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What is low-fidelity content?
Lo-fi is the opposite of stylised, glossy, fully edited, high-spec high-fidelity (hi-fi) content. “Lo-fi content looks user-generated rather than highly polished,” says We Are Sprout founder Drew Ridley.
In the past, brands – particularly medium to large ones – have stuck closely to content style guides and focused on projecting a perfect brand image. But we have seen a shift in the content audiences want and are engaging with, with relatable, authentic content taking centre stage.
Why lo-fi? Four reasons
There are a number of reasons why lo-fi should be at the forefront of food and drink brand content strategies. Ridley’s top four are:
- Lo-fi content is what audiences want and it works. HubSpot’s 2024 Social Media Marketing Report shows more than 60 percent of consumers say authentic and relatable content is more important than polished, high-quality content. This can be seen in results too, with lo-fi content generating greater engagement among audiences. One study showed lo-fi videos receive 40 percent more views than hi-fi. Social algorithms favour content that generates high engagement, so this results in greater reach for your brand.
- It’s more timely and quicker. Producing lo-fi content allows you to jump on hot topics or trends fast. It allows you to capture an unplanned moment and just post it. This results in more relevant content that capitalises on what people are talking about and what’s trending now.
- It’s cheaper. Let’s face it, businesses of all sizes are feeling the pinch. Lo-fi content does not require a lot of styling and editing, so whether you’re using an agency to help produce content or your own in-house team, it cuts down on the time and cost involved.
- Lo-fi stimulates creativity and online brand communities. Trialling new ideas and formats is key to a successful lo-fi content strategy, and the lower cost of content reduces budget requirements and allows ‘let’s just try it!’. Food and drink brands can get creative with behind-the-scenes peeks, blindfold taste tests, staff or customer challenges and creative product usage inspo – such as chicken-nugget tacos or food art. A lo-fi strategy encourages user-generated content to be shared on your brand’s social media channels too, harnessing the power of your community to contribute to your content. This tends to foster greater engagement and encourages more users to create their own content featuring your brand.
How to do lo-fi well
Strategic storytelling for maximum impact: A brand story still needs to be structured for it to be compelling. A great plan uses hi-fi content – polished branded content – for longer form, educational or brand-building content, and couples this with lo-fi bite-sized content at volume.
Lo-fi content needs to be authentic and creative. It must contribute to the overall brand story you want to tell. Using a mix of lo-fi and hi-fi content brings the right balance for brands. Keep in mind that trusted marketing principles still stand solid – strong marketing is achieved with focused curation of message and it’s important to have a clear strategic message plan in place, online and offline.
F&B industry examples doing lo-fi well
Oporto Australia has introduced ‘Team Talk’ on TikTok which shares videos of its team members in action – in the ‘T Wrap Challenge’ for how fast you can wrap a rappa, we see Jessie win in just six seconds.
And Oporto is using lo-fi to capture and quickly publish highlights from events, new store openings and more. On Instagram, we see Oporto’s City to Surf reel, and on Facebook, say Ola to Oporto’s new store in Crows Nest – what a crowd for the store’s free burger day!
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Ingham’s has also ventured into lo-fi content, whipping up behind-the-scenes cuts from its hi-fi ‘Farm to Fork with Manu’ campaign, and sharing snippets from the team’s visit to Manu Feildel’s new Red Lion Bistro – on Instagram: ‘Trying to resist the urge to order chicken,’ and on Facebook: a smorgasbord of the French bistro’s menu items. Some of these can be recreated at home with Manu’s Farm to Fork e-book.
Ingham’s is also a great example of a brand working with micro-influencers – what a delicious chicken katsu sandwich. Collaborations are a great way to extend brand reach, and micro-influencers can help create relatable, engaging content that reaches new eyes quickly.
What the lo-fi revolution means for marketing
The lo-fi revolution is shaking up the marketing space. Lo-fi challenges traditional brand playbooks, raising questions like: ‘What’s the right dose of branding?’, or ‘Should we consistently position a brand signature or sonic asset?’. And, lo-fi content challenges marketers to relax the guardrails and present a brand without its wrapping.
Businesses are still working out how to internally resource lo-fi content generation or outsource this to content creators or brand agencies. It can be tempting to realign internal resources to produce lo-fi content, and this can work well when the in-house team is appropriately skilled and working within an overarching strategic plan.
We Are Sprout is one agency that is working with clients to help set up strategic plans that incorporate lo-fi and hi-fi content, and the agency has been recognised for its strategic and creative work – named as finalists in the 2024 Australian Marketing Institute Awards for two categories: social media marketing and content marketing.
Drew Ridley is the founder of We Are Sprout, a creative agency focused on branding and marketing for food brands. With more than 30 years in FMCG and QSR sectors, Ridley combines an entrepreneurial mindset with a background in graphic design, holding certifications as a practising marketer and membership with the Australian Marketing Institute and Media Federation of Australia.
Also, read why B2B buyers crave thought leadership but probably not yours.
