The Illusion of Authenticity
Authenticity, in the current context of the word, is losing all meaning. This is a case for why authenticity messaging falls flat and examining how brands commonly miss the mark when implementing this strategy.
The pursuit of authenticity has become a buzzword that pops up across countless brand strategies. Brands, driven by a desire to connect with consumers on a deeper level, have adopted authenticity messaging as a top priority. Take a spin on Later.com or a performance marketing guru’s freebie course and start to tally every time you hear it — it’s everywhere. However, the quest for authenticity often results in a paradoxical outcome — a forced image that misses the point in the first place.
It’s hard to trust a brand that constantly and heavy-handedly tries to convince you how authentic they are. If a brand starts talking about how authentic or luxury-status they are, it’s an instant alarm. Authenticity should be shown, not yelled through a microphone.
Influencers As a Means Of Authenticity
Collaborations with influencers have become a popular avenue in brands’ “authenticity” playbook. Influencer collaborations don’t mechanistically prioritize this value. If you read between the lines, it can be translated as “Let’s show how authentic and relatable we are by paying someone whose job it is to get paychecks from brands!”. Consumers are smart enough to be able to spot a paid promotion or partnership when they see it. They know both the brand and the influencer are trying to get them to buy something. Usually, the product isn’t just existing within the social post, it’s the focal point. If you work in marketing, you can spot the string of spoon-fed RTBs from a mile away.
Influencer marketing is powerful, but not automatically authentic. It’s powerful because of razor-sharp, interest and demographic-based, targeting.
The Authenticity Paradox
Authenticity, by its very nature, should be well-intentioned and genuine to the core values of a brand. However, in an attempt to capitalize on the messaging trend, many companies have resorted to a formulaic approach, creating an illusion of authenticity rather than the real thing. Consumers are increasingly becoming adept at recognizing this inauthenticity, resulting in fumbled brand perceptions.
Misguided Relatability
Authenticity, as it has come to mean, seems to be morphing into concepts of “normal” “relatable” and “transparent”. That’s where the problem lies. There’s a large segment of consumers who value being enigmatic over being normal. They don’t want to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. They want to suspend disbelief and think that their favorite product wasn’t created in the same factory as the generic one that’s a third of the price. An enigmatic identity isn’t inherently inauthentic, but the shifting connotations of the word often place the two concepts at odds. Authenticity should be born out of confidence to core brand truths, not automatically defaulting to demystification.
If a brand is selling fantasy, then it should be upfront about it instead of packaging it as something else. Look for aspirational hyper-curated brands that try to pivot and pepper authenticity messaging into their social media posts. It’s cringe. “Be authentically you”. It’s vacuous and unownable. A brand explicitly stating that isn’t going to be what convinces somebody to embrace their true self. Instead, it does it by offering a culture and products that truly connect with them.
At times, this messaging borders on villainizing people who choose to be highly curated and polished. There’s a swell of voices telling people to stop using filters and to post the not-quite-perfect candid instead. Now, brands seeking authenticity might decide to film a filterless Instagram story video in an everyday location with a bare-faced spokesperson, topped off by some simply placed text with the in-app fonts. Even this itself is contrived. It’s appropriate for some brands, but for others, it can erode the magic of an aspirational brand. The strategy is an option, not a must.
If It Isn’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
Authenticity has become a buzzword meaning being less curated and less dramatic. However, artifice is just as valid of an approach and not intrinsically inferior. The rampant misuse and overemphasis on authenticity have given rise to a paradoxical situation where the pursuit of it often leads to its erosion. To avoid falling into the trap of forced authenticity, brands must ask themselves “Why don’t we feel like we’re already authentic?”. If there’s truly an authenticity crisis worth addressing, it won’t be fixed by ham-fistedly telling everyone there isn’t one. And if there isn’t a crisis, then why message as if there is one?
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