…then you’ve probably got it made! Great marketing cartoon from Tom Fishburne…
There’s a famous quote that goes…
“The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”
Originally from Jean Giraudoux (1882-1944) a French diplomat, dramatist and novelist (although I’m guessing the very first version would have been in…French!)…
…although most people will attribute it to comedian George Burns (“Sincerity – if you can fake that you’ve got it made”).
Anyway, it seems that in mainstream-marketing-land something similar to sincerity – “authenticity” – is in vogue.
As Tom puts it…
“Marketers are increasingly pushing for ‘transparency’ and ‘authenticity’ in their brand communication. But, for many brands, this is surface-deep. They want advertising that makes them look authentic and transparent without actually being authentic and transparent.”
Rather makes you wonder what they were doing before, doesn’t it? Were they being “opaque” and “inauthentic”? Sadly, yes in many cases…and I’ll come back to that in a moment.
Well worth reading the whole article and discussion at “marketing authenticity”.
As a slight aside…
…the article discusses the case of McDonald’s Canada who had a problem with an online rumor that its Chicken McNuggets were made from “pink goop”. They responded by filming their entire supply chain and manufacturing process and shared it step-by-step. So far that video has been seen nearly 4.4 million times. This was all part of a McDonald’s Canada program called “Our Food. Your Questions” that has answered 20,000 questions from consumers with this level of openness since 2012.
Rather reminded me of the great Claude Hopkins and his classic Schlitz Beer advertisement. Rather than simply claim that Schlitz Beer was “pure” (the key selling point at that time) he explained how the beer was brewed and spelled out in great detail everything that made the beer so pure. More about that classic ad at…
“The Classic Marketing Product Story”
Well worth keeping that copywriting strategy in mind.
Back to the cartoon…sure it raises a chuckle but sadly reflects an all too common situation where advertising and marketing is seemingly carried out in a separate universe.
And coincidentally, just to back up my point, there’s this example from the very smart Malcolm Auld…
“Suncorp’s ‘wow factor’ loan misses one thing…the ‘wow factor’!”
OK, not quite so blatant as something like this…
Full post at “rebranding”.
Again, there’s the idea (perhaps a desperate hope!) in some quarters that advertising can be a kind of “magic wand” that can create a desired reality…in defiance of the actual reality.
Not going to happen, of course.
Let’s wrap up and recap some fundamentals…
1. Marketing and advertising should not be about somehow manipulating or misleading people to do something that is not to their benefit
2. Successful marketing and advertising is firmly grounded in reality and deeply authentic because it is truthful
3. Successful advertising and marketing is based on the firm foundation of research. By that, I mean the deep understanding of the market, your product and your customers
None of this means that you can’t present your product or service in the best possible light (that can be backed up and justified) or that you can’t sell strongly and firmly (you should, IMO).
Remember as well that in direct response marketing one of the key ideas is that we look to make a sale in order to gain a (long term) customer. That relationship is unlikely to last long unless it’s based on authenticity and honesty.