Brand Authenticity and Consistency

“Authen­tic­i­ty can’t be repli­cat­ed or faked. You’re either real or you’re not.” - Bibi Bourel­ly (singer/​songwriter).

Some­times com­pa­nies are so keen to get or impress new cus­tomers or employ­ees that they over­state what they do or how they actu­al­ly operate.

This is why, when we first inter­act and get clos­er to them (or a new per­son), we can be very cau­tious, skep­ti­cal or appre­hen­sive to believe what we are being told is real. We need a few expe­ri­ences to make sure it’s not a façade.

We want to ensure what we’re being sold is true — and not a mixed mes­sage or over­state­ment. We do this to avoid dis­ap­point­ment or frus­tra­tion. If we’ve already signed a con­tract, we do it to avoid mas­sive amounts of pain or disruption.

And it’s why peo­ple like to affirm, through feed­back from oth­er cus­tomers, that a com­pa­ny is what they rep­re­sent. We val­ue refer­rals from friends and fam­i­ly, and online reviews for com­pa­nies like Airbnb, Ama­zon and Yelp. This is also why some peo­ple try to game that system.

WYSI­WYG

Peo­ple are loy­al to some incred­i­bly suc­cess­ful brands because they con­sis­tent­ly give us what we want — not just from one expe­ri­ence or ten but hun­dreds. The more pos­i­tive our expe­ri­ences the more loy­al we are because, deep down inside, we can trust them and feel safe from frus­tra­tion or disappointment.

This is brand authen­tic­i­ty or WYSI­WYG (What You See is What You Get) at work.

Think about Star­bucks or Apple. Think about your favourite local restau­rant, your sib­lings or cowork­ers or your best friend. Through hun­dreds of expe­ri­ences, you know what you can expect — both good and bad.

Peo­ple are also will­ing to try new brands or work with new com­pa­nies because they’re open to a dif­fer­ent and, hope­ful­ly, pos­i­tive experience.

In my work and per­son­al rela­tion­ships, the peo­ple I trust the most are those who don’t over-pack­age. They are eas­i­er to trust more quick­ly because they are open and trans­par­ent — and at the heart of two of our firm’s core values:

• Tell it like it is
• Do what you say and then some.

I’m not expect­ing every com­pa­ny or human to be per­fect, but it makes it much eas­i­er when peo­ple are on the same frequency.

And just because some­one is open and trans­par­ent doesn’t mean that they’re not mis­rep­re­sent­ing who they are or what their com­pa­ny is about, but it is eas­i­er to deter­mine that when they share authentically.

In the end, psy­cho­log­i­cal com­fort is the root of trust in all rela­tion­ships. We trust brands and peo­ple that con­sis­tent­ly behave like we expect.

The Chal­lenge

• When you think about your com­pa­ny, where are the oppor­tu­ni­ties for more con­sis­ten­cy between what you say and what peo­ple expe­ri­ence? Con­sid­er this for both your cus­tomers and for your employees.
• What can you do about this?

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achiev­ing lead­ers to have it all – a great busi­ness and a reward­ing life. Con­tact us for sim­ple and impact­ful advice. No BS. No fluff.