Dear CMO:
Sony and Zipatoni flauxg the PSP. Walmart fakes it, as well. Sony Pictures (again with Sony?) writes their own movie reviews. The Associated Press, for whom a picture is apparently worth far more than a thousand (truthful) words, creates Jamil Hussein, a guy who apparently shows up more often in the credits than Mel Blanc’s voice on The Cartoon Channel.
In our never ending quest for the Fountain of Authenticity, why have we decided to take the short cut? “Hey,” we say, slyly, “let’s just make it all up,” and the hairs on our heads twirl up like the Grinch lying to Betty Sue Whoo.
Isn’t authenticity about truthfulness? Sorry if that was hokey. I’ll try it another way. Isn’t authenticity about creating a compelling story that slowly reveals compelling truths about your brand so that a deeper and more personally relevant connection is made between maker and user? Isn’t it about honesty in exchange for loyalty? Are we just too busy to do it right? Or are we just too lazy? I think it’s the latter.
* * *
Key Takeaways:
> Do you have absolutely nothing to say about your brand? Are you just standing in the corner holding a warm beer? Then be remarkable about how you’re not doing the macarena, not telling the story about how you slept with two supermodels at Cannes, and how you don’t shoot your ads in two dimensional monochrome. Be authentic. Is performance more important than image? Say so. And deliver. That’s authenticity.
> Never, ever, ever attempt the stunts described above at home. These were performed by extraordinarily lazy professionals with poor judgement. On closed courses. And no animals were hurt. But their brands got run over.
* * *
If there’s nothing authentic about your brand, (really, actually) create something authentic.
“Fake But Accurate” isn’t good enough.
Regards.
Copyright (c) 2007 Stephen Denny
My you have lost weight! You get the prize both for sticking with and fulfilling your New Year’s resolution.
This was jam-packed with examples and kept the key takeaways: perfect.
Also I like the design modifications you made, it’s very clean and friendly. And funny with the “don’t try this at home”.
Yep, you get the prize you over-achiever.
Thank you! It’s a combination of not only laziness, but the fear of the loss of control. They control everything in this fake environment they’ve created, but it will always be inherently detached from the real world where people actually buy and use their products.
Shame they apparently don’t understand that.
Aw, shucks, ma’am. I’m waiting to see if Capt. Hussein weighs in.
Just found your blog today and I’ve been enjoying your posts this evening. Authenticity was our #1 prediction for 2007. Interesting question is how to define authenticity and we used a quote from Shakespeare — To thine own self be true. That will be the true test of companies in 2007. You can read all of our predictions at http://tinyurl.com/y298p7