I just completed reading an article written for the current McKinsey Quarterly.
It concluded with the following:
Word-of-mouth marketing through social networks could emerge as an important tool in the marketer’s arsenal. That will depend on whether marketers can tame the fundamentally unpredictable and serendipitous nature of word of mouth without losing what makes it so valuable in the first place—its authenticity.
The single most important word in the entire paragraph is “authenticity”
Social Media is all-the-buzz, I get that. But if you listen carefully and tune out the buzz you will hear something very important. The voices of the consumer. The marketing and advertising industry could be learning something about the new age of consumers. Consumers have spoken, and will continue to speak. What they have said is, find a better way to communicate with us using less hype and more authenticity. Tell us the core reason why we should buy a product or service from one of your clients.
If the consumer is asking companies to be more authentic then maybe we need to apply our skills as communication professionals and inspire our clients to better understand their “Why”. The real reason a company exists is rarely articulated, or for that matter is rarely known. If a company does not understand their “Why” then how will they ever offer a genuine reason for a consumer to truly believe they are engaged in an authentic relationship.
It concluded with the following:
Word-of-mouth marketing through social networks could emerge as an important tool in the marketer’s arsenal. That will depend on whether marketers can tame the fundamentally unpredictable and serendipitous nature of word of mouth without losing what makes it so valuable in the first place—its authenticity.
The single most important word in the entire paragraph is “authenticity”
Social Media is all-the-buzz, I get that. But if you listen carefully and tune out the buzz you will hear something very important. The voices of the consumer. The marketing and advertising industry could be learning something about the new age of consumers. Consumers have spoken, and will continue to speak. What they have said is, find a better way to communicate with us using less hype and more authenticity. Tell us the core reason why we should buy a product or service from one of your clients.
If the consumer is asking companies to be more authentic then maybe we need to apply our skills as communication professionals and inspire our clients to better understand their “Why”. The real reason a company exists is rarely articulated, or for that matter is rarely known. If a company does not understand their “Why” then how will they ever offer a genuine reason for a consumer to truly believe they are engaged in an authentic relationship.
