It’s Pride Month. With the far-right’s war on DEI, its vilification of transgender Americans, especially youth, and its attempt to defund anything that challenges its agenda and how it’s executed, it will be interesting to see how many brands continue to wash their logos and marketing in rainbows. If they do, will they face the wrath of Trump and other MAGAs?
This will-they-won’t-they dynamic makes me think about the concept of authenticity more than I usually do. (Which, as a brand strategist, is a lot.) For years, we’ve been telling anyone who will listen that authenticity is a core component of any strong brand and any compelling message (joined by differentiation and emotion).
In the months and years to come, I think — I hope — authenticity will play an ever-greater role in how people make decisions about spending their money or that of their employers.
Three Reasons Why
There are three trends I’m seeing that lead me to this belief, this hope. Check them out:
Ascension of AI. As our AI buddies produce more and more for us and many of us get further and further away from the actual work, those who buy the work will both become more comfortable with AI’s role but also crave more human connection. (For the record, I typed out this little missive with my very own fingers, though I will have no doubt asked AI to suss out my typos by the time you read it.)
I define a brand as the subjective, emotional relationship an organization has with those most important to its success (prospects, clients, donors, and, especially, employees). Most people feel something when they buy an Apple product, sit in their favorite car brand, or sign a large contract with their preferred vendor. These feelings are not necessarily conscious, let alone religious experiences, but they’re there nonetheless.
You cannot have a relationship with a collection of code. You can, however, have a relationship with the collection of humans who put it to work for you.
Continued cultural division. Tesla sales took a big hit when Elon Musk started his chainsaw massacre through the contradictorily named Department of Government Efficiency (which is anything but). When Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post started acquiescing to the Trump administration’s demands, people cancelled their Amazon Prime memberships.
Think about that for a second. If someone will go without Amazon Prime, they’ll go without whatever it is you sell. Since people will boycott you for and for not supporting Pride Month, for example, shouldn’t they do it for the right reasons?
Greater market volatility. It might be counterintuitive to think that a volatile market would require businesses to focus on authenticity over, say, price. But in our latest white paper, “Find Market Resilience in Your Brand’s Purpose,” we feature companies, like Salesforce and Patagonia, that leveraged purpose-driven messaging not just as marketing. It demonstrates how their purpose reflects authentic organizational values that helped them navigate business challenges by:
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- Building stronger customer relationships that persisted during difficult periods;
- Attracting and retaining talent aligned with their mission;
- Differentiating them from competitors focused purely on profit; and
- Justifying long-term investments that may not have an immediate return on investment.
You can download a copy here.
Authenticity Through Prioritization
To show up as an authentic brand does not require you to go full-tilt Rachel Maddow as I did at the beginning of this post. At the most basic level, however, showing up authentically is acknowledging that changes have relevance, especially to the people who are integral to your success: prospects, clients, and employees.
In as much as you cannot be all things to all people, prioritize those who both matter and align with your brand’s values. Ideally, prospects or clients who do not share your beliefs would continue to work with you out of respect for your integrity, even if those beliefs are counter to their own. If not, that’s fine. Strong brands don’t — and shouldn’t — win every deal.
