marketing teardown: 🕶️🐍 pit viper

hey, marketer! 

last week, I spent some time hiking through national parks in the midwest of usa, and I was shocked by how many obnoxiously bright, wraparound sunglasses there were.

they’re impossible to ignore… and it’s brilliant.

but this brand is about more than just 90s-themed sports eyewear, the brand (much like their products) are in-your-face offensive – and that’s what makes them so dialed in to their target audience.

brand in the hot seat: 🕶️🐍 pit viper

today's treasure trove

• who is pit viper?

• pit viper’s branding

• pit viper’s big bet on nostalgia

who is pit viper?

quick stats:

• youtube – 30.7k followers, 253 videos

• instagram – 882k followers

• facebook – 272k followers

• x/twitter – 24.1k followers

• tiktok – 347.8k followers

• monthly website traffic – 114k

pit viper, founded by chuck mumford and chris garcin, came onto the scene with the kind of swagger you'd expect from a brand born from a mix of extreme sports and an untamed spirit. 

these guys weren't just looking to create another pair of sunglasses – they aimed to craft a lifestyle. 

pit viper embodies a spirit of adventure that screams, "we’re here for a good time, not a long time." launching into the limelight with military-grade neon shades, pit viper sells serious specs for those who live life as if it’s one continuous extreme sports montage.

pit viper’s branding

screw subtlety – pit viper's branding strategy is as subtle as a monster truck driving through a library.

their sunglasses come splashed with colors that you probably didn’t even know existed outside of a 1980s roller disco. 

the logo is lime green in the shape of snake teeth.

their website looks like it was built in windows ‘98.

and at every opportunity, they try their hardest to offend – and that’s the point.

their ethos can be described as “dirtbag ski culture” – eat. sleep. extreme sports. repeat.

pit viper’s big bet on nostalgia

besides the offensive attitude, their branding is absolutely ~ n o s t a l g i c ~

it’s a beautiful aspect of their brand because nostalgia is an incredibly powerful psychological tool. 

nostalgia (whether authentic or manufactured) is actually a cognitive phenomenon where “people tend to recall the past more fondly that the present, often remembering things better than they actually were.”

were people really living a “ski or die” life in the 90s? were there really “good ol’ days?”

who knows? who cares? 

what matters is that pit viper makes it feel that way when you wear them.

in addition to nostalgia, pit viper goes hard on memes and “do it for the lolz” campaigns.

their content strategy is huge on entertainment, with memes and silly random videos that seem more like a group of high school boys put them together (but that’s kind of what they’re going for).

of course, it would’ve been a huge missed opportunity to not meme this moment from the paris olympics.

and lastly, videos like this are 100% unnecessary but 1000% on brand.

it’s wonderful marketing – a big bet on content. like other brands in the sports industry have done before (think red bull), but with their unique pit viper personality.

wrap up

pit viper lives up to their name in spirit, product, and brand.

the takeaways from pit viper are that nostalgia can be a huge play for a brand and don’t fear offending the 95% if it means truly connecting with the 5% that is your target audience.

thanks for reading and I’d love to hear what thoughts you have about pit viper and this teardown. (and read the other deep dives here)

✌️,

tom from marketer gems