Authentic brands embrace openness
CONVINCING consumers to buy inessential goods is crucial to the South African economy, and authenticity means embracing that in advertising.
Authenticity is one of the most overused words in marketing. The idea that brands must be authentic has gone from being a hazy idea about how brands should behave, to a doctrine to be upheld.
Recently there’s been a proliferation of the word “authentic” (what’s more authentic than telling people you’re authentic?).
Selling authenticity isn’t new, but what’s changed is that brands have forgotten the mystery of selling authenticity, and the skill, wit and intelligence it takes to do so.
In his book The Affluent Society, J K Galbraith noted how, by the 1950s, the US had pretty much eliminated economic insecurity.
Crucial to this prosperity was the production and marketing of inessential goods; convincing consumers to buy inessential goods became vital.
Selling the unnecessary is not easy. Back then, not unlike today, entrepreneurs had to adapt, dealing with consumers used to buying based on need.
And like we experience now, culture reacted against mass consumption and materialism.
In response, many companies turned to psychology. They found that products could be used to give consumers what they wanted at a deeper level (belonging, status etc).
With this insight, brands became clever at selling authenticity, and combating the rebellion against mass production and materialism.
Today, brands hide in advertorials and “content” in a desire to seem more authentic.
But isn’t it less genuine to disguise what is, in essence, a way of selling stuff?
Isn’t well-disguised content or an ad touting the use of “real” people more inauthentic than one that unashamedly interrupts you for 15 seconds?
An authentic brand admits when it is trying to sell you something and is happy to live with it.
It does not hide behind “real” people, rely on the word “authentic”, or use cleverly camouflaged unbranded content.
Often the most authentic brands embrace the fact that they use ads to interrupt, amuse and sell you something.