Brands and Authenticity

Patagonia is authentic. Newman's Own is authentic. Ben & Jerry's used to be authentic. But far too many brands have followed the advise of this often repeated quote, "The most important thing is honesty. Once you can fake that, you've got it made." Another version of the quote is "The secret of success is sincerity. Fake that and you're in."

I remember when BP (British Petroleum) repositioned itself as BP (Beyond Petroleum), the green energy brand. Not too long after that, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill occurred bringing to light BP's total disregard for the environment and lack of investments in green energy. 

The BP example is not atypical. Many companies have jumped on the "green," "organic," "socially responsible," and "clean energy" bandwagons. In fact, now there is even "clean coal," whatever that is. 

My wife recently encountered an automobile dealership that presented itself as "honest" and "straight shooting," with no haggling, just clearly marked prices and an unconditional guarantee of complete customer satisfaction. The dealership turned out to be anything but that. They attempted to overcharge her, tack on all sorts of hidden fees and upsell her on useless services. After she bought the car, she discovered a quirky problem that caused the car to seem as though it had a dead battery at the most inopportune times. Trying to get it repaired was a real hassle.  

While hucksters, con artists and opportunistic business people have been selling "miracle elixirs" for decades and even centuries, it doesn't help legitimate brands that are trying to make the world a better place. When one cannot discern a legitimate organic food product from a fake organic food product, it depreciates the meaning of "organic." When someone is selling fish or produce that has been frozen and shipped from an ocean away as "local," it diminishes the meaning or "locally grown" or "locally caught."

It is not only important for a brand to be authentic, it is also important for it to distinguish itself from the posers. If this is not done, it creates confusion in the marketplace and may reduce the meaning of the authentic behavior. As an example, be clear on what "organic" or "local" actually means and perhaps even create an "organic" or "local" seal that can only be used by those brands that are truly "organic" or "local."

Marketers will always try to come up with descriptors that sound legitimate and even imply a certain behavior or condition but that don't really mean much. Take for example, these claims:

• Natural farm raised meats
• Pasture raised meats
• Fresh
• Naturally grown
• Simply raised
• Nature raised
• All natural
• Responsibly grown
• Animal welfare approved
• Made with a clear conscience

In your role as a marketer or a consumer, beware of fakes posing as authentic products and brands. Help your brand and its product or service categories clearly differentiate between the "real deals" and "fakes."

Delivering on Your Brand's Promise

In March of 2000, The Journal of Brand Management published an article I wrote entitled "Developing the brand building organization." Around that same time, I helped create and chaired the one of the first conferences dedicated to inside out branding. It has been said many times that more important than making a unique and compelling brand promise is keeping that promise. United Airlines found that out with their United Airlines Rising advertising campaign as their flight attendants were threatening a labor action labeled CHAOS (an acronym for "creating havoc around our system") and chanting, "No raises, no rising." Later, they found out again with the "United Breaks Guitars" YouTube video. BP found out when its environmental/green energy company brand repositioning was shown to be false during its catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter teaches the concept of value chain analysis. If you have created a brand that has a strategy and positioning that you are certain will cause consumers to insist upon your brand, then you must tangibly deliver against that strategy and positioning. This means you invest in people, processes, activities and systems that support the brand position and do not waste time, money or energy on those that do not. You invest in the value chain that supports the brand position.

Inside Out branding requires organization design and organization development support among other activities. To transform employees and the organization itself into a strong brand advocate requires more than a brand rally or internal education and communication (which are a part of what needs to happen), but it also requires internal alignment and incentives.

We have worked with more than one brand whose intentions were good but whose systems or processes worked against delivery on their promises. Inside out branding is a critical part of any brand management function. It is for this reason that the brand manager needs to be the consummate influencer and preferably at a very high level in the organization, because he or she certainly does not have control over everything that will insure delivery against the brand promise.

Here is a chart that I have taken from the second edition of my Brand Aid book. It illustrates the types of organizational activities that need to be aligned with the brand strategy and positioning if they are to be effective.

Brands and Authenticity

“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

People don't like to be lied to. They don't like to be disappointed. And they don't like "phonies." People want authenticity. Consider the most recent election cycle. People are clamoring for political candidates who are sincere and really believe what they say rather than being scripted based on the latest market research or changing their stories depending on the audience. Consider how news sources now routinely "fact check" everything each political candidate says.

Consider the popularity of websites such as snopes.com, truthorfiction.com and hoaxslayer.com. There are also political fact checking websites such as factcheck.org and politifact.com. 

The number one brand personality attribute that people look for in brands is "trustworthy." This implies authenticity and transparency. 

Whether you agree with him or not, Bernie Sanders has strong grass roots support because he speaks his mind and is "real." Can you think of a political candidate who is not authentic admitting to being a Democratic Socialist in the USA today?

Patagonia wins based on its authenticity, as does Tesla. BP made a grave error in touting its "beyond petroleum" stance when it just wasn't true. 

Does choosing authenticity mean that a brand does not set strategy and create a brand position based on marketing research? No, authenticity does not rule out marketing research. Marketing research can discover what is important to customers that the brand stands for, believes in, does well  and is a part of its DNA. So the trick is to find a market to whom the brand's true self appeals so that the brand can be authentic and act with integrity. This requires introspection. Who are we? What do we believe? What do we stand for? How should we behave? What is our culture? How should we treat people? And how will this align with our target customers and what they are looking for?

Whether you approach authenticity from a brand essence exercise, a brand archetype exercise, mission, vision and values development or an organization culture project, determine what it is that your brand stands for, how it intends to behave and what will be most true to its character and then market that to the right group of customers and potential customers.

I wish you great success in creating an authentic brand.