So often I hear from friends and others in broader society ‘I don’t have the power to create change’. It is my personal and professional perspective that this disempowering statement simply isn’t true. In my work in media and marketing I regularly see behind the veil of marketing messages onto the true power of our actions as consumers. I’ve learnt how valuable our decisions as consumers are to businesses, they are not only noticed and measured, but they are then packaged into insights that inform brand decisions and business directions. Insights used to change how businesses present themselves, in order to connect more directly with us - their audience – in the hope of influencing our future decisions. We as people can harness our power to influence businesses by consciously taking action and deciding which business to support and why.
Understanding and wielding our influence as consumers is a much more empowering position to hold rather than allowing artificial algorithms and fast moving trends to monetise our attention for business agenda’s. Businesses want our attention and they want our custom - it is our job to decide if they deserve it and over time if they deserve our loyalty and repeat purchase. The outcomes of authenticity start with us - the consumers. We have the power to direct action, and nothing speaks louder in the business world than our wallets. Authentic business action and marketing is when businesses and brands place their authentic purpose and actions at the core of their business decisions. There are three key results of authentic business action - brand loyalty from continued consumer choice, increased revenue from consumer trust and brand equity derived from consumer perception. These are the results that businesses seek out to thrive and where we as consumers have influence and impact to create.
In a world inundated with thousands of ads and brand messages each day, people have become more selective about what is let in and what is tuned out. This is where the authentic perspective gains traction, we have started to use authenticity as a way to identify the brands we want to engage with - to influence our brand choice. In fact a staggering 88% of us state the importance of authenticity when deciding which brands to support*. Authenticity has transitioned from a mere concept to a driving force behind our purchases. One look at a brand like Patagonia and you can see this effect in action. Their platform is ‘Business Unusual’ and their goal is to create positive world action from their brand power. When you first land on their Australian website it’s not a product or service you see, it's an invitation to help them take action, at the time of writing this it was an invite to help protect Australia’s oceans. This positive purpose creates a significant platform that conscientious consumers align with and creates a desire in them to support this forward thinking brand. We have a closer connection to what Patagonia stands for because we too want to be a part of their purpose. This is proven in their business success. According to a company representative from Time Magazine, Patagonia’s sales have quadrupled in the last decade to hit more than $1 billion annually**. This shows the power we have to make change and showcase to businesses what is going to affect our purchases. Consistency in action strengthens the potential power we can create so we must stay consistent in our brand choice. This choice, this action can become a quantifier for the power of our authentic decision making and potential to change our world.
Authenticity isn’t built in a day, and from long term authentic action comes trust. Trust has become a powerful tool for businesses to hold and consumers to wield. Our world has shifted from the time when a brand could simply speak to their ideals and have believers, to one where action is not just demanded but can be checked and evaluated. Too often businesses speak to current topics or events, focused on the short term of their brand and grasping at trends to stay relevant. They forget that it's what happens in the long term that builds trust. For us to believe and trust a brand's offering and values, we want to see consistent action that proves it. Even better if you can prove the brand's beginnings were from a place of authentic purpose over business success. Patagonia’s founder is known to have been a rebel, creating and innovating for purpose from his beginning in simple mountaineering tools. His business grew not in seeking out new areas of growth but in a natural process of wonder, and the question of how to create something better for his employees, customers and the planet. Patagonia has been acting in this way since the founder first started to create his products in 1957 and has sustained this cultural ethos through to now. Of course this is idyllic but it shows consistency in authentic action to create trust. It doesn’t mean businesses can’t start now or change their ways, in fact it should encourage them to do so, but it does mean that they can’t expect to create one positive innovation, movement or donation and achieve consumer trust instantaneously. It needs to be consistent for audiences to listen, trust and act with that in mind. It is this effect of consistency and trust that is quantifiable, in fact a study by LucidPress already did it and found that consistent brands can increase business revenue by up to 33%. This is partially from consistent consumer choice and loyalty but also in how we as consumers then perceive the brand. The stronger our positive sentiment, shared values and enjoyment of a brand the stronger their brand equity and value.
Consistency has been key to this discussion of authenticity. Why? Well the easy answer is we know it's important, Hubspot found that consistent efforts can increase brand value - the worth of a business’s quality, association, loyalty and awareness - by 20%. So we understand how authenticity helps us create brand choice, and how consistent action of values will increase equity and perceptions and when both these consumer actions are in play we create preference. Preference is powerful in business because it can be the reason why we search for the Patagonia down jacket over a Columbia one even though it is almost double the price. It's also why we can shop in the supermarket and pick up our favourite brand of Almond Milk such as Australia’s Own rather than So Good and don’t bother to check the dollar per litre price. The value we place on a brand can be reflected in the price we are willing to pay for it. Preference and values alone won’t build loyalty but it's a strong step in the right direction, and it only strengthens any further marketing tactics brands put into play. We as audiences feel closer to brands when they act from their authentic purpose and we prove this to brands in our own actions and sentiments, helping strengthen the argument for authentic marketing.
We have the power to choose not only what brands we support and trust, but what brands we want to be aligned with and share in our values. It is up to us to choose if we want to partake in the positive sentiment of a brand or the negative actions of one. We have power to create broader action, broader change that goes beyond us as individuals and affects the mighty machines of the corporate world. We, like them, need to be consistent and continually take action from our values.
I hope this has left you with something to think about, or at the least given you some ammo for when one of your friends mentions the inability to affect change in our world. I would love to hear your thoughts on this discussion, leave a comment or message me on LinkedIn.
Until next time,
Emily
Sources:
* Stackla. “Shifts in Consumer Shopping Habits: Authenticity, Perosnalisation, and the Power of UGC, Aug. 2021. LINK
** Pereira, Daniel. “Is Patagonia Profitable.” The Business Model Analyst, 17 Apr. 2023, LINK
LucidPress and Hubspot Consistency References:
Hubspot + Brand Folder, How to Build Brand Consistency, 2021. LINK
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