Liquid Death's Benoit Vatere - Brand Disruption in the Agentic Age

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Benoit Vatere, Chief Media & Digital Commerce Officer at Liquid Death, one of the fastest growing non-alcoholic beverage brands, Liquid Death uses comedy and entertainment to make health and sustainability 50 times more fun.
This episode was recorded in Las Vegas at the 2026 Groceryshop conference.
Follow Benoit on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benoitvatere/
Follow Liquid Death online at: https://liquiddeath.com/
Benoit answers these questions:
What's actually changed for Liquid Death's retail media approach in the months since, and what hasn't?
As a brand that guards its identity fiercely, how do you decide which of these networks are actually worth Liquid Death's money versus which are just more standardized inventory to say no to?
Now that you're negotiating Joint Business Plans with grocers specifically — not just retail broadly — has that fandom leverage translated the way you expected?
AI shopping agents are showing up inside the grocery experience itself now — in-app assistants, list builders, reorder predictors. If one of those intercepts a shopper before they ever see your brand page, how is Liquid Death optimizing to stay “machine-preferred” in a grocery app specifically, versus the broader retail context we discussed at Cannes?
How do you run a Liquid Death-style disruptive activation inside a delivery experience that's built for speed, not spectacle?
Has grocery media gotten any better at supporting the kind of involved, culturally loud activations Liquid Death is known for, or is it still an uphill fight?
How tightly are your media optimization loops tied to actual shelf and delivery-dark-store inventory data today?
Is grocery retail media a defensive tool to protect your space on that shelf, or still purely offensive for you?
What's the biggest gap you see between how grocery retail media talks about innovation and what it's actually able to deliver for a brand like Liquid Death?
For a CPG media leader walking the floor here at Groceryshop trying to modernize their grocery retail media strategy, what's the single biggest reality check you'd give them to stop playing it safe?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.
CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.