Brand authenticity has become ever more crucial for businesses, as consumers seek an intimate relationship between themselves and the brands they patronise, feeling that they understand them and their values.
Dove achieved brand credibility through their Campaign for Real Beauty, thanks to consistent alignment between product, mission and marketing initiatives.
Be True to Yourself
Your genuine message will resonate more strongly with people, increasing trust between customers and your company and encouraging loyalty among existing ones. However, that does not mean your business should say one thing and do another; failing to live up to what was stated could ruin credibility and undermine authenticity.
In order to remain true to yourself, it’s essential that you identify your core values. These should include honesty, kindness, and empathy as the items most valued by you in life. Once identified, asking yourself questions or speaking to close friends about this can help uncover these values – then live by them as much as possible to ensure your brand remains authentic in an ever-crowded marketplace and build long-term customer relationships.
Be Transparent
Transparency within your brand shows your consumers that you care deeply for their needs, creating a connection and building loyalty over time. Being open about your core values sets your company apart from competitors – by being transparent with public audiences about them.
Follow through on your promises. If you promote fair labor practices in your business, for instance, then implement them immediately or risk losing trust from customers and potentially incurring costly repercussions – as Volkswagen learned with their diesel emissions scandal. Being authentic means being consistent in every aspect of what you do from company culture to messaging.
Be Honest
Branding refers to tangible elements that create a public perception for your company, from logo design and color palette selection, to specific visual elements used in designs. Brand identity refers to the deeper meaning behind these branding decisions – its values and mission that define your business overall.
Honesty is key when building an authentic brand, as your consumers will quickly recognize if you are being dishonest or can rely on what you say. They are smart consumers and quickly detect any inconsistencies or hypocrisy within marketing campaigns, social media posts or product development processes – just look at Volkswagen after their diesel emissions scandal!
Be true to yourself and don’t be afraid to assert your values by being consistent in sticking to your mission. Being genuine will allow you to cultivate loyal supporters over time.
Be Creative
Companies looking to foster brand authenticity should prioritize the values and morals that define their company while being creative in how these ideas are presented and executed – customers will feel as though they’re really connecting with it, forming a meaningful bond.
Furthermore, companies should ensure their marketing strategies match up with their desired authenticity. Consumers will quickly notice if a company’s message doesn’t align with what it wants to promote – inconsistency will cause trust to quickly evaporate from them, labelling them inauthentic which could prove hard to shake as Volkswagen found out with their diesel emissions scandal.
Authenticity is an essential aspect of brand identity and will continue to influence how companies engage with their target consumers. Companies that place emphasis on authentic communication will form stronger relationships with them and build brand value that extends beyond profits and revenues.
