The Obvious is So Obvious

Elizabeth Talerman

I recently read a blurb in one of my favorite brand email newsletters that set my hair on fire.  The headline for the blurb and graphic; “Authenticity ranks high for every demographic cohort.”

Authentic Authenticity

Really?!  This is the kind of nonsense that gives brand strategists, researchers and planners a bad name.

This is not an insight, it is a statement of the obvious.

Every positive human trait can be related to brands and each and every one of them will rank high.  To gain some real insights we might ask the sample population to make hard choices instead of simply indicating affinity.  What if we ask them to rank authenticity against other desirable traits giving them a choice between authentic, transparent, and genuine?  Results from this question would allow us to parse language and get at which concept among three related concepts is most important to people.  But if people were asked to rank (from 1-5 let’s say) whether or not authenticity was important – then heck, how could it fail?

I sincerely doubt people desire inauthentic brands, experiences or relationships. Lies and fakery rarely rank high on anyone’s list.

C’mon people, we can do better than this.  We can provide strategic insights that are far from statements of the obvious; ones that allow us a glimpse underneath the obvious to the not-so-obvious drivers of human desire, intention and most importantly, action.

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