By Peter Lee Getman
Principal Brand Director
And as a result, brand transparency is the next trend.
This article inspired me to write this blog post. Titled “8 marketing messages we know are all lies”, it is essentially a story about common marketing spins, slants and cooked performance statistics in brand communications. As I read this article, I realize this mindset is soon-to-be-dated thinking. This thinking was perhaps accurate before the onslaught of social media. Today, brand managers and brand advocates must realize social media is the new truth serum for their brand’s behavior.
Brand Transparency
Brands now live in an on-going conversation about themselves whether or not they join in or not, and the truth WILL BE set free. As a result, the trend WILL BE what I’m calling “brand transparency”. Brand transparency is the pinnacle of truth in marketing behaviors. These behaviors go well beyond inaccurate marketing communications. Brand transparency is when a brand welcomes the world in to understand exactly how their product is manufactured.
Truth in the Serum
For example, brands like Kleen Kanteen® and Sigg® marketed BPA-Free water bottles. Revenues spiked as the Nalgene® “BPA plastic bottle” business jumped off the cliff.
Nicely done. Or so everyone thought …
As it turns out, the Sigg brand had not been completely transparent with its BPA content.
The result? Patagonia terminated their Sigg partnership.
In reality, the amounts of BPA in their water bottles would never cause any human harm. They had fixed the problem [after millions of dollars sold], but weren’t forthcoming with both consumers and partners [including Patagonia]. If Sigg had engaged in brand transparency, their behavior and communication could have played out in a proactive way (instead of the reactive CYA efforts they were forced to take that fell short), with something like this:
We are very sorry to announce that we missed a trace amount of BPA in our water bottles. It is so incredibly small; our scientists simply did not see it. It is an honest error and we took immediate actions to correct it. Please understand these are such trace amounts they will not hurt you.
Nevertheless, if you like, please do mail your bottle back to us and we’ll send replace it with your choice of our new bottles. If you don’t want the hassle, since the bottle you have is safe to use, please still accept our apology for this oversight. And, we invite you to please download a “50% off” coupon for our new bottles.
We hope this has not caused any stress or inconvenience in your day. Thank you for your loyalty to Sigg branded products.
Sincerely,
[Founder's Name]
This turns a broken brand promise of BPA-Free into an opportunity to communicate what isn’t broken, the brand’s values.
Brand Strategy Trends
Total and utter brand transparency is one of the next major trends in brand strategy. Social media will expose your broken promises. Believe it—and brand transparency is the only answer.
In fact, we are launching a new consumer brand in 2010 that takes brand transparency to the max. We are still in super stealth mode, so I can’t even share the product category we’re aiming to dominate.
Starting with filming the day all the partners met for the first time in Vegas to discuss the brand strategy, brand values and, as a result, the brand’s opportunity, we will tell the story of who, what, where, why we are building the products the way we do.
We are 100% transparent with the World, identifying what is not ideal about the product and ask our customers for fresh ideas on how to improve it. Most importantly, we will carry on these communications, these relationships, in the wide-open forum called Internet social media. If you are an organic, all-natural, green, environmentally friendly, totally-safe-for-humans brand, you best have a brand transparency strategy that is as honest as the way you do business.
The first brands to take on this strategy will be handsomely rewarded in the form of unsurpassed customer loyalty, customer evangelism, blogosphere ubiquity and, ultimately, shareholder value.
Get brand transparency right the first time. Contact MicroArts to learn more about how to infuse your brand with truth.
PS: Truth in marketing may not apply to ski areas just yet. Downpouring rain will still be referred to as “mixed precipitation.” Unless, you are Alta’s weatherman. So many times last year, Alta reported 4″ of fresh snow whereby as I was walked toward the Wildcat lift in boot high powder. They under promise and over deliver! They report only 4″ when they get 8″ – How cool is that? Love Alta.