Buzzword Breakdown : Authenticity
Adapted from an article I originally published in AdAge in 2016.
I have a mantra when it comes to marketing: Brands don’t influence people, people do.
The Youth Are Starting to Change*
The sophistication of young people — Gen-Z is the largest and most diverse generation ever — is something few agencies, and even fewer brands, want to acknowledge. Not only are we not smarter than them, we’re falling into rhetorical pits that they’ve dug for us. The biggest example of this is what we can call the “authenticity” trap.
Simply put, real authenticity means little to young people. They use the word in focus groups because they’ve learned it’s what people in our industry want to hear. Influencers use it in pitches because they know it’s what will garner big brand checks. Media picks up on it as a cure-all because it generates traffic and offers simple solutions to complex problems.
But it’s not that easy.
There are a few issues at hand here: Semantics, Messaging and Targeting. All are opportunities to plummet into the authenticity trap. Smart brand marketers will navigate around them and reap the rewards.
Semantics
Take a look at what authenticity actually means. Synonyms from The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus include “validity,” “genuineness” and “dependability.”
This definition presents a double-edged sword for Madison Avenue. There’s nothing valid, genuine or dependable about selling things to people. There’s no such thing as the world’s most valid automobile, genuine pair of sneakers or dependable bottle of vodka.
So off the bat, maybe don’t call your capitalistic endeavor authentic. It’s beautiful as it is. You make a product, or a set of them. You have a brand. You stand for something, which is communicated through your marketing campaigns. People love you. Many have yet to discover you. Be yourself. But, for the love of God, don’t try to be authentic.
Messaging
The way for brands to build loyalty in the 21st century is to behave more like people. I wrote this in 2016 before the horde of values-driven communication was unleashed on the consumer class, and I stand by it now even more so. Elements of humanity are more important to emphasize than blanket declarations of authenticity. Examples of this abound in popular culture.
In my original article I used Vice as an example. Vice had built a powerful brand rooted in counter-culture and anti-establishment mentalities despite quite literally “selling out” to conservative entities — first in 2013 when it sold a stake to Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, then again in 2014 when it sold a stake to Disney and Hearst’s A&E Networks. It even shut down an iconic Brooklyn music venue in order to gulp up more real estate.
Vice is hypocritical. But aren’t we all? It’s what makes us human. They may not be authentic, but the way they talk to people was.
Let’s look at popular music today for a refreshed perspective. Billie Eillish didn’t know the Spice Girls were a real band. Lil Nas X found a beat on the internet that he didn’t even know sampled Nine Inch Nails (because he didn’t know what Nine Inch Nails was), made a trap country song about horses despite never actually riding one and found absolutely well-deserved superstardom. These musicians lack any ounce of the authentic reference set that they’re “supposed” to, but it couldn’t matter less to their Gen-Z audiences. Why? Because the music is good, and because the personalities are strong. In our postmodern world, being an expert — which is largely what being authentic drills down to — no longer makes you appealing. In fact, it aligns you with the global institutional class that many young people are (rightfully) hellbent on destroying.
Thus, these individuals seem authentic in their lack of authenticity. From a messaging perspective, the lesson here is one that nearly every single brand in the world ignores — no one cares how your product is made. It’s a lazy trick to find one articulation of what differentiates a product in the market today and to craft entire campaigns around it. Our whiskey is distilled differently. This coffee has a special ingredient. Our mobile phone’s camera is just ever so slightly better than the competition’s. Buy now!
No one cares, except perhaps the aficionados. Instead, brands that stand for something and declare their vision through bold personality are winning. Tito’s came out of nowhere and absolutely eviscerated the vodka market by owning the fact that their vodka is gluten-free, which was not a unique value proposition because ALL vodka is gluten-free, and declaring a hearty Americana-heavy point of view. Virgil Abloh is in no way, shape or form a fashion designer, yet his perspective has refreshed Louis Vuitton in a way no Central Saint Martins grad sauntering around ateliers for decades could have.
Targeting
Herein lies the underlying disease that the rush to authenticity is merely a symptom of: generation as target. It is proof that people making decisions at many major corporations have little respect for consumers, but a great desire to drain their pockets.
Through some nebulous form of groupthink, we discovered that Gen-Z and millennials value “authentic” experiences. So let’s not look any further. Authenticity. It seems new. Down-to-earth. Organic. It’s a word that glides through marketing documents. Maybe even secures promotions. It can get press. It’s a clear and simple talking point.
It’s intellectual napalm.
Is it worth the buzz? No.
Through the lazy embrace of authenticity as a key selling point, brands lose energy that could be used to craft a nuanced persona. By being “about” authenticity, a brand ironically loses most of its temperament. It’s not very authentic to spend huge budgets talking about how authentic your brand is. A pivot towards personality-driven values-based marketing is far more likely to make an impact.
Some of the least authentic brands are the most popular with younger consumers. They’ve not only created clear, powerful brand personalities, they’ve paid respect to their targets by segmenting them by lifestyle, interest and consumption habits — not just generational stereotypes.
Remember that famous line from Shakespeare (not a particularly authentic playwright in his own regard, yet undeniably the GOAT), “What is the city but the people?”
Brands must stop focusing on cold, tactical, self-promotional messaging geared toward garnering points on the ephemeral authenticity scale. Instead, you should rally around personality and personalities. Focus on creating an interesting story and a unique aesthetic. Plug in some unexpected people to help weave that narrative. See what happens.
It might not be authentic, but it might actually work.
Takeaways:
- People sell things, not brands.
- We live in a postmodern culture. Do not assume your consumer thinks like you.
- Targeting by generation is not only foolhardy, it sets you up to fall into the authenticity trap. Use psychographics, not demographics. If your brand world is rich enough and your POV is strong enough, the types of people that you should be targeting will become immediately clear.
- Build a brand that has a perspective and a personality. Then, use real people to help spread your vision.
*Here’s the reference, if you didn’t get it.
