AUTHENTICITY IS A WAY OF LIFE

Every quarter I’m going to dive into a favorite topic of mine, Authenticity Is the Key to Success, and viewing this topic through many lenses, as this really is a multi-faceted topic. This quarter I’ll focus on brand authenticity and how brands succeed when they truly show up as their authentic self. These brands are maniacal in their beliefs and stick to these foundations religiously, even if it goes against profitability, modern day trends and even common business practice sense! In a nutshell, Authenticity is more than just a buzzword – it’s a way of life. It involves being true to yourself, your values, and your intentions. So why wouldn’t brands (and people) be authentic to their true selves? Simply put, greed.

FOR BRANDS INAUTHENTICITY IS USUALLY DRIVEN BY GREED (OR SIMPLY POOR JUDGEMENT!)

Consumers are quick to spot brands trying to be what they are not, all to join a specific trend or jump on a bandwagon. Greed drives much of why brands deviate from who they truly are, even if it doesn’t tie to their business, mission, or previous manner of how they showed up. Taboo examples of this range from green washing, all the way to extremes of supporting activism (we sadly saw a lot of this during COVID and The Black Lives Matter protests!) Authenticity is earned and not created or fabricated.

AUTHENTICITY HAS A DEEP NEUROLOGICAL IMPACT TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

According to Edelman’s trust barometer, a whopping 81% of consumers say trust is a deal-breaker when it comes to buying. Authenticity becomes the glue that seals the deal, fostering trust between brands and consumers. When a brand is open, honest, and doesn’t play hide-and-seek with information, it builds a rock-solid foundation for a lasting relationship. But it’s not just transparency, brands need to be relatable to create resonance, and to do this, you need to lean into personal moments which your audience cares about. This is the reason behind the rapid rise of the creator economy, as brands leverage “real people” who they believe are a human manifestation of their brand, to connect with “real consumers”. For example, a brand like Corona has found a nice playful way of marrying Eli Manning (stiff preppy jock) and Andy Samberg (edgy comedian) with Snoop Dog (laid-back) to provide a nice balance and contrast for its “la vida mas fina” campaigns—to slow down and enjoy “the finest life”. Although we won’t talk about the Solo Stove fall out, I still don’t understand the drama from that campaign! Did people take Solo Stoves product too literally to appreciate the tongue and cheek “no smoke’ campaign?! Why did it work for BIC but not Solo Stove?! Could it have been a timing problem? Or inauthenticity. Without a strong brand persona established by Solo Stove, consumers may have felt “tricked” instead of delighted by the Snoop stunt. People shrugged it off without making a purchase.” Personally, I felt this campaign was witty play on the brands, but possible it missed the mark for the above reasons. The reason I harp on about the importance of authenticity is that brands who own a moment, otherwise known as Fluency have a far greater recall rate. Nielsen’s Consumer Neuroscience team found that authentic brand stories are a jaw-dropping 22 times more memorable than dry facts. So, when a brand weaves a narrative that resonates, it’s like inviting consumers into their own personal adventure. It’s not just about selling; it’s about creating an emotional connection that lingers.

THE OG OF AUTHENTICITY

We can’t write a piece on brands being authentic without referencing the true OG who basically brought the premise into the mainstream: Patagonia. A story which reached its pinnacle on September 14, 2022, with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia donating his 3 billion US dollar company, which he had built from nothing in 1970 to $200MM a year in 2023, to a climate change organization—effectively committing his business to protecting Earth. This legacy did not happen by chance, it happened through Yvon making a clear stance on what he believed and ensured his business and product manifested this same belief no matter the impact to the bottom line. Some of his actions were revolutionary, some might say one step shy of playing Russian Roulette with his brand. But this is the definition of authenticity. Standing firm on what you believe, even when those around you are drawn to the new shiny object, they can latch their brand to, to make a couple more bucks. Some of the most Avant Garde actions Yvon took included:

• In 1985, Patagonia pledged 10% of its profit to conservation groups. They felt they weren’t bold enough, so they took it one step further and committed 1% of sales, profit or not.
• Entering a new decade, the company took steps to reduce the influence of its business on the environment and began using 100% organic cotton exclusively, increasing product and labor costs, cutting into profits consequently.
• In 2011, they made a bold statement with their anti-consumerism Black Friday ad, “Don’t buy this jacket.”
• In 2017, Patagonia sued President Trump following his proclamation to reduce the territory of Native American national monuments in Utah.
• In 2018, the company’s mission changed to a very clear and simple statement: We’re in business to save our home planet. The company’s revenue for 2022 is estimated at 1.5 billion US dollars which goes to show that having a solid commitment to its brand-driven activism is also good for business.
• In 2020, the company launched a collection of Patagonia shorts with tags that said Vote the A**holes Out as a response to politicians denying the reality of climate change but looking to get elected that year. It wasn’t a brand campaign, the media and the wider public found out about the message when a photo of the tag was posted on Twitter. Needless to say, the line sold out immediately and now they are a collector’s item.

Patagonia laid the foundations for other brands to follow. They set the bar on what truly being authentic means, with many others having followed, but in my opinion, none have come close to the absolute values which Yvon created and instilled in Patagonia. But we need to ensure we don’t associate authenticity-based marketing with “doing good”. Whilst Patagonia was singularly purpose driven, but you don’t need to be purpose driven to be highly authentic. You just need to live by your values, even if those values represent fearlessness without apology! 

THE NEW DAWN OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY

To bring this into the 2020’s, a quick straw poll: What product does the brand “liquid death” sell? If you are under the age of 35, I fully expect you to know and likely to have a smile on your face when you reveal the answer. If you are above 40, you may well not know, but you want to read further as this will likely nicely bridge some nostalgia from your Led Zepplin, ZZ-Top and Fleetwood Mac days! Liquid Death sells WATER. Yes, WATER. “Water in a bottle?” I hear you ask, NO! “Water in a can” … “A Can?” I hear you scream with a confused voice. “Yes, in a can. Originally a Black Can with Gothic Writing and a Melting Skull as the brand image” …. insert blank stare. I’m going off on a tangent, but you get the point. A brand with such a basic product, with a perplexing name and packaging which is better suited to a heavy metal-based beer brand announced a record $750MM valuation in 2022. But how?! I’m certain every investor and their mothers wrote them off and said no to their proposals when brought a black can of water with gothic writing and imagery and yet it proved everyone wrong. One word: Authenticity. It didn’t deviate from how it wanted to be seen and perceived.

A whirlwind summary of how the brand came to be is that Mike Cessario was living in Denver and watching some friends perform with their band at the Vans Warped Tour music festival. Monster energy drinks were a sponsor on the tour, so the musicians were drinking out of Monster cans, but they’d replaced the energy drink with water to stay hydrated during their sets. Mike stated, “It started making me think about: Why aren’t there more healthy products that still have funny, cool, irreverent branding. Because most of the funniest, most memorable, irreverent branding marketing is all for junk food.” And this is still incredibly true today. Superbowl, the home of some of the most irreverent brand marketing is still driven heavily by the “junk food” category, with 20% of all brands marketing in the Superbowl 2024 being classified as junk food brands (high sugar, high calorie, high fats). So Cessario leant into that idea, creating whimsical metal and “death” centric ads, designed to “murder your thirst”. They haven’t deviated from this script and continue to broaden their brand via their marketing ecosystem, staying true to the authentic self which launched the business. Marketing programs which include:

• Partnership with Epic Games and Fortnite (which is the litmus test for if you irreverent in pop culture) to create “Murder Man” and “Murder Mountain” map.
• Tongue and cheek influencer campaigns featuring an adult entertainment star, cracking jokes at the adult entertainment industry to get the brand’s anti-plastic point across
• Tying its brand back to its roots by hosting and sponsoring events that align with its brand identity, such as punk rock concerts and extreme sports competitions.
• Social campaigns which lean heavily into its tag line “murder your thirst” in unconventional settings, such as how Liquid Death “murders your hangover” by having 6x the number of electrolytes for vs standard soda when making your cocktails!
• The pinnacle of being a cult brand is selling merch to extend your product line (just look at Tesla!) But Liquid death doesn’t just sell branded Merch, it teams up with notable individuals to create limited edition items, which create a heightening buzz around the brand. For example, selling a limited range of skateboard decks painted using real blood from skate legend Tony Hawk.

All this…. and it’s just water.

Today, Liquid Death has more than 250,000 followers on Facebook and 1.4 million on Instagram. In 2020, the brand expanded into Whole Foods stores, and it had roughly $10 million in sales for the year. That number jumped to $45 million last year, as chains such as 7-Eleven and Publix joined in. Earlier this year Liquid Death launched a line of flavored carbonated waters, with irreverent names such as Berry It Alive and Severed Lime. Now, the brand is sold in more than 60,000 retail locations nationwide, including Kroger and Target, where the cans retail for $1.89 apiece. Liquid Death is Amazon’s top-selling still water brand and second-bestselling sparkling water brand. The brand now has some deep-pocketed investors such as Live Nation Entertainment and Science Ventures, and celebrity backers including comedian Whitney Cummings and members of music group Swedish House Mafia. Collectively, investors have pumped about $195 million into Liquid Death, valuing the brand at $700 million.

YOU DO YOU BOO BOO

I’ve rambled on for too long, so I’m going to wrap with Kevin Hart and simply say “You Do You Boo Boo”. Find a white space you truly believe in, lean in and don’t stop leaning, and find new and exciting ways of unpacking that position. If done right, consumers will naturally gravitate to a brand which is authentic to a specific area. Consumers want to relate. They want a product and a brand to be an extension of themselves and their personality. If you create a clear position which people can latch onto and build an ecosystem and product base around the authentic self, as Kevin Costner said in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.”