Hire the Boy Next Door

“Sometimes you’re looking for a pretty person,” Hudson said. “Home Depot often is not looking for a pretty person.”

In fact, pretty people in the merchandise shots can sometimes put the goods at a disadvantage.

“Modeling talent doesn’t always show off the product [well],” Hudson said. For instance, many of them “tend to be over six feet tall. If you’re standing beside a vanity, it’s just not the best look for the vanity,” she said.

Credibility and relatability are other important factors. “You want to make sure that you’re covering all kinds of ages and demographics,” Hudson said. Not only is the rank and file of many companies likely to contain a diverse mix of genders, skin tones, and body types, but those people already know the brand and exude an authenticity that can’t be made up.

Earlier this year, Rite Aid CMO Jeanniey Walden told ADWEEK that authenticity drove the decision to use employees instead of actors in its marketing. “When [I] talked to customers and associates, everybody was saying the same thing: They come to Rite Aid because it has a special connection, because the employees seem to know the guests that come in a little better,” she said.

Of course, even at Home Depot, some occasions call for a foxy model and, in those cases, “we can also get talent through local agencies,” Hudson said. But the best place to recruit on-camera talent is still the corridors of the company itself.

“We’re looking for someone relatable,” she said.