Why brand authenticity is more important than ever

Loyalty is the golden ticket to brand success and longevity. However, achieving this can be arduous. Despite a quality product, many brands rely too heavily on price and promotion to maintain market share, but these can only drive a brand for so long. 

With so many uncertainties in the world, such as fake news, misleading packaging, and false advertising, consumers are more sceptical than ever. Fast-fashion retailer H&M broke its brand promise to customers by falsely portraying the environmental benefits of its products and was exposed for greenwashing.
False advertising of fuel economy labels overstating the efficiency of certain vehicles by Volkswagen led to legal action and a settlement of $96.5 million in the US. The list goes on. Consumers feel let down by brands, and with so many choices, they can feel like deer in headlights when shopping. Their ‘go-to’ will be a brand they trust. 

Many factors contribute to a brand achieving consumer trust, but authenticity is the most crucial component. 90% of consumers reference authenticity when deciding which brands they support.

EHL Associate Professor Florent Girardin’s co-authored article “Consumers rely on brands to express themselves, self-enhance, or self-verify. At the same time, consumers are confronted with increasing commercialisation, an overflow of the fake and an omnipresence of meaningless market offers. To overcome this meaninglessness, consumers look for relevant, original and genuine brands: they increasingly search for authenticity in brands.”

Consumers have the tools to learn everything there is to know about a brand. If a brand is not genuine, it will be found out and called out. Reviews, its corporate social responsibility efforts, even the team away day—everything about a brand is online to be discovered. If a brand does not live and breathe every aspect of what it is promoting, it will lose credibility and the trust of its customers. A brand’s authenticity makes it stand out; it creates passionate and loyal followers and develops a mutual understanding between customer and brand about their values and identity and how perfectly they are aligned, ensuring a long and happy relationship.