The first rule of how to make an idea stick, according to brothers Heath’s Made To Stick, which I just finished over the weekend and fully recommend, is to “strip an idea down to its core” and make it “both simple and profound”. In marketing, the core (sticky) idea is a compact expression of the most important thing your company is about, your promise to the customer, your strategy. The challenge arises when your audiences change the idea. As the Heaths ask in the book: “Is the audience’s version of my message still core?”
Brothers Heath correctly posit that the success isn’t in whether people say exactly what we intended, but whether we’re achieving our goals. Authentic marketing bridges the gap between intent and reality in that it provides context for your idea in your audience’s minds. If the strategy is the “what”, authentic marketing is the “why” and “how”.
Here are a few overlapping elements of authenticity as it relates to your marketing strategy. None of these can be bought, outsourced, or even learned, to some degree. They have to come from the inside and be lived. They have to be core.
- Values and beliefs. You and your company need to stand for something and stand by what you stand for. Always.
- Truthfulness and integrity. If you promise, deliver. No exceptions.
- Honesty and sincerity. Say and do what you mean, mean what you say and do. Every time.
- Passion and, once again, passion. What propels you? What’s the mental energy source of you as a person and of your business?
If your core idea is truly your core, not just a slogan, your marketing in support of that idea will be authentic because it will be consistent with it. This is the difference between greenwashing and true triple-bottom line sustainability. If your core idea is an expression of your core, not just fancy packaging, the words formulating it will not only come easy, but they will also withstand alterations your audience makes.
What does authenticity mean to you? How does it translate into your marketing?
