Being ‘authentic’ IS NOT a marketing strategy

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen the word ‘authentic’ being used to sell something… I wouldn’t need to work anymore. Seriously.

When did ‘being authentic’ become something more than a character trait, and turn into something some industries sell like a product?

Look, I get it. Our world is not what it was 10 years ago. Our desire, as a people, to advance our technologies and continue to push its limits is awesome! But in our quest to push our tech and its capabilities, we’ve lost a key factor in something that makes unique and different. Our ability to decipher what’s a genuine interest and what is not is morphing into something of an algorithm…

How do we fix this?

We can’t stop advancing our technologies. To do so would be to strip ourselves of our curiosity for the unknown. And we can’t control others. Whether you want to believe this or not, it’s true. So what do we do then?

What can do about the dying art of being truly authentic?

Stop trying to make everyone like you. Stop trying to sell your product to everyone. Stop trying to make your service one that is perfect for all people.

Authenticity is about congruence between our deeper values and beliefs (e.g. a “true self”) and our actions. When there is a lack of congruence, this leads to an emotional force that seeks reduction. The notion of an “authentic self” aligns with much of our experiences. We can readily recall experiences when we were acting inauthentically—in a way that felt at odds with deeper values of who we believe ourselves to be. We can also recall instances of being our “authentic self,” when we shared openly our opinions and perspectives and felt validated in doing so.

Much in the way authenticity thrives or suffers within individuals, so it happens with your brand, too.

Audiences know when you’re trying to reach too many target markets with your product or service. Turns out, we have a pretty good bullsh#t detector. And Generation Z, a whole up-and-coming society of tech wizards, influencers, content creators, scientists, lawyers, etc… They’ve lived with technology and social media their whole life, and can detect that B.S. from a mile away while telling 20 of their friends about it.

I don’t share all of this to scare you, but rather, wake you up to the realities in front of us. Brand ethos is critical and it’s so much more than your logo. It’s a living thing that should grow as your company/business/organization grows. If it’s not, you might as well put everything on auto-pilot and wait for nature to do its thing.

Authenticity is something I work with my clients on every time we meet. It’s very easy to be consumed by the numbers, the math, of how to keep the business going and hitting those KPIs. But if you’ve been doing that, and the work feels like its getting harder, it’s because the current approach is not working. It’s because the brand hasn’t grown as the world around it as grown. Ya dig?

Do yourself the favor of investing 30-minutes of your time in something that could make your job a lot easier down the road. Sign up for my 30-minute audit. It’s free and easy, and there’s no commitment to work with me after the 30-minutes. Unless you want to, of course.

And if you have questions about other things, I’ll take those, too. I’m here to help.