Building Brand Loyalty: Authenticity Marketing!

By Patrick Mayoh

I watched a fascinating ted talk a couple of days ago by Joseph Pine, author of the Experience Economy and Authenticity: what consumers really want. The economy according to him has gone through three stages. Starting as a commodity-based system, the world with the industrial revolution moved to a goods-based economy and later on to a service-based economy. What we are now going through is the age of authenticity. An age of mass-customization where consumers want to be treated uniquely.

Companies that want to sell in the 21st century have to be true to themselves and true to customers. This has always seemed to be the case, but I feel this is even truer today than never before in history. As Jeff Bezos famously said: 

“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”

In an age of global digitalisation, customers everywhere want more, expect more and look for more honest companies...more authentic ones.

Being true to yourself

This is all about what you stand for. You don't want your business to be out there just to make sales,  but you want to be identifiable, to be associated with certain values and principles. Think "connectedness" and facebook comes to mind or "innovation" and all you think of is Apple or "fantasy" for Disney. All your products and services are built around your identity, your customers relate to your identity and expect you to stay true to what you proclaim to be as an organization. So in case you still find yourself floundering not actually sure why you are in market, think again!

Being true to customers

I came across this article about companies that engage in predatory marketing activities to stop mothers from breastfeeding their children in order to buy their formula. The World Health Organization strongly recommends mothers breastfeed new infants for 6 months, arguing this is beneficial for the I.Q and the brain development of a new born; that some companies would have none of this, and invest tons of money in marketing to persuade mothers to buy their baby formular is a case of companies not being true to customers. What happens when the mothers actually find out? 

Or think about this campaign launched by one skin care company with offices in Cameroon and Gabon, marketing a lotion that can turn dark skin into a fairer type as if to stay dark African skin is not attractive.  Those are just a few examples of companies that are out to sell products and services. 

But this is not enough today. Companies that want to sell today will have to be honest and mindful of what consumers truly want to experience and how they can fulfill that need without having to lie about what they can do.

Be it in Africa or elsewhere, I think it is time to tailor our offerings, products and services to the identities of our respective organisations and the aspirations of our consumer-segments all in an honest and authentic brand strategy. 

Patrick Mayoh is a chief strategy officer at Aura Cameroon