Your customers – and your prospective customers – are watching.
For better or worse, the spotlight is always on. Every campaign, every social post, and every HR decision factor into your brand’s perception and your customers’ decisions. It’s not enough to focus on delivering stand-out products and experiences. Today’s companies must actively monitor how their brand measures up when it comes to sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and humanitarian factors.
Of course, these things always mattered. Now, they matter even more. In a world full of constant buzz and information on demand, buyers crave authenticity. Two-thirds of consumers report buying from or advocating for brands based on their values, including human rights, climate, social justice, and geopolitics.
Stand up to stand out
Consumers believe brands must take a stand on:
- 60%: Issues affecting the company’s employees
- 59%: Issues affecting the company’s customers
- 55%: How its products are made
Gen Z is a driving force, influencing overall expectations and emphasizing actions over talk. Today, 57 percent of consumers expect a brand’s stand to be visible during customer transactions. And nearly two-thirds believe a brand’s position on issues should be reflected in how it treats employees, where it operates, and how it makes supply chain decisions.
3 guiding principles for keeping it real
So, what is brand authenticity? At MELD, we work with a range of B2C and B2B clients, including established, well-recognized brand names as well as newer entities that are defining and building their brands. Authenticity is at the core of every consultation.
We define brand authenticity as the belief your customers have in the promises you make – to them, your employees, your community, and the world. In other words, do you say what you’re going to do and then do what you say?
Here are three guiding principles to help gauge and enhance your brand’s authenticity.
- Know your purpose – and live and breathe it.
Your brand’s higher purpose should be woven throughout everything – company culture, customer experiences, and marketing strategies. And it needs to go beyond just selling products or services. It’s why your company exists and how it aims to make a difference.A well-defined brand purpose can help your company stay true to its values and mission, even as it evolves over time. By connecting your purpose to everything you do, you’ll know instantly if a product idea or a customer service process change isn’t aligned.Letting your employees and customers know your brand aspirations can be powerful. But, as always, with great power comes the responsibility to ensure your actions speak as loudly as your words. When you get it right, your employees and customers become your loudest champions. And when you get it really right, your employees will be sharing your social posts, taking that viral picture, and writing their own posts for all to see. And you won’t even have to ask. - Be meticulously consistent.
Consistency is the foundation of any strong, lasting relationship. The same holds true for building brand authenticity. Spend time mapping out your brand’s voice, personality, and values. Then, create guidelines that enable each employee, no matter their role, to contribute to the effective – and consistent – delivery of the brand experience.Keep in mind that your brand is constantly evolving with each product enhancement and customer interaction. Refine your guidelines as needed to ensure your brand stays in sync with customer expectations and the issues that matter to them. - Be real, not perfect.
Consumers want to engage with authentic brands, but that doesn’t mean they expect perfection. What they really want is transparency. They want to know what you stand for and how that translates into how you do business. Most of all, they want to know they can trust you.In the end, authenticity is simple but not always easy. Today’s consumers are savvy and will find out what they want to know about your company. Take the lead and tell your own story. And, when you make a mistake or do something not authentically aligned with your brand, own it and be transparent about how you’re addressing the issue.
What are your best practices for building brand authenticity? We’d love to hear how you keep it real for your customers and employees.