The Paradox of Authenticity

Nike’s branding and ad campaigns are one of the most consistently amazing, regularly winning awards for making daring and bold statements.

But more than that they are unashamedly authentic, they stay true to the brand, the values and the mission of the business.

we’ve now entered the age of #woke marketing, and you can see brands piling onto this trend du jour with glee.

We see Kendall Jenner trying to be a social cause crusader. One sniff and we’re put off, we know its inauthentic, we know that this is some faceless brand trying to capitalise on our beliefs and values to sell us more stuff that we don’t need.

Yet when a lululemon comes along telling us that ‘friends are more important than money’ — we soak out those values; when Nike says ‘believe in something, even if it means losing every thing’ we stand there with tears in our eyes.

the critical difference is one of consistency and alignment of business, mission, values and brand — the reality is that the paradox of authenticity is you can’t fake it.