I.V. has ads running across streaming services, such as Peacock, Hulu and Amazon Fire TV, along with podcast audio reads on The Ryen Russillo Show, The Bill Simmons Podcast, and Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain on Spotify and YouTube TV. The product was also placed at Coachella.

The ads will also run on TikTok. Liquid I.V. also agreed to show the product on the red carpet and after party at Disney’s Little Mermaid premiere.

Furthermore, this brand is leveraging a new placement offered as a result of the Roku and Walmart partnership, which allows consumers to purchase Liquid I.V. directly from Walmart from a Roku television as a shoppable ad. Roku did not respond to a request for a comment on how much it is to advertise on this feature.

As BodyArmor did with Jennifer Lopez to raise brand awareness far beyond sports fans, Liquid I.V. has engaged social media influencers to help them promote their brand among Gen Z and millennials. Consequently, brands are now developing unique and robust marketing strategies to appeal to this demographic of customers to attract them to their products.

As part of its influencer marketing strategy, the brand partnered with comedian Rickey Thompson, who has three million followers, and beauty and makeup influencer Leilani Green, who has seven million followers for its #RealTok mini-video series, which started on May 2. For this, they were asked to demonstrate how Liquid I.V. kept them hydrated during their work as they created these behind the scenes videos. As part of this brand marketing strategy, the goal is to show what influencers’ lives really look like right now beyond what they publish every day on their social media channels. The financial agreement between the parties was not disclosed.

Other brands have an eye toward summer, including Glow Sparkling Hydration, a electrolyte hydration and caffeine beverage, which just signed Kylie Jenner, and Slice, a fruit flavored drink, is ramping up its OOH advertising.

The CEO and co-founder of Beeyond Media, a digital out-of-home programmatic advertising company, Alejandro Donzis, says that social media can also be incorporated into larger campaigns to drive results, as they can increase user engagement and extend reach of OOH messaging.

“The use of the hashtag #RealTok is a great way to encourage user-generated content and social media engagement, which can be a powerful tool in building brand loyalty and advocacy,” he said. “Incorporating social media into OOH campaigns can help drive engagement and foster a sense of community around the brand.”