Crossbow Studio

Isn't "authenticity in marketing" an oxymoron? Most would say yes. We say the opposite.

In reality, being authentic in your communication with prospective customers is the only thing that reaps real benefits over the long term.

One of our greatest challenges as marketers is to help our clients find their authentic voice. First, they have to trust us—then they have to trust themselves. What do I mean by that? Think about it. When you trust someone, you give her the straight scoop. The stuff that you wouldn’t reveal to someone you just met. Because you know she will not judge you—she will accept you regardless of your shortcomings.

Often, when our firm first begins working with a new client, we don’t hear the reality, we hear a “group spin” that has been told so often, the spinners have actually come to believe it themselves. Or, depending on our client’s level within the company, she has become so jaded to the spin, she thinks she has no choice but to perpetuate it. It’s our job to go beneath the spin to find out what truly makes a company tick, what really makes them unique. Like individuals, companies have personalities all their own. But to get underneath, there has to be trust.

The main approach we use to develop trust with our clients is to be candid and authentic ourselves. To be open to identifying both our strengths AND our weaknesses, and to admit mistakes we’ve made. This practice is not for the faint of heart. And, like most lessons truly learned, we learned it the hard way.

The other common practice we use is to listen carefully. By listening, without thinking, it is easy to detect the difference between the spin and the reality. We then begin to draw the authenticity out of the individuals, and by doing so, we on our way to creating authentic marketing message that are meaningful to their targets.

Then comes the hard part. Helping our clients trust themselves enough to limit their communication to the authentic message.

When Nike launched their “just do it” campaign, it took major amounts of restraint. They had to trust that their audience understood what they were saying and how they were saying it. The message was that of a coach, not a taskmaster. They had to trust themselves enough to “just go with it”.

When there is trust, honesty, and authenticity in the message, it is apparent to its target, and it is valued.