M&A bolt-on · Pepsi → target #6 of 10

Liquid Death

Disruptive premium beverage brand targeting eco-conscious consumers through aggressive, irreverent marketing and plastic-free packaging.

Founded 2017 · Competes with Perrier, LaCroix, Bubly, Topo Chico · Partnerships: Live Nation, Various Independent Music Artists

Corporate details are Qloo entity data.

Pass

53.4F / 100

90% of the weighted evidence measured

Why this verdict

F 53.4 < 62.

Scores, flags and verdicts are computed in code. The agents can only argue with the ledger; they never set the score.

Six audience metrics

Bar = this target; tick = shortlist average.

m1 Two-way audience affinity

0.66

Harmonic mean of the buyer audience’s affinity for the target and the target audience’s affinity for the buyer’s brands.

m2 Taste-profile overlap

0.23

Rank-weighted overlap of the two audiences’ top-50 cultural taste tags.

m3 Cross-domain agreement

0.81

How strongly the target’s audience embraces the buyer audience’s favourite artists, shows, films and podcasts.

m4 Demographic alignment

0.59

Similarity of the two audiences’ age and gender over-index profiles.

m5 Geographic footprint

0.26

Correlation of metro-level audience affinity, relative to the screened cohort.

m6 Momentum not measured

n/a

Trending rank change over the last 4 weeks vs the 8 before, relative to the cohort.

Qloo's trending series did not move for this brand or the cohort in the 12 weeks to 2026-10-23, so momentum is not measurable for this window.

How F is built

Points each metric adds (weights for M&A bolt-on, renormalised over what Qloo could measure).

Metric	Weight	Points
Two-way audience affinity	0.30	22.1
Taste-profile overlap	0.20	5.0
Cross-domain agreement	0.15	13.5
Demographic alignment	0.15	9.9
Geographic footprint	0.10	2.9
Momentum	not measured	–
F		53.4

Qloo explainability: the buyer-side signals driving the forward affinity are Doritos (0.27), Gatorade (0.26), Pepsi (0.24), Quaker Oats Company (0.23).

Shared catalogue categories (Qloo compare): Food & Beverage, Drinks.

Where the audiences meet, across culture

The buyer audience’s top titles in each domain, ranked by how strongly Liquid Death’s audience embraces them.

Music0.78

Embraced: Anuel AA, J Balvin, Farruko · Least shared: Alejandro Sanz, Ricky Martin, Camila

TV0.88

Embraced: Reba, Republic of Doyle, That '90s Show · Least shared: Soundtrack, Blown Away, Cheer

Film0.81

Embraced: Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse · Least shared: Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, Aquaman, Thor: Ragnarok

Podcasts0.79

Embraced: The Tony Robbins Podcast, Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik, The Tai Lopez Show · Least shared: Joyce Meyer Enjoying Everyday Life® Radio Podcast, The Double Win, Elevation with Steven Furtick

Taste profile overlap

21 of 79 top taste tags shared.

Both over-index on

rockelectronicfriendAlternative Rockteenagerfriendshipteenage girlfight

Buyer only

Pulpo A La Brasa, Seared Diver Scallops, Mole, female protagonist, pop

Liquid Death only

Bar, Broccolini, dark comedy, superhero, Comics

Audience shape

Pepsi (buyer) Liquid Death

Relative over-index (+) or under-index (−) of each aggregate audience, from Qloo. Not individual data.

Momentum

Qloo's trending series did not move for this brand or the cohort in the 12 weeks to 2026-10-23, so momentum is not measurable for this window.

Footprint overlap for distribution

White space: Liquid Death strong, buyer weak Shared stronghold Other metros

White space

Portland, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Boise, Denver, Sacramento, Seattle

Shared strongholds

Pittsburgh, Los Angeles

Bull vs bear

No debate on this run.

Provenance: 31 Qloo calls behind this target

Requests as sent (the API key travels in a header and is never logged). Responses are cached privately on the server.

Endpoint	Status	Result	Source
/v2/insights	ok	29 of 29 candidates scored	cache
/v2/insights	ok	29 profile(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	50 taste tag(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 recommended tv_show(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 recommended artist(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 recommended podcast(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 recommended movie(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	demographics for 14 of 14 entities	cache
/v2/insights	ok	7265 heatmap cell(s) in United States	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/trending	ok	26 trend point(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	50 taste tag(s)	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 of 25 candidates scored	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 of 25 candidates scored	cache
/v2/insights	ok	4 of 4 candidates scored	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 of 25 candidates scored	cache
/v2/insights	ok	25 of 25 candidates scored	cache
/v2/insights	ok	6497 heatmap cell(s) in United States	cache
/v2/analysis/compare	ok	2 shared catalogue tag(s)	cache

Evidence rows (what bull, bear and the judge see)

[
 {
  "id": "t5-flags",
  "label": "Red flags (code rules)",
  "data": {
   "flags": []
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {}
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-m1",
  "label": "m1 Two-way audience affinity",
  "data": {
   "a": 0.6746609876100584,
   "b": 0.6510686268449065,
   "ratio": 0.9650307914665018,
   "value": 0.6626548852794455,
   "reverse": [
    {
     "id": "EA3901B0-A3A5-43F5-AC2A-45C35C400926",
     "name": "Doritos",
     "affinity": 0.7098757200564189
    },
    {
     "id": "18316CE7-595D-4469-8FDF-43D1B70021E4",
     "name": "Gatorade",
     "affinity": 0.678369867746954
    },
    {
     "id": "957B527A-CF2C-4283-A2FD-3F49741DF5DE",
     "name": "Pepsi",
     "affinity": 0.6256780865654579
    },
    {
     "id": "099E174E-1FEC-4AD9-80F2-92C2E6CBD6ED",
     "name": "Quaker Oats Company",
     "affinity": 0.5903508330107953
    }
   ],
   "coverage": 1
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {
   "a": 0.6954073847687763,
   "b": 0.6694354298272059,
   "ratio": 0.9634521435376324,
   "value": 0.6821611379345072
  }
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-m2",
  "label": "m2 Taste-profile overlap",
  "data": {
   "value": 0.22537241710716002,
   "shared": [
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:genre:music:rock",
     "name": "rock",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:genre:music"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:genre:music:electronic",
     "name": "electronic",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:genre:music"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:friend",
     "name": "friend",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:genre:music:alternative_rock",
     "name": "Alternative Rock",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:genre:music"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:teenager",
     "name": "teenager",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:friendship",
     "name": "friendship",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:teenage_girl",
     "name": "teenage girl",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:fight",
     "name": "fight",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    }
   ],
   "coverage": 1,
   "buyerOnly": [
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place:pulpo_a_la_brasa",
     "name": "Pulpo A La Brasa",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place:seared_diver_scallops",
     "name": "Seared Diver Scallops",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place:mole",
     "name": "Mole",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:female_protagonist",
     "name": "female protagonist",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:genre:music:pop",
     "name": "pop",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:genre:music"
    }
   ],
   "targetOnly": [
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:genre:place:restaurant:bar",
     "name": "Bar",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:genre:place"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place:broccolini",
     "name": "Broccolini",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:specialty_dish:place"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:dark_comedy",
     "name": "dark comedy",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:keyword:media:superhero",
     "name": "superhero",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:keyword:media"
    },
    {
     "id": "urn:tag:genre:media:comics",
     "name": "Comics",
     "subtype": "urn:tag:genre:media"
    }
   ],
   "unionCount": 79,
   "sharedCount": 21,
   "buyerTop20MissingShare": 0.4
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {
   "value": 0.22491966033658706,
   "sharedCount": 20.11111111111111,
   "buyerTop20MissingShare": 0.41666666666666674
  }
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-m3",
  "label": "m3 Cross-domain agreement",
  "data": {
   "value": 0.8128852725321046,
   "domains": [
    {
     "type": "urn:entity:artist",
     "clash": [
      {
       "name": "Alejandro Sanz",
       "affinity": 0.7245359075321278
      },
      {
       "name": "Ricky Martin",
       "affinity": 0.7431578910358377
      },
      {
       "name": "Camila",
       "affinity": 0.7454187560451001
      }
     ],
     "label": "Music",
     "score": 0.7770337982470881,
     "shared": [
      {
       "name": "Anuel AA",
       "affinity": 0.830229511457369
      },
      {
       "name": "J Balvin",
       "affinity": 0.8255984899110123
      },
      {
       "name": "Farruko",
       "affinity": 0.8179791000369305
      }
     ],
     "expected": 25,
     "returned": 25
    },
    {
     "type": "urn:entity:tv_show",
     "clash": [
      {
       "name": "Soundtrack",
       "affinity": 0.8598192463999568
      },
      {
       "name": "Blown Away",
       "affinity": 0.8610567424532467
      },
      {
       "name": "Cheer",
       "affinity": 0.8617955857959734
      }
     ],
     "label": "TV",
     "score": 0.8821528511360506,
     "shared": [
      {
       "name": "Reba",
       "affinity": 0.9061914732768126
      },
      {
       "name": "Republic of Doyle",
       "affinity": 0.906170503564757
      },
      {
       "name": "That '90s Show",
       "affinity": 0.905114162820063
      }
     ],
     "expected": 25,
     "returned": 25
    },
    {
     "type": "urn:entity:movie",
     "clash": [
      {
       "name": "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2",
       "affinity": 0.7759858087576472
      },
      {
       "name": "Aquaman",
       "affinity": 0.7770103146917344
      },
      {
       "name": "Thor: Ragnarok",
       "affinity": 0.7815470453382284
      }
     ],
     "label": "Film",
     "score": 0.8052020853409089,
     "shared": [
      {
       "name": "Pokémon: Detective Pikachu",
       "affinity": 0.8388543676094065
      },
      {
       "name": "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker",
       "affinity": 0.8357742101937743
      },
      {
       "name": "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse",
       "affinity": 0.8319134152244724
      }
     ],
     "expected": 25,
     "returned": 25
    },
    {
     "type": "urn:entity:podcast",
     "clash": [
      {
       "name": "Joyce Meyer Enjoying Everyday Life® Radio Podcast",
       "affinity": 0.7139378039969615
      },
      {
       "name": "The Double Win",
       "affinity": 0.7173923626981614
      },
      {
       "name": "Elevation with Steven Furtick",
       "affinity": 0.7235632837202541
      }
     ],
     "label": "Podcasts",
     "score": 0.7871523554043712,
     "shared": [
      {
       "name": "The Tony Robbins Podcast",
       "affinity": 0.8508384845517943
      },
      {
       "name": "Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik",
       "affinity": 0.8469336165795969
      },
      {
       "name": "The Tai Lopez Show",
       "affinity": 0.8454953400048315
      }
     ],
     "expected": 25,
     "returned": 25
    }
   ],
   "coverage": 1
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {
   "value": 0.8142200656582131,
   "domains[0].score": 0.7712218159459897,
   "domains[1].score": 0.8930482681153483,
   "domains[2].score": 0.7853466318542113,
   "domains[3].score": 0.8072635467173033
  }
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-m4",
  "label": "m4 Demographic alignment",
  "data": {
   "buyer": {
    "male": 0.11749999999999998,
    "female": -0.11749999999999998,
    "25_to_29": 0.29000000000000004,
    "30_to_34": -0.0675,
    "35_to_44": -0.22000000000000003,
    "45_to_54": -0.475,
    "55_and_older": -0.3825,
    "24_and_younger": 0.19999999999999998
   },
   "value": 0.59368399856885,
   "cosine": 0.18736799713769994,
   "target": {
    "male": 0.43,
    "female": -0.43,
    "25_to_29": -0.23,
    "30_to_34": -0.61,
    "35_to_44": 0.09,
    "45_to_54": 0.33,
    "55_and_older": -0.74,
    "24_and_younger": -0.05
   },
   "coverage": 1,
   "biggestGap": {
    "buyer": -0.475,
    "bucket": "45_to_54",
    "target": 0.33
   }
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {
   "value": 0.5395238058358314,
   "cosine": 0.07904761167166277
  }
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-m5",
  "label": "m5 Geographic footprint",
  "data": {
   "value": 0.26170630965877756,
   "coverage": 1,
   "metroCount": 55,
   "whiteSpace": [
    {
     "lat": 45.5152,
     "lon": -122.6784,
     "buyer": 0.6370498133412997,
     "metro": "Portland",
     "target": 0.9379031369085649,
     "buyerRel": -0.2010937201444889,
     "targetRel": 0.09975960342277623
    },
    {
     "lat": 35.0844,
     "lon": -106.6504,
     "buyer": 0.6157961515121241,
     "metro": "Albuquerque",
     "target": 0.8895307547090736,
     "buyerRel": -0.17415876261034524,
     "targetRel": 0.09957584058660429
    },
    {
     "lat": 40.7608,
     "lon": -111.891,
     "buyer": 0.7206721490378312,
     "metro": "Salt Lake City",
     "target": 0.938285004220123,
     "buyerRel": -0.13592890299611915,
     "targetRel": 0.08168395218617264
    },
    {
     "lat": 32.2226,
     "lon": -110.9747,
     "buyer": 0.6089413566713184,
     "metro": "Tucson",
     "target": 0.8770236586670463,
     "buyerRel": -0.19662717112740113,
     "targetRel": 0.07145513086832678
    },
    {
     "lat": 43.615,
     "lon": -116.2023,
     "buyer": 0.5548783018204364,
     "metro": "Boise",
     "target": 0.8531970935584715,
     "buyerRel": -0.23160565198839222,
     "targetRel": 0.06671313974964288
    },
    {
     "lat": 39.7392,
     "lon": -104.9903,
     "buyer": 0.7450534356097144,
     "metro": "Denver",
     "target": 0.9476506303668593,
     "buyerRel": -0.13650699229926644,
     "targetRel": 0.06609020245787844
    },
    {
     "lat": 38.5816,
     "lon": -121.4944,
     "buyer": 0.7552310511414703,
     "metro": "Sacramento",
     "target": 0.918727711138574,
     "buyerRel": -0.10426585332328575,
     "targetRel": 0.05923080667381797
    },
    {
     "lat": 47.6062,
     "lon": -122.3321,
     "buyer": 0.7106098918205455,
     "metro": "Seattle",
     "target": 0.9166371116311971,
     "buyerRel": -0.1506472528033782,
     "targetRel": 0.055379967007273434
    }
   ],
   "correlation": -0.4765873806824449,
   "strongholds": [
    {
     "lat": 40.4406,
     "lon": -79.9959,
     "buyer": 0.8027934510153324,
     "metro": "Pittsburgh",
     "target": 0.934729713877808,
     "buyerRel": -0.062171694509449926,
     "targetRel": 0.06976456835302569
    },
    {
     "lat": 34.0522,
     "lon": -118.2437,
     "buyer": 0.8809040566588447,
     "metro": "Los Angeles",
     "target": 0.972673021922446,
     "buyerRel": -0.044316050152537145,
     "targetRel": 0.04745291511106409
    }
   ],
   "whiteSpaceCount": 11,
   "relativeToCohort": true
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {
   "value": 0.3788101542840746,
   "correlation": -0.2423796914318507
  }
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-m6",
  "label": "m6 Momentum",
  "data": {
   "z": null,
   "note": "Qloo's trending series did not move for this brand or the cohort in the 12 weeks to 2026-10-23, so momentum is not measurable for this window.",
   "value": null,
   "priorSd": null,
   "coverage": 0,
   "priorMean": null,
   "normalised": true,
   "recentMean": null
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {}
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-profile",
  "label": "Qloo entity profile: Liquid Death",
  "data": {
   "name": "Liquid Death",
   "drivers": [
    {
     "name": "Doritos",
     "score": 0.27258098869565134
    },
    {
     "name": "Gatorade",
     "score": 0.26048324238657833
    },
    {
     "name": "Pepsi",
     "score": 0.24025043627025472
    },
    {
     "name": "Quaker Oats Company",
     "score": 0.22668533264751556
    }
   ],
   "ownership": "unknown",
   "keyMarkets": [
    "United States"
   ],
   "popularity": 0.9201996914783611,
   "screenRank": 5,
   "foundedYear": 2017,
   "priceRangeUsd": [
    2,
    25
   ],
   "ultimateParent": null,
   "forwardAffinity": 0.6746609876100584,
   "competitorBrands": [
    "Perrier",
    "LaCroix",
    "Bubly",
    "Topo Chico",
    "San Pellegrino"
   ],
   "sharedCategories": [
    {
     "name": "Food & Beverage",
     "score": 0.7305072539555804
    },
    {
     "name": "Drinks",
     "score": 0.7297067290653321
    }
   ],
   "knownPartnerships": [
    "Live Nation",
    "Various Independent Music Artists"
   ],
   "marketPositioning": "Disruptive premium beverage brand targeting eco-conscious consumers through aggressive, irreverent marketing and plastic-free packaging."
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {}
 },
 {
  "id": "t5-score",
  "label": "Composite score",
  "data": {
   "F": 53.44744118180962,
   "points": {
    "m1": 22.088496175981515,
    "m2": 5.008275935714667,
    "m3": 13.548087875535076,
    "m4": 9.894733309480834,
    "m5": 2.9078478850975285,
    "m6": 0
   },
   "coverage": 0.9
  },
  "shortlistAverages": {
   "F": 55.38338238220258,
   "coverage": 0.8800000000000001
  }
 }
]