MUD\WTR

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I'm not going to lie. This playbook is about MUD\WTR. The coffee alternative. And I've tried it and it works. But I'm writing this as I drink a triple shot espresso with moon milk (if you're from Austin then you know). Am I jittery? Yeah. Am I gunna crash? Yeah. Was it worth it? Also, yeah.

But first, a huge thank you to our partners Superside and Refunnel.

In Partnership With Superside

How To Scale Creative Across Platforms

MUD\WTR runs over 100 ads absolutely blasting coffee.

And they can scale winning creative across assets, without the bloat of an expensive internal team.

By using creative subscriptions like Superside, you can:

• Test ad creative fast

• Spin up landing pages

• Create animations and illustrations

At scale. Delivered within 24 hours.

Here’s why we use it:

• 20x faster than creating assets in-house

• 50% cheaper than outsourcing ourselves

• 43% increase in CTR for our ads

And it’s not just us.

Figma, Reddit, Zapier, Webflow, and Shopify + 450 more brands rely on Superside as their creative subscription service.

“Start your morning with a new energizing mushroom drink.”

Ehhh I’ll pass…

“Start your morning with the #1 coffee alternative on the market.”

Now I’m listening…

This is MUD\WTR’s masterclass in how to communicate when creating a new category.

Pick an Enemy

For category-creating products as unique as MUD\WTR, customer education is a common challenge.

MUD\WTR used a clever positioning strategy that helped the brand take off immediately without having to create awareness from scratch.

Pick an enemy, and position yourself as a better alternative.

MUD\WTR capitalized on something familiar, like coffee, and positioned itself as superior in every way.

The contrast creates a clear identity, making it easier for consumers to understand and remember the product.

So if you don’t love the negative effects of coffee, their positioning quickly captures your attention.

Consistent Messaging

MUD\WTR’s message is consistent across all platforms.

Every interaction, be it in their ads, their website, or product descriptions, echoes their core message as the “#1 coffee alternative”.

MUD\WTR is just like coffee in all the good ways, but none of the bad.

Among its 130 Meta ad creatives, more than 110 are about how MUD\WTR is a better alternative to coffee with all the energy but without the jitters.

Create a Ritual

MUD\WTR reiterates the message of how to create a “new morning ritual” with highly targeted and educational landing pages.

They recognized that coffee is about more than caffeine: it’s the ritual.

So they included a healthier version of creamer and sweetener, to reinforce that MUD\WTR is just like coffee - except better.

And they didn’t stop there.

They recognized that coffee holds a rich cultural and historical significance for its drinkers.

So they highlighted that their product contains ingredients with cultural importance, effectively positioning itself as not just a trendy alternative, but a beverage with longstanding cultural value.

Every product is a response to a gap in the market.

You wouldn’t have created your product if you didn’t think it was better than what’s out there.

So here’s the TLDR of how to take the best of MUD\WTR’s playbook and apply it to your brand:

1. Position against an enemy.

2. Dig for the underlying attachments to existing products.

3. Highlight the shortcomings.

4. Find a winning message and replicate across platforms.

5. Create a ritual around your solution.

_{In Partnership With Refunnel}

Btw, MUD\WTR is obviously killing the UGC game.

I haven’t seen a 9-figure DTC brand that isn’t.

And none of these folks are doing it themselves.

They’re scaling their internal teams by using tools like Refunnel to:

• Launch UGC challenges

• Download and categorize content in one location

• Reward customers who post with CashBack

With Refunnel, you can instantly acquire usage rights to redistribute organic content across platforms.

Even though it’s only $99/month, I got you a 15-day free trial first.

🕳 Rabbit Hole Reads and Resources

• Churn isn't a Customer Success (CS) problem: why we think customers churn & why they actually do. (LINK)

• Lesson from a giant: why Nike’s DTC pivot didn’t pan out. (LINK)

• Stanley hype continues: How Stanley Turned A 110-Year-Old Water Bottle Into A $750 Million Business. (LINK)

• Starting out on TikTok? TikTok tools that actually work shared by a Redditor. (LINK)

• The future: community is a product, not the product. (LINK)