The Business Bulletin
Who did you say you were again? Exploding the ‘authenticity’ myth Here is a statement that will really make your business and your marketing thrive. “Be yourself” – that’s a mantra you can get behind isn’t it? Being yourself. Surely that’s as simple as it gets? After all, being yourself is what you do day in day out.
Authenticity is a myth, it is a
As we all know, ‘being yourself’ is
in Hot Fuzz chanting ‘The Greater
vitally important if you want people
Good’. Now, let’s be clear, before
convenient story we buy into, it is an
to buy from you because it is ‘you’
you pop down to the village pub to
illusion that we all like to believe in.
that people buy as much (or often
assemble the pitchfork and burning
more) than your products or services.
torch wielding angry mob to chase
People, as the regularly cited saying
me out of town for my heresy, I am
goes, buy from people. So, if you are
not saying that authenticity is wrong I
yourself (a person) then surely your
have no issues with the basic principle
If there is no such thing as authenticity, then why do we need it?
prospective client and customers
that appearing authentic on video, in
I am not saying that we should all
(also people) will buy from you
your writing, at business meetings, in
abandon the idea of being ourselves.
because you are being ‘yourself’.
your social media post and anywhere
What I am suggesting is that we
else is a good idea. Far from it. I am
perhaps step back and critically
fully behind authenticity. Authenticity
assess what that means in a practical
I am beginning to sort of hear a faint
is great. Authenticity is a must-have.
way. To put that into context, if I
fanfare before the word ‘authentic’
Authenticity does indeed, rock.
asked you to assess a new computer
You are being authentic. and it feels like it should be said in
The only problem is that
for my office or whether I should attend one of a choice of trade
a deep, booming voice from above.
authenticity in every one of those
There is a kind of reverence about
circumstances in the last paragraph,
it. Someone with ‘authenticity’ is
isn’t really ‘a thing’. It doesn’t exist.
apparently as mystical as a spoon
I think of it as a sort of reverse
bender and has a direct channel into
bogeyman in your marketing
the great beyond from which they
cupboard. Instead of scaring people
can funnel sales. Authenticity, my
away, it draws them to you. However
friend, is apparently where it is at.
just like it’s evil, wardrobe dwelling,
on to practicalities like the size of
doppelganger, it’s not real. Throw open
the equipment, the distance to be
out by now, I have some issues with
the cupboard doors and once in the
travelled to the shows and so on.
authenticity. I can’t help but think
light, the creature inside turns out to
In the end you would produce a
of those little aliens in Toy Story that
be something far more mundane and
decision based on the best fit for
lived in the grabber machine and
you realise you created the bogeyman
the circumstances. You would assess
worshipped ‘The Claw’, or the villagers
out of an old coat or a shadow.
and pick the option that produced
As you have probably worked
6 | Issue 6 – Sales and Marketing
conventions, you would look at the question logically first. You would perhaps start with the cost and compare that to the potential return on the investment. Maybe you would then move
