BRAVE COMMERCE: Liquid Death’s Benoit Vatere on Creative Risk, Retail Collaboration, and Cutting Through the Noise

Podcast: BRAVE COMMERCE
Host: Adweek (Featuring Sarah Hofstetter and guest co-host Andrea Steele)
Guest: Benoit Vatere, Chief Media Officer, Liquid Death
Date: October 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Sarah Hofstetter and guest co-host Andrea Steele sit down at Groceryshop with Benoit Vatere, Chief Media Officer of Liquid Death, to unpack how the beverage disruptor cuts through industry noise. The conversation explores Liquid Death’s penchant for creative risk, its approach to retailer collaboration—especially with giants like Amazon—and offers candid insights on internal and external partnership dynamics in contemporary commerce. Vatere's outsider perspective from the tech and entrepreneurial world brings fresh energy, candor, and tactical wisdom to both marketers and commerce leaders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Changing Culture at Groceryshop & Retailer-Manufacturer Relationships

• Groceryshop’s evolving vibe: Andrea Steele highlights how the mood at Groceryshop has shifted from pure selling and learning toward a focus on building together.
  • “This year I think it’s a building year. We’re all coming to the table to figure out where do we go from here, how do we drive growth together?” (Andrea Steele, 04:35)
• Alignment and co-creation: The industry is moving past education—now both retailers and manufacturers seek to co-create and drive mutual growth, focusing on foundational process excellence as a prerequisite for innovation.

2. Inside the Amazon x Liquid Death “Smarter Water” Campaign

• Campaign origin: Amazon approached Liquid Death for its “off to college” campaign, seeking impactful, creative collaboration. Vatere describes the fast-moving partnership from ideation to launch (08:42).
  • “Amazon reached out saying that they wanted to do something for what they call off to college... realizing that we’re probably a brand that they could do something very impactful with.” (Benoit Vatere, 08:42)
• Creative concept: Leveraging the quirky theory that “water has memory,” the teams created a campaign featuring thousands of Alexa devices "teaching" water, marrying humor and tech for viral effect.

3. Blending Media, Creative, & Conversion for Measurable Retail Impact

• The media-retail convergence: Vatere emphasizes that modern retailers like Amazon are also massive media companies, allowing creative campaigns to directly tie to transaction data.
  • “You cannot get awareness and conversion in a single campaign... You need to have several touch points... At least what you can do here is you have them in the ecosystem.” (Benoit Vatere, 11:20)
• North star metric: Liquid Death makes “new to brand” customer acquisition the prime goal, focusing on both audience reach and retargeting.

4. Managing Internal Drama & Interdepartmental “Turf Wars” in Retail Media

• Vatere’s transparent, drama-free philosophy: He’s candid about ignoring CPG-internal politics around retail media and focuses on outsize business impact.
  • “There’s way too much drama around this... They are partners. Like, if they win, we win. If we win, they win. Let’s work that way.” (Benoit Vatere, 12:46)
• Advice for brands: Move past legacy anxieties and politics—focus on objectives, impact, and mutual benefit with retail partners.

5. Bringing Entrepreneurial Grit to CPG

• No legacy baggage: Vatere’s outsider view from entrepreneurship means he brings more creativity and less convention to his CPG role.
  • “I’m not gonna kiss the ring. I’m just gonna go in that room and ask for what I need and explain why... I think that’s probably what I got from my background is I like to build and retailers... are ready to build with you.” (Benoit Vatere, 17:25)
• Value transparency: In both internal and external M&A, transparency and clear articulation of value are essential for lasting impact.

6. The Liquid Death Collaboration Ethos

• No briefs, no boundaries: The best partnerships are unexpected, humorous, and internal—Liquid Death eschews agencies, leveraging its in-house creative “Death Machine” team.
  • “If you expect us to do it, then we should not do it. So if it’s expected, that should not be part of what we do. Everything we’re gonna do has to be unexpected and has to lead with humor. Like, that’s our lane.” (Benoit Vatere, 20:54)
• Not for every brand: Some brands “can’t take it”—true collaboration requires risk-tolerance and a willingness to embrace Liquid Death’s offbeat, bold style.
  • “They all come in like, yeah, we are so ready. And I was like, ah, I’m not sure I can do that.” (Benoit Vatere, 21:44)

7. The Collaboration Bat-Signal: What Excites (and Annoys) Benoit Vatere

• What pitches he wants:
  • Moving audiences between platforms
  • Decoupled retailer data
  • Genuine, independent incrementality measurement for retail (not just D2C)
  • Newcomers with a fresh stance solving real industry problems
  • “If you are one of those entrepreneurs, I want to hear from you.” (Benoit Vatere, 25:11)
• What to avoid:
  • Overplayed “AI” solutions without genuine substance
  • D2C-centric incrementality platforms repackaged for retail
  • “No, you won’t. It’s very different... The dataset that you have to work with in order to measure incrementality when you’re only in retail and not in D2C is very different.” (Benoit Vatere, 23:37)

8. On Bravery—From Family to Career

• Personal acts of bravery: Vatere shares his hardest moments, recently dropping his son off at college, as well as moving from France to the US to chase the “American dream.”
  • “Leaving everything behind, moving to a different country was a bold move and required... some bravery there for sure.” (Benoit Vatere, 26:54)
  • “I’m the first one to agree, like the American dream still exists... this is a very good country where a lot of good things can happen. And I’m the example of that over the last 20 years.” (Benoit Vatere, 27:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On retailer partnerships:
  "If they win, we win. If we win, they win. Let’s work that way." (Benoit Vatere, 12:46)
• On creative ethos:
  "If you expect us to do it, then we should not do it. So if it’s expected, that should not be part of what we do. Everything we’re gonna do has to be unexpected and has to lead with humor. Like, that’s our lane." (Benoit Vatere, 20:54)
• On attracting collaborators:
  "You’ll need to use the word ‘death’ in your email subject also. That doesn’t help me to open the email... You don’t have to be funny for me to talk to you... we can just talk about business." (Benoit Vatere, 24:14)
• On the US as a land of opportunity:
  "The American dream still exists... this is a very good country where a lot of good things can happen. And I’m the example of that over the last 20 years in this country..." (Benoit Vatere, 27:30)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:35] – Andrea Steele on the evolving Groceryshop vibe & spirit of building
• [08:42] – Benoit Vatere details the Amazon x Liquid Death “Smarter Water” campaign
• [11:20] – Media, creative, and conversion: how CPG is catching up in digital commerce
• [12:46] – Vatere’s candor on “drama” and internal politics in retail media
• [17:25] – Bringing an entrepreneurial, outsider’s mindset to CPG marketing
• [20:54] – The Liquid Death collaboration mentality: unexpected and humor-focused
• [22:55] – The best/worst vendor pitches (audiences, data, AI fatigue)
• [26:27] – Benoit’s bravest moments: personal and professional

Conclusion

This episode is a candid, actionable primer in modern commerce and creative risk. Benoit Vatere champions transparency, boldness, and a healthy disregard for “how things have always been done.” Liquid Death’s brand-building, partnership approach, and tongue-in-cheek philosophy are a lesson for marketers ready to break old patterns—with bravery, fun, and results.