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What disciplines should marketers be training within to ensure authenticity?
This is a follow up to my question last week; one person, Richard Michie, who answered my question about the future of marketing suggested that authenticity would be very important for the future of marketing. I that is correct, it is also an issue that bloggers discuss a lot in how to run an effective blog. Which profession can best teach authenticity? Is it public relations, journalism, or perhaps more interestingly a spiritual advisor, or religion? Though for those of you who follow Richard Dawkins I’d be interested to hear secular responses.
Again, which profession or discipline should marketers be reading about and receiving training from to learn about authenticity?
Good Answers (6)
Sherri D
Chair, Life Sciences Forum & Director, Outreach at FountainBlue Life Sciences Entrepreneurs' Forum
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Hi John,
These are good answers so far. In addition, credibility by having the customer's perspective is essential to being authentic as a marketer. In every market, consumers are ever more savvy. In technical markets such as life sciences, this may require marketers to have or seek technical training and/or find a way to immerse themselves in their customers' world/systems for a period. Without common ground, their is no credibility. Just as in life sciences, the reputation for "knowledge base" is an unspoken factor in which the customer community will judge.
Just something to think about.
Cheers,
Sherri
Ryan T
"The simpler our means, the more we communicate."
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Consider two sets of people: One could absorb the best training available in any discipline and lack the ability to ability to apply it, make others listen, find relevant answers in situations, or move their efforts to the next level. Another could suck in people skills, yet still remain a reliable, even trusted, source of marketing counsel.
Presence reveals authority. expression demonstrates originality. visibility betrays credibility. experience builds authenticity-- wherever you work, whatever you learn.
Eric M
Branding Specialist
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You're asking how a marketer can sound honest to his/her audience, correct?
The best way to accomplish this is to be part of the audience. No one will trust a McDonalds advertisement created by someone who never eats at McDonalds. Likewise, no electonics company will read promotional material drafted by someone with zero experience in the electronics industry. Train in the discipline (and industry) of your audience and spend time involving yourself in their world. Make your marketing a two way street between peers, not between marketer and audience.
The only profession I can recommend marketers study is marketing. I realize that might come across to some as insulting, and for that I apologize. But marketing is about understanding the customers' needs, meeting their needs through a product or service, and then telling them you have met their needs. You are authentic when you can honestly tell youself you have fulfilled each step. Your customer will think you are authentic when you can honestly demonstrate you have fulfilled at least the first step.
Let me know if you think this is at all unclear.
Links:
John,
The phrase "jack of all traits - master of none" comes to mind when answering this question. At the end of the day, I don't think you can truly learn authenticity because that would denote (at least in my opinion) that everything should be perfect, when in reality, perfection is an illusion that is projected but seldomly - if at all found in this world.
Al L
Operations Product Planning / Consumer Electronics & Entertaiment Marketing Firm
marketers aren't necessarily at fault. copywriters, art directors are encouraged to hype product claims for gaining awareness, contrast and persuade through creative means to sell sell sell. real marketers understand research methodology, ethics, ad claims, lawsuits, legality, etc. however, competition drives the blurring of lines to gain market share and thus exaggerated or false claims. - Ethics and journalism should be required of all marketing people and a process for advertising review should be systematized in the process for approval before publication.
Richard B
President at Copywrite, Ink.
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One of the best code of ethics for communicators that I have come across is published by the International Association of Business Communicators.
If bloggers followed these principles as outlined, they would reduce that chance of an ethical breach. The second link I'm providing demonstrates that people are not so clear on ethics as it pertains to communication.
The initial poll that sparked my interest in the second link (to one of our posts on ethics) revealed: 279 U.S. chief marketing officers, directors of marketing and marketing managers that are focused on consumer-generated media, integrated marketing, and industry ethics did not do so well when presented with ethical dilemmas.
• Wal-Mart’s non-disclosure of its authorship of a blog was a breach in marketing ethics. 55 percent agreed.
• Julie Roehm’s acceptance of gifts and dinners from future advertising agencies was unethical. 46 percent agreed.
• Turner Broadcasting placing magnetic lights in Boston that resembled bombs was a breach. 41 percent agreed.
• Microsoft acted unethically in providing Windows Vista on laptops to technology bloggers. 32 percent agreed.
All my best,
Rich
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More Answers (20)
Your parents, your family. Integrity, trust, honesty, peace, it's all learned at home. If not, you're just moving deck chairs around.
I agree with Zane. I'm not sure authenticity can be "taught".
Brock
brock@bhenderson.com
Jim Spencer J
Owner, JBS Partners, Inc. - web site design and marketing services.
Authenticity can be defined as believable and undisputed. That is a high standard. Those that can best teach authenticity are those that have wrestled with their own identity, questions of community, the source of being and so on. I am not convinced that a vocation prescribes these qualities. Folks that are sincere, loving, courageous, unwaivering in their understanding of who they are, resilient, trustworthy, patient and have a sense of peace as well as expertise can found in many walks of life.
For those that have not been taught some authenticity by their parents, I suppose the next source would be a spiritual advisor.
Practice on your own. Try to tell the truth, the absolute truth for an entire day. It requires knowing the truth and it's not so easy, even for an honest person.
Trust and authority are the two terms I repeat that are also critical to effective marketing.
What an interesting, if odd question. It reminds me of the old George Burns quote. "The most important thing in acting is honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
I don't know that you can teach or learn authenticity. If you're authentic, by definition, you're real, not an imitation. It doesn't come so much from any one source as it exists inside of you. To that point, any personal influencers should have taught you throughout your life.
When I write, I do so as if I were speaking with people. I'm a real person and there are real people who read my blog or my copy. And I like to think that my style comes through - it's who I am; I can't change it.
Nancy H
Senior Project Manager at Waggener Edstrom
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I think authentiticity is in the eye of the beholder. Remember LonelyGRL15? She turned out to be an actress portraying a teenager on her YouTube video blog. But, she was so convincing that millions of people viewed her videos and believed her story. I think as marketers, we need to be believable, compelling and engaging. We need to wake up the lost art of storytelling. I recentlty polled the linked in network about topics marketers would like to see as a workshop, and storytelling was the overwhelming favorite. I belive if you can tell a better story, and put that story in front of the right people, the business results will follow.
As a communication planner I see the most important concept that resonates with everything we do is "relevancy". It sort of goes in line with authenticity but if we miss the mark on relevancy, it is still lacking in some respect. I read everything I can get my hands on regarding new media and generational marketing. Branding principles are still the same, know your audience and study their perceptions before attempting to influence the behavior. However, what is now slightly different is that I can no longer rely solely on breakthrough creative idea to make a lasting impression. Consumers don't just watch/read media, they consume it. So we constantly strive to find a way to be relevant so that they engage with and internalize, become part of the world of our brand.
I see relevancy as the most important issue with all things communication.
Don N
Owner, Bamboo Strategy Inc. and Marketing and Advertising Consultant
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Authenticity I believe comes from not being afraid to make mistakes. If one is not reprimanded for making mistakes, rather encouraged to share your authentic ideas and thinking and see where that goes, like 3M does, then one is truly coming from that part inside them that is authentic. How can it not be, if you show now fear to express what you believe damn the consequences.
More people need to be encouraged to fail, learn from the failure and remain true to their core.
Paul S
Advertising Media Consultant
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Marketing, of course!
The best ads reflect society's opinions. The best advertising and marketing comes from good consumer research. If authenticity is the mantra running through society at the moment then that should come through clearly if the marketing job is done properly.
There's no need for any other training, certainly not from the realm of religion.
Joe P
Co-Founder, Strategic Horizons LLP
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Nancy Hoffman is exactly right; authenticity is personally determined. You have to reach inside current and potential customers and strike that chord that gets them to realize that your offering is authentic -- for them.
Doing this -- rendering authenticity -- is not so much something that marketers can learn from other disciplines, but is a discipline in its own right. It is one that all companies must now learn, for which they must begin to develop tools and techniques. And it's not just for marketing -- rendering authenticity must become an operational discipline across the enterprise, just as improving quality became over the past thirty years, and controlling costs became long before that.
For marketers, the biggest issue is to represent your company's offerings in a way that they are what they say they are, as Eric Mann and others point to. So often marketing -- particularly advertising campaigns -- becomes a phoniness-generating machine, as companies and their agencies advertise things they are not. First avoid that; then figure out how you can positively render your offerings as authentic.
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David L
Sr. Sales Manager
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I think there should be a component of actually connecting a message that someone is paying you to get to an end user to be relevant to that end user. To that end, it would seem that interactive, location-based, and behavioral-based marketing would be good places to start. I could be misinterpreting the meaning of authenticity you are going for.
I'm going to have to agree with the folks who have said that authenticity can't be taught.
I received my B.A. in English at San Jose State University, and as such, devoted much study to the Transcendentalists. The single greatest measure of my own authenticity came from reading the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Reading Emerson didn't create anything in me that wasn't already there. Rather, it allowed me to articulate my mission statement as I prepared to run my own business. It allowed me to translate my core values into action.
Have you ever heard the Buddhist Proverb "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear?"
In most situations, an individual seeking authenticity will attract the teacher. They have already decided that being authentic is critical to their success and survival.
People who are not interested in being authentic cannot, and will not, be "taught" anything.
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Authenticity isn't a skill, it's a state. You're either authentic or you're not. Some may perceive you to be authentic when in fact you're not, which may mean you're just credible, or vice versa, in which case you need to hone your PR and/or branding skills because your authenticity isn't getting through. However, none of these "disciplines" can make you authentic, they can only make your authenticity show or your disguise your lack of same. It's also possible to be totally authentic and credible but completely irrelevant. That's a common marketing problem.
As one of my favorite philosophers, Popeye, says "I yam what I yam." Look for those who are who they are, authentic (honest), in this case. Authenticity/honesty can be refined but not taught past the formative years.
Ken W
Marketing Director, E-commerce
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All of the content for the perfect learning experience is available, but I'm not sure the ideal forum has been created.
The ingredients would be:
Business Ethics: Short term profitability may not always walk hand in hand with authenticity. People need how to be taught how to make the correct ethical decisions in today's hyper-fragmented world of thought, opinion and belief.
Business History: Everyone remembers the Tylenol tampering scare, but what about contests where winners were not paid, company's that sold interest in pure vaporware projects and the hundreds of honest and dishonest tactics used by both sides in labor negotiations throughout history.
Personal Biographies: Aside from the polish added by ghost riders, an immense amount can be learned by reading the stories of industrialists, adventures, poets and explorers. Read "Walden" (Thoreau) followed by "The Road Ahead" (Bill Gates.) Although neither are archetypal biographies they are incredible distilations of the environment in which one lives. Authenticity can truly only be appreciated when the greater context of the message owner and recipients are understood.
Independent Films: Sure, this is a little out there, but authenticity requires an absolute commitment to a belief. Independent Films are incredible representations of a steadfast determination of making an idea come to life. The lesson is not in the story, but the evolution of the idea from concept to production.
Information Dynamics: We are living in a world where information is virtually "friction free." Only when a person understands the way that communities, organizations and individuals exchange information, can the risk of not being authentic truly be understood.
It would make a great 4 day seminar.
Martijn B
IT Consultant at Getronics
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Marketing (imho) is all about matching customer needs & wants with an offer. The perception of that offer by the consumer depends on its authenticity.
In one word 'fit' (personalisation if u wish) with the customers needs and wants mentioned earlier.
Refrasing the question: how can marketeers ensure their offer fits customer needs and wants, thus creating a perception of authenticity with the client ("hey, these guys thought about my problem !, and solved it for me")
What to read about ? psychology
who to speak to ? the target segment involved....
ask and thy might know.... (the right questions of course ;-)
Regards,
Martijn
My hat is off to some of the brilliant answers to this question. Well done everyone!
Hi, John. I definitely agree with Richard's answer to your last question and love this as a follow-up question.
First, I think journalism plays a primary role in how authenticity and marketing overlap. The best journalism relies on telling real, true stories that often illustrate a larger trend or issue. Making them compelling and driving a specific behavior (or awareness) is the marketing component. Moreover, the best of journalism and marketing should be able to withstand intense public scrutiny. Would you be okay with internal marketing documents showing up on the front page of the New York Times?
For instance, I work with a nonprofit client whose most compelling narrative is the individual stories of its members. We've worked very hard to gather good stories from their original sources and re-tell those stories with a new voice and a compelling call to action, all the while remaining true to the stories and their sources. It has proven to be very successful -- providing positive return on the investment -- and we're continuing to do more of the same for that client.
I don't know if there's a spiritual component to this, but it might have something to do with Zen. That is, a notion of clearing out the clutter and getting out of your own way. I think marketers (myself included) have a tendency to build up programs, rather than tearing them down and getting to the heart of both the message and the messenger.
Letting your best messengers (who, let's face it, might not be in your marketing department) speak directly and honestly to your audience may be at the root of authentic and effective marketing.
My first thought when I read this question is of passion. If you don't have a certain passion for the work you are doing, no amount of training is going to help people perceive your company as being authentic.
I also think you're onto something with the spiritual advisor. You have to be grounded within yourself to be comfortable being transparent.
As an aside, I honestly believe that to have authenticity, you must have a certain level of *transparency* and be willing to give more than you get at times.
To quote from a book I've read recently ("The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne):
"...make sure your actions don't contradict your desires". Hope this helps!
Myles B
President at American Marketing Association
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You are your word.
Do what you say you will do and by when you said you would do it. Whenever you give your word, you have an opportunity to prove your intention. By consistently keeping your word and proving your intention, you establish a belief that whatever you say is authentic.
Craig P
Founder, CKPcreative (custom editorial, Internet marketing, digital project management) ... blogger (lohad.com)
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as a former boss once said:
"Once you can fake authenticity, you have it made."
or, as Louis Armstrong once said about jazz:
"If you gotta ask, you'll never know."