Get Real: What does brand authenticity look like in 2020?

Recent events have made it clear that authenticity in marketing is more than just being smiley and ticking a box. The informed younger generation want real connection.

I recently saw a video on social media comparing two versions of the same footage. One was the original and the other taken from American broadcaster CBC News. 

It was just one of many disturbing, shocking and revelatory videos that have swept social media since protests began in response to systemic racism, police brutality and the murder of George Floyd.

Almost all have been taken and shared by users in the thick of the action. 

In the video two police cars drive slowly towards a crowd of protesters on a freeway. Whilst the CBC coverage stopped there, the original video went on to show the cars violently shunting members of the crowd and attempting to plough through them even as people were being knocked down.

It was another example of police officers appearing to take their power too far. But it was also an indication of how the mainstream media often sanitises the truth and controls the narrative. 

The tweet containing the video had been quoted by someone else with the caption ‘Imagine we didn’t have twitter to see all this bs for ourselves, imagine only relying on “the news” for your information (sic)’

Of course, avoiding showing distressing images on live TV may be a perfectly legitimate decision to make. However, the fact remains that if that was your only source of news, your perspective of the events would be quite different.

The words of the tweeter - ever the faithful herald of our times – stuck out to me. For internet users of a certain generation there is growing lack of trust in traditional media. 

Social media platforms like Twitter, provide users with such a variety of news sources and opinions, that those willing to be informed are able to bypass traditional news sources altogether and find out what’s happening from ground level.

After all, videos like the one above reveal that they’re not getting the whole story.

Advertising has always appeared hand in hand with TV and traditional media. That’s where the audience is. Well now a growing proportion of the audience is on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and more. 

The same mistrust and cynicism that is making ‘The News’ irrelevant on these platforms also has a bearing on how brands market to their audience.

A diet of TikTok and Snapchat 

There are of course major differences in the way that people consume marketing to how they consume the news. Users don’t look for marketing and they don’t necessarily expect it to provide them with a level of journalistic access.

But it’s worth looking at how people’s attitudes to the media in general are affecting their habits when it comes to where they spend their money. 

The wide range of information provided by social media is informing the opinions of their user base. The user base of Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, heavily made up by Millenials and Gen Z’s, are getting a very different diet of news to older generations. 

TikTok has experienced an immense amount of success (over 2 billion downloads and rising), particularly amongst Generation Z users, due in part to its bitesize user generated content.

If the above video is anything to go by, they are witnessing aspects of the narrative that older generations simply don’t see. 

Not only does this lead to them mistrusting the news organisations that omit it from their broadcasting but it is also shaping their view of the world and what is important.

The primary concerns of younger generations are being shaped by smartly worded tweets and creative DIY TikTok videos. Not by the 6 O’clock News.

The traditional media have limited to no control over this dialogue. In the same way, brands are subservient to it. They have to fit their messaging to it and not the other way around.

So you want to be authentic, huh?

Loyalty to brands is paper thin and the users of social media are unforgiving to marketing which puts a foot wrong or even worse doesn’t try in the first place.  

Talking about authenticity in marketing is pretty old hat. It’s a word that gets bandied around all the time and I don’t pretend to be offering anything new by suggesting that it is necessary. 

But what does it actually mean to be authentic? 

Technically, calling any type of marketing ‘authentic’ is pretty rich. The dictionary definition of authentic is something which is indisputably real or genuine and based on facts.

The message of most brands is that their product or service, whether that’s a trainer, a chicken wing or a can of beer, will make your life better in some way. Objectively speaking, that’s hardly an indisputable fact.

To be truly authentic would be to say, ‘yeah this is nice but the ____ you’ve currently got is probably fine’ or even, ‘it would be objectively better for you if you didn’t buy this’.

(which would actually be a pretty good set up in a quirky campaign for a chocolate bar or something. I imagine it would end with ‘…but who cares. You deserve a treat.’) Not bad that… Want to brief me, Mars?

Obviously, I’m being facetious. We all like to buy things sometimes, some more than others. And that’s fine. 

These products still solve problems. Trainers are shoes that also look nice. Chicken wings and beer are tasty and we do indeed deserve a treat sometimes.

The challenge is, for a younger generation who live in a much smaller world than their parents, there’s no pulling the wool. A friendly marketing slogan isn’t always enough.

Bad companies

Social media and the internet have blown open the market for most industries. Consumers are able to pick and choose where they spend their money more than ever before.

I have seen and heard a number of people comment on how there are certain brands they are going to steer clear of because of their responses to recent events.

Wetherspoons, who were hardly in people’s good books before (as if the discount pub chain needed to be), have experienced the wrath of the mob after their shocking provision for staff in the wake of pub closures.

Wetherspoons owner Tim Martin came under fire for suggesting staff get a job at Tesco to cover their losses.

Just recently the CEO of global gym brand CrossFit, came under fire (and has now stepped down) after insensitive comments he made in response to the BLM protests. Principle sponsor Reebok pulled out, gyms have unaffiliated and leading athletes have said they won’t participate in popular competition, The CrossFit Games.

Many other big companies such as Virgin, Sports Direct and more have been called out for how they have treated staff. Amazon, who have profited handsomely from the crisis and who’s share price has risen by more than a third, have also been called out for reportedly not paying sick leave in the US or providing safe conditions for warehouse workers. 

Of course, people’s anger is justified. Although time will tell if the ethically driven actions of a few loud voices actually has any impact. Many of these companies have been unethical for a long time.

The open forum of social media means that big names often get exposed and berated. At least until the next controversy comes along. Or the initial rage subsides in favour of the desire for convenience.

Amazon’s seemingly unstoppable growth suggests that the ill treatment of hundreds of thousands of employees is not enough to ward off most consumers. But then again, most businesses aren’t Amazon.

For businesses of a certain size, how ethical or even ‘moral’ they are will increasingly have an effect on whether people spend their money there.

Brands who do it right

Social media is also kind to businesses who do it right and it’s the ones who are the most authentic that get the most press.

When tea brands Yorkshire Tea and PG Tips were prematurely heralded by racists for not having had anything to do with recent protests, their respective Twitter accounts provided a swift and decisive rebuttal. 

Now, who knows if they had simply been caught in the act of silence and were forced to come up with an excuse as to why they had so far not said anything. 

Nonetheless, their responses and clever #solidaritea hashtag seemed pretty genuine and this stand against bigots who would claim them as their own was met with resounding applause.

The now infamous exchange.

I thought the response of business magazine Courier (owned by Mailchimp) to the recent events was impressive. In an Instagram post they recognised that this wasn’t a time for ‘slacktivism’ and that ‘To offer only words of support just isn't enough.’ Amongst other things they announced a £50,000 fund to support founders of black-owned businesses.

One brand that consistently attempts to pursue ‘authenticity’ is craft beer company Brewdog. Some of their attempts to be genuine and socially aware have been so brazen that it has landed them in hot water.  

Still, they (or at least the marketers they hire) give it a go, which I think is admirable.

In response to the covid-19 crisis they’ve launched a number of DIY initiatives aimed at helping the public or bringing light to certain issues.

Whether that’s through adapting their facilities to craft their own hand sanitiser or producing a slightly gimmicky brew sending up the Dominic Cummings scandal (gosh that soon got buried under a proverbial mountain didn’t it!). They have been quick to respond in a way which has certainly got people talking.

What I like about it, is that it feels real. Social media posts sharing their actions show the inside of a factory or the bottles on the production line. It’s an inside look at what they do and how they’re dealing with the crisis as a business.

Of course, it’s all done with a view to promoting their brand but we all know that. What’s important is that there’s an air of authenticity to it.

Ok, but they kind of have to do this right?

In situations like the response to George Floyd’s murder, you could ask, could they really afford not to mention it?

Is it really authentic if the prevailing cultural narrative insists that they make a stand?

The proof of course is in the pudding. There’s plenty of examples of brands who do the bare minimum just to show their face.

A corporate, copy-pasted message over a black tile doesn’t hide the fact that they take advantage of a supply chain which uses cheap labour abroad.

What about the black lives who are exploited so that these companies can sell cheap clothes or tech?

When the rage subsides and the hashtags aren’t trending will they still be making changes to their organisation that reflect the stance they took when it was necessary.

The truth is for many global brands, true authenticity is impossible. They can never be completely honest about where their product comes from or how they run their company or their finances. And in many cases, they don’t need to be.  

What does the future look like for brand marketing? 

For now, businesses can get away with it. But the consumer habits of the social media generation may eventually change that.

The popularity of DIY videos and user generated content on TikTok should prove that the younger generation who use these platforms aren’t wooed by traditional advertising and slick corporate branding.

True authenticity is impossible for big brands because authenticity only really comes from genuine human connection. The down to earth tweets from brand twitter accounts come close to satisfying that but even then, there is a sense that it is manufactured.

Younger tribes are gathering around the collage like creative content of TikTok, not for its production value but because they connect with its creator. 

These ‘influencers’ are changing the game and it’s spilling over into Instagram where the users who curate a more authentic and real persona are growing a following much faster than the pristine, manufactured walls of the typical Insta-influencer.

Micro-influencers drive 60% higher engagement levels than influencers with large followings and they’re probably more cost-efficient too.

Brands who want to stay ahead of the game will recognise the most impact can be made in small crowds. By developing a relationship with these micro-influencers, they can take advantage of these human connections and market their product or service.

The key is working out if these influencers can speak in that brand’s tone of voice and if the audience of this particular influencer is going to be interested in the thing they have to sell. 

This informed younger generation, who see through sanitised media reports of events that they’ve already seen plastered over social media and the soulless corporate messages of giant brands, will easily see through the hollow promises of a poorly researched ad from an unrelatable model.

In a world full of empty promises, disappointments and hollow online relationships, people want the real deal. That’s true authenticity.

If brands can deliver even just a dose of that, they’ll do much better for it.