This has come up in conversation a lot recently and anyone who knows me knows I'm passionate about building an authentic business.
So what is authenticity? Simply put, being authentic means staying true to who you are, what you do and who you serve. In an environment in which more human elements matter it creates value and benefits for your followers as well as improving your business.
For a brand to be considered authentic, it needs to be perceived as reliable, respectful, and real. We feel inspired by authentic brands and emotionally invested in their success, so we buy their products even when there might be less expensive alternatives. Companies perceived to be authentic build brand loyalty and tend to be more profitable.
Not everyone is immediately convinced of the value of branding. I get it. But there’s building a brand then there’s building an authentic brand. And when you start to grasp the benefits—both tangible and intangible—of building a truly authentic brand, you realise you’d be crazy not to make it a top priority. Your brand, after all, is how your company is perceived by the world. Don’t you want to be perceived as the best at what you do?
• Authentic brands don’t try to be something to everyone. Rather, they are laser-focused on what they do best.
• Unfortunately, when it comes to brands, the modern consumer is as jaded as ever. She’s been let down so many times by the empty promises of advertising that she’s come to expect a disappointing brand experience. In stark contrast, authentic brands deliver on their promises—every time.
• By delivering on their promises, authentic brands cultivate two things that are increasingly rare in the brand/customer relationship: trust and loyalty.
• The simple fact is that authentic brands stand out. Consumers are bombarded by commercial messaging every day. It’s only when they genuinely connect with a piece of messaging that they sit up and take notice.
• By its very definition, an authentic brand is one of a kind. And for brands that embody this caliber of uniqueness, there is no competition.
• Authentic brands possess a distinctive quality found nowhere else. It is precisely because of their uniqueness that they are the best at what they do.
• A truly authentic brand is also the most quantifiable. By positioning themselves as industry leaders with a unique set of value propositions offered by none of their competitors, authentic brands solidify themselves as the best in class.
