EoB #9: Lo-Fi Marketing

A week or two ago I was introduced to a disturbingly named odor-removing product: Pooph. (Don’t even ask how many times I fought with auto-correct on that spelling.) But even more surprising than the spray’s name was the way it was advertised. I was mindlessly zoned out during some amalgamation of World Series playoffs, Red Zone quadbox, and Real Housewives reunions when a commercial came on that felt so familiar, I thought it had to be a spoof.

In the ad, a nondescript white dude hawks the power of the Pooph spray from a pop-up tent at some vague sort of outdoor event (a county fair? a child’s soccer game?) to a crowd of enthralled onlookers. He has a level of charisma and lack of volume control that would put the Dollar Shave Club guy to shame.

He shoves a napkin doused in ammonia in a bypasser’s face before Pooph-ing it and encouraging her to re-smell.

He sprays Pooph into his own mouth to demonstrate its safety.

“I guarantee you’ll never use anything else again!” he screams during a voice-over. (Who he is and why we should trust his guarantee is never addressed in the ad, though a Google search revealed that he is an actor named Johnny Toon.)

This man is a force of nature. He’s also an example of a recent advertising trend: the return of the pitchman, repackaged as lo-fi marketing.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Door-to-Door Salesman

Some version of door-to-door sales has existed for centuries, with the original peddlers selling their own handmade or home-grown goods. In the 19th century peddlers began to sell mass-produced goods both as an early type of sales rep for businesses and as door-to-door salesmen for consumers. Brands relied heavily on these traveling salesmen to drive growth and brand awareness in major markets and more dispersed, rural areas.

By the late 1800s, classic door-to-door companies like Avon were beginning and the modern pitchman was born. As media evolved over the decades, brands used similar sales strategies across radio, tv and print. Ads told you, very directly and explicitly, how the product worked and what it did. (The exception being anything personal hygiene-related.)

The Show, Don’t Tell Me State

Beginning with the Golden Age of Advertising in the 1950s, brands began to move away from leaning on literal demonstrations and explanations into the “show, don’t tell” era of advertising and marketing. Products were displayed in proximity to wealth, fun, health, and happiness, with the implication being that you’ll have these things too if you just buy the product.

A few key cultural shifts likely led to this change in strategy:

• As more companies mass-produced products with overlapping functionality, brands needed a “personality” to set them apart.

• There was a shift in attitudes towards salesmen, portraying them in the media as inherently untrustworthy. Traveling salesmen often hawked snake oil since they weren’t accountable, or traceable, in the community. (Billy Crudup is a great example of this trope in AppleTV’s Hello Tomorrow!)

• A post-WWII boom enriched a new middle class and unlocked upper-middle class access for a group of nouveau riche. This upward mobility felt even more attainable with the right products and lifestyle.

• Growth in the areas of psychology and consumer sciences left marketers eager to explore “what makes people tick.” There was even significant interest in things like subliminal messages in advertising, spurred by a 1957 study in which James Vicary claimed he significantly improved concession sales at a movie theater by flashing “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Coca-Cola” for fractions of a second. (He later admitted that these results were faked.)

• New regulations made it difficult to be literal in ads for certain products, such as tobacco and alcohol. In 1964 the US Surgeon General announced that “cigarette smoking is a health hazard,” so manufacturers could no longer claim that they were unaware of cancer risks or that their brand was “doctor approved.” They could, however, show the new, liberated woman enjoying a Virginia Slim.

Act Now! Not Available In Stores

The 80s and 90s were the peak of the tv shopping era, with the birth of QVC and the Home Shopping Network. Small companies used infomercials on late-night tv to move their product by showcasing the miraculous ways that it worked. The Bowflex would get you shredded. Jack LaLanne’s Power Juicer could heal all that ails you. Proactiv would give you the face of an angel. These products were so popular in part because of how they were sold.

While name brands generally balked at infomercials, smaller and newer companies embraced the trend. By the mid-90s, stand-alone As Seen On TV stores were popping up in malls across America to give consumers direct access to the wacky appliances and products they loved.

Then, the stars aligned in the 2000s to create a perfect storm of pitchmen. Reality tv became the dominant genre, due in part to the 2007-2008 writer’s strike. This pop culture moment bled over into the advertising, where commercials began to mirror the content they were sandwiched between, with less polish and a more human feel. Then the Great Recession began in 2008, driving consumer interest in life-changing magic for a low, low price. Infomercials began taking over hours-long broadcast spots late at night and in the morning, spaces traditionally reserved for syndicated reruns.

And thus, the rise of Billy Mays and the ShamWow guy. This new brand of bombastic carnival-style pitchman, yelling benefits at full-volume, became so popular that Billy was even signed by “legitimate” brands like ESPN and Taco Bell to do ads. (Unfortunately he passed away in 2009, before the Taco Bell ads could be produced. I’m desperate to know what they would have been like.)

But this pitchman revival was short-lived. As we rebounded from the Great Recession and the economy had begun to recover, people were tired of the schtick. They had extra cash to burn and didn’t want to be pitched cheap miracles anymore. Plus, with the passing of Mays one of the industry’s most recognizable faces and voices was gone. The My Pillow guy is, quite simply, not it.

Back To The Future

Now, let me set the stage: The year is 2023. Writers are on strike, again. The country (and perhaps the world) are teetering on the edge of a recession, again. Dozens of reality shows are available to stream on a whim, again(ish). What proven strategy might marketers turn to?

Realistic ads, or what we in the biz are now calling “lo-fi marketing.” Lo-fi marketing is less produced, typically features real people instead of celebrities or actors, and uses content created specifically for/on the platform it’s shown on. Think Instagram ads that were clearly filmed on an iPhone. Lo-fi marketing can be sponsored user-generated content (UGC), but there are also campaigns custom-created by brands to mimic the trend.

Beyond the similarities with the 2000s infomercial era, there are several other factors driving the trend in lo-fi marketing:

• Lo-fi marketing really started to take off during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brands and agencies didn’t have access to their studios or production tools, so they leveraged content people were creating at home. Some brands even embraced DIY content from their own talent, like fashion brand LuLus who had all models shoot their clothing at home, as selfies.

• The rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels meant consumers had spaces where they could mindlessly scroll for hours with a never-ending feed.

• Because of the amount of content on these platforms, trends like micro-influencers and de-influencing have gained popularity. Algorithms create an echo chamber where what is popular is promoted, and thus popular, so trends are quickly amplified. Consumers want recommendations from people they feel are more trustworthy than OG influencers like the Kardashians who, notoriously, will shill anything. (Some of this distrust was fueled by the never-ending loop giveaways many of these influencers participated in - a whole other rabbit hole to fall down.)

• Covid layoffs and the looming recession have created a culture of side-hustles, including content creators and product reviewers.

• The rise of AI, CGI, and FaceTune-style apps have led consumers to be hyper-aware of the uncanny valley look. As a result, there has been a return to a more natural aesthetic, moving from the airbrushed, contoured, Spanx’ed-to-the-heavens style of the 2010s back to the soft, “model off duty” looks of the 90s. (See: Latte girl makeup.)

Like all things, lo-fi marketing is spectrum that spans across “unpolished” polished content to UGC to truly weird, wild content that can be surprising to see from a legacy brand.

I’m Real ft. Ja Rule

So, aside from Poomph (honestly, the name!), who’s winning at this new-old style of reality-based marketing?

Here are some of my favorites:

Airbnb

Much to my chagrin, evil giants like Amazon and Airbnb are also often evil geniuses. Airbnb’s new spots are unusual and delightful, and while they absolutely spent a mind-boggling amount on production, they retain a natural quality.

Tracksmith

A relatively niche brand of vintage-style running gear filmed a soothing, meditative run through the Colorado wilderness titled Church of the Long Run. There’s no call to action or sales pitch; it’s simply 80 minutes of a real person using the real products.

Tennessee Titans

The product marketer in me thinks there is no bigger Tier 1 Launch than a pro sports team’s schedule for the year. So what better way to reveal the matchups of the new season than… using people who do not watch your team or your sport?

sweetgreen

My guilty pleasure is a desk salad pushing $20 in cost that I will wolf down in the six minutes between calls that someone has graciously “given me back” when the meeting they hosted ends early. sweetgreen gets me.

@sweetgreen

it be like that sometimes #sweetgreen #salad #carsalad

Nikon

If we’re connected on LinkedIn, you know I’ve spent the last year focused on an AI content creation tool, so these Nikon ads featuring UGC of real places paired with unhinged AI prompts really landed with me. Plus, the campaign name, Natural Intelligence, is perfection. No notes.

When the fears of recession fade and appointment TV returns, lo-fi marketing will likely move back out of popularity. I’ll welcome the return of maximalist, over-produced campaigns when the time comes. But for now I’m content to browse leggings while watching someone else run for an hour and twenty minutes through the woods while wearing them.

But Wait! There’s More! (Links!)

• As someone who is perpetually served oat milk when I order whole milk (is this a Philly accent thing??) this site brings me perverse joy despite being owned by Big Oat.

• I need you to know that every episode of the 2009’s reality tv show Pitchmen starring Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan is available on Amazon Prime.

• #NeverForget that Kris Jenner is an OG infomercial queen.

• Aren’t these basically just a modern day version of The Clapper?

• Mark Wahlberg is producing two(?) Jack LaLanne films. Fun Fact: Jack’s wife is Elaine LaLanne.💀 God bless her.

@instylerhair

our infomercials are renowned 😅 #throwback #infomercial #MakeItCinematic #rotatingiron #volume #instyler #nostalgia #2000s #fyp #childhoodmemories