The art of selling a feeling

Recess, a line of CBD and adaptogen infused sparkling water, “canned a feeling.” Their website explains front and center that they’re “an antidote to modern times.” This is not a drink, it’s a state of mind.

Entrepreneurs looking to enter the market have an opportunity to re-write the rules. This means focusing on the end consumer — marketing and delivering direct to her. It also means creating better beverages and new spaces/contexts for drinking. Today’s customer wants something that’s enjoyable, conscionable, and just a bit healthier.

A client and I were recently analysing the surprising success of the canned water brand Liquid Death, now valued at over $700 million. In case you’re not familiar with it, Liquid Death is notable because the entire brand is essentially one big joke – it’s water (obviously a pure and healthy substance), presented in a “dangerous” heavy metal kind of... See more

• Merit Beauty could only feel like a calming Millennial brand once it was positioned in the chaos of Sephora’s Gen Z aisles.


• Costco spends a lot of money to make their warehouses look stripped down, so what you buy off the crate feels like a good deal.


• Red Bull didn’t mean anything until Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya started placing empty

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