Is your business brave enough to bare it’s soul?

In today’s age of on-demand, interconnection, brands have got nowhere to hide when they break promises to customers - who take to social platforms in their droves to share their experiences. It’s also increasingly difficult for brands to be built using smoke and mirrors, as customers are making increasingly conscious buying decisions and demand transparency and clarity. Another way to look at this, is that consumers are looking for authenticity.

A recent study showed that 91 percent of consumers worldwide were willing to purchase from or invest in authentic brands (Cohne & Wolfe 2017 report). This has been an emerging theme over the last few years and as businesses attempt to harness their authenticity, what does it really mean and how can a business go about reflecting it?

Creating an authenticity within a business often leads to creating an emotional connection with customers as the brand is built beyond the transactional into something which resonates emotionally. An emotional connection with a business in turn creates stronger loyalty and a longer term customer. Something which every business strives to achieve.

Being authentic means bearing your soul. Peeling back the layers of what you do and how you do it, to get the very reason why a business exists. Then setting the right expectation, so that customers understand exactly what you stand for, your purpose, and like a stick of rock, that purpose can be seen right through your business.

Heritage is a often mistaken for authenticity, as businesses assume that customers are switched on by a proven track record and reputation, but relying on this alone isn’t enough. This can be seen through many of the new age, online brands stealing the march on established market players, by offering simplicity, transparency and technology driven alternatives.

If you'd like to know more about moving your brand from a transactional connection with customers to one which holds an emotional connection, then get in touch and let's talk about the possibilities.