[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”90″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”]
<\/p>\n
So nothing seemed further from the truth then with authenticity on the decline, however the recent events that unfolded over the last one month, namely the GameStop stock surge story, \u00a0made me rethink about that conversation. To cut a long story Short (pun intended), \u00a0hedge funds got trapped in a \u2018Short\u2019 squeezed which meant they had to purchase the stock they borrowed and sold to a buyer in order to return it to the lender, at a much higher price to cover their positions, further driving the price of the stock up and dragging with them others who had bet \u00a0Short\u2019. Was this too \u2018Short\u2019 an explanation? Perhaps so.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What surprised me about this is incident is power of social media at play. Individual investors on social news platform Reddit grabbed opportunities normally reserved for the big hedge fund players, leveraging trading platforms like Robinhood. \u00a0This was a rally by small retail investors to spoil the game for the notorious large institutional players who are used to crashing the party for serious retail buyers. They were driven by a cause to beat the hedge funds at their own game. However Robinhood played spoilt sport and stopped trading on GameStop shares, much to the chagrin of its patrons.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What followed was the unexpected backlash Robinhood faced, with customers feeling betrayed over these trading limits and increased feeling that it was pandering to the whims of the institutional investors. They witnessed a flight of customers to other brokers and increased number of complaints about account closure. Whether there was truth in it or just a case of poor brand management only time will reveal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is the part that really interests me as a marketer and brought me back to the idea of \u201cBrand Authenticity\u201d. This is a value about brands that people hold dear to form strong endearing relationships. By being authentic, brands resonate with people\u2019s desires to stay true to themselves. Brands help reinforce that feeling when their customers make them a part of their lives through brand adoption.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Robinhood who rose on the promise of an honest trader for the people had turned out to be the Sherriff of Nottingham and people have already started to disown the brand for its perceived alignment with the institutional investors and not staying true to its promise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Contrast this with a brand like Dove. By authentically championing women\u2019s empowerment and wanting to change the conversation around beauty has over the years possibly stayed true to its mission and continues to grow.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Parler, the microblogging and social networking platform doubled its users from 1.5M to 2.8M in a short space of 15 days in July 2020 for being true to freedom of speech. It is now inactive and was taken down by Big Tech as they believed it to be a platform for Right Wing supporters. Once it comes back online, they are likely to witness a surge in users as people rally around this brand for staying true to itself. Case in point, the Parlor app (spelt with an \u2018O\u2019) is already enjoying a surge of new memberships as people search for the social media platform Parler.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tesla, the darling of the stock market in 2020, had unprecedented growth in stock price driven by the huge contribution of carbon credits it earned on its automotive sales to Automotive manufacturers who needed to offset their sales of\u00a0 polluting vehicles against these credits. Whether its equity will erode over time among customers who believe in sustainability will depend on its continuance to do and awareness of this sale. It will also depend on whether its customer base are true believers in sustainability or are those who want to be seen among their \u00a0peers as a sustainability believer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The world of today is a complex web of inter relationships and dependencies that impact a brands ability to stay true. From the investors, to suppliers, to governments in markets we operate in, all have divergent needs and staying true in today\u2019s world and meeting those needs is becoming difficult, but it can also make or break a brand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The demand for Brand Authenticity may have started with the Millennials. The surge in access to information, increased competition and offerings and their distrust of advertising have all contributed\u00a0 to their increase demand for brands to be relevant to their values. However, as Gen Z enter the market in a big way, this expectation is expected to be more pronounced and the demand for a brand to not only be authentic but also inclusive whereby they support diversity. Brand Inclusivity will add another layer of complexity to Brand Authenticity for brand managers of the future.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To Gen Z, the congruence of the brand\u2019s personality with theirs will not suffice because the brands suppliers, the corporate entity, their retailers, and the governments they work with all need to be aligned. This will drive ethical sourcing and organisational structures that embrace diversity at all levels apart from the brand proposition. It will also determine the retailers they contract to bring those products to market.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a new world order, a bi-polar world with accentuated emphasis on authenticity and inclusivity , which is at the forefront of the consumer\u2019s minds and brands are increasingly getting caught out. Take the case of the Mulan controversy, with the derision of Disney for putting profit over principle, or the My Pillow CEO Tweets, that resulted in prominent retailers refusing to stock his company products. Apple recent attempts to \u00a0weaken a bill aimed at preventing forced labor may create dissonance between the brand \u00a0and official stance on human rights, as it attempts to maintain it key market and supply chain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Research has found that ads that are considered progressive are 25% more effective than other others in driving adoption. P&G\u2019s The Talk, an ad made to promote their \u2018Black is Beautiful\u2019 initiative is a great example. However there \u00a0are many layers to diversity, and it goes beyond gender or skin color. It\u2019s also about age, geography, socio-economic diversity, prejudices, commonly held stereo typical views, social issues, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and very soon, about your political affiliations. In India, brands like Shalimar Paints, Kellogg’s, delved into \u00a0issues like deep-seated prejudices, corruption, and LGBT rights through their ads, instantly connecting with audiences. The beauty space is the most exciting and fast evolving to challenge the stereotypical notions of beauty where diverse faces are being presented in a naturalistic way to represent the world, we live in.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The GameStop surge made me realize in a connected world, where dissemination of information happens at an explosive pace, brands can no longer manage the fallout from such events. The Black Lives Matter a movement in another country had a ripple effect on Unilever\u2019s Fair & Lovely in India, an iconic brand, who is due for a name change in support of its inclusive claim.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As GenZ becomes a larger force to reckon with and the heightening of social issues and causes, the lack of\u00a0 Brand Authenticity and Inclusivity will lead to failure and instant fall from grace and brands need to be careful about that.<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”90″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”20″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]An authentic brand has principles, moral values and helps us be true to ourselves. I was first made aware of the growing relevance of Brand Authenticity years ago, by a close dear friend and eminent Digital Marketing professor at NYU, Ms. Sharma. Then, the world had come out of recession…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[105],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n