Branding
Authentically
The following
paragraphs are excerpts from a recent article entitled, 'Keep it Real:
Learn to understand, manage, and excel at rendering authenticity' written
by Gilmour and Pine.
People increasingly
see the world in terms of real or fake, and they want to buy the real from
the genuine- not the fake from some phony. In other words, authenticity is
becoming the new consumer sensibility.
As goods and
services everywhere become commoditized, what people want today are
experiences-memorable events that engage them in an inherently personal
way.
But in a world
increasingly filled with deliberately and sensationally staged experiences
(an increasingly "unreal" world), consumers choose to buy or not buy based
on how real they perceive an offering to be.
The management of
the customer perception of authenticity is the largest challenge. In an
age when consumers want what's real, this becomes the new imperative
[above and beyond price and quality].
Authenticity, we
believe, flows from two principles of thought and action.
- Is the offering true to itself?
- Is the offering what it says it is?
Together, they help
us to ascertain the real in an otherwise amorphous landscape. First, the
importance of being earnest, consistent, and self- directed focuses one on
perception of one's self. Second, being trustworthy, honest, and
compassionate focuses one on behavior toward others.
Together, they help
us to ascertain the real in an otherwise amorphous landscape. First, the
importance of being earnest, consistent, and self- directed focuses one on
perception of one's self. Second, being trustworthy, honest, and
compassionate focuses one on behavior toward others.
Placemaking: A
new approach to demand creation [replacing advertising] that actually
enables a company to be what it says it is.
Places provide the
primary means for companies to demonstrate exactly what they are for both
current and potential customers. Companies that embrace placemaking
understand a fundamental dictum for contending with authenticity: The
experience is the marketing. In other words, the best way to generate
demand for any offering-whether a commodity, good, service, other
experience, or even a transformation-
People have become,
after all, relatively immune to messages targeted at them. Instead, reach
current and potential customers by creating experiences- marketing
experiences- that they perceive as authentic because they happen within
them.
To entice the
greatest number of customers to experience you and your offerings,
assemble a rich portfolio of harmonized places. They should flow from one
to another, yielding cross-demand throughout the portfolio, generating new
forms of revenue, driving sales of your current offerings, and providing
places to be what you say you are.
About the
Authors
Authenticity:
What Consumers Really Want by James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II.
Copyright © 2007 James H. Gilmore and B Joseph Pine II.
