When we say ‘authentic’ we tend to think of a brand’s provenance; it’s history and heritage. But these days authenticity is as much about realness, honesty and consistency as anything else.
It’s been around for forever, from Coca-Cola’s The Real Thing in the ’70s to the Hovis boy pushing his bicycle up that hill. However, since the fallout from MP and banking scandals, our trust in governments and institutions has been knocked and the desire for authenticity has become ever relevant – a hot topic in the chat room as well as the boardroom.
With so many channels to be present on, it’s becoming increasingly important that brands get their message ‘real’ and (consistently) right.
Social platforms like Twitter have broken down the boundaries between customer and company. People want to have a direct and personal relationships with their brand and in turn, those brands must talk to their customers in a human and personal way, without opening themselves up to mass scrutiny, e.g. British Gas’s Twitter Q&A fail.
Companies are no longer faceless entities. Chief executives are far more visible to both their staff and the public, ultimately providing a sense of transparent and responsible leadership. After all, what is an authentic company if it’s not open and transparent?
Transparency, in fact, is going to be hard to avoid in a world where every one in five people now own a smartphone, and news and stories can be uploaded immediately to the internet. Something I’ll bet Nigel Farage bitterly resents when his recent ‘racial diversity carnival’ held in Croydon spectacularly backfired and the fallout was plastered all over the internet. Apparently UKIP had hired a steel band under false pretences who packed up and left when they found out why they were really there. The ‘carnival’ itself lasted about three minutes when the whole thing collapsed the moment protesters arrived with placards .
And it’s here to stay. As people interact directly with brands we will start to see them (brands) behaving in far more open and honest ways. They will no longer be able to hide behind faux marketing claims. We will see more tailored, human and direct approaches to brand communications – for example, Bodyform’s excellent You Tube clip responding to a customer letter about the blue liquid in their commercials.
One of my personal favourites has to be when Virgin Trains responded to a Tweet (made by a friend of mine, no less) asking whether her train was going to be on time. Virgin responded saying yes it was, in fact it was going to be slightly early, and they were sending someone to her seat with a coffee that very moment. Impressive, and a story I’ve happily retold, all without being on the Virgin payroll.
We’re also seeing changes in retail, responding to a more local community, e.g. The Co-operative Food; where store managers have been renamed as shop keepers, staff are encouraged to give personal recommendations on food and wines, and all the shops have been fitted with panelled wooden flooring and low lighting, giving customers a more personal shopping experience. A far cry – thank goodness – from the colder, sterile supermarket environments we’re used to seeing.
Successful authentic brands are those that are finding ways to really connect with their customers at a personal level with transparency and honesty.
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