Authenticity is the Final Luxury: The Journey From Perfection to Power

Jul 31

Brands are constantly competing with each other to be at the very top, attract the most consumers, and have the biggest level of awareness. When it comes to crafting campaigns, perfection has been the key driver behind visuals, texts, videos, and other types of media that brands use to promote themselves. However, we’ve seen many brands move from perfection to a more authentic strategy, which connects with consumers at a much greater level in the modern day. Let’s explore this journey and how it’s affecting companies.

Table of Contents

Perfection Isn’t Appealing Anymore
How Authenticity Builds Power and Relatability
How Brands Can Focus on Authenticity Instead of Perfection
Conclusion
References

Perfection Isn’t Appealing Anymore

Marketing has evolved significantly over time. However, one common element that we could see among these campaigns was the aim for perfection amongst brands. This includes only setting out highly polished visuals and having a simple message go through multiple departments before it’s published for the public eye to view.

While perfection had its appeal amongst consumers for quite a long time, the time for this strategy is quickly coming to an end. The shopping behavior of the average consumer has changed, and with this, they’re no longer looking to find the most perfect brand that exists.

Today, consumers want brands that they can relate to. They want a brand that isn’t afraid to show some mistakes or vulnerability. When brands aim for pure perfection, it now feels inauthentic for consumers, even though a couple of decades or even years ago, the opposite was true.

How Authenticity Builds Power and Relatability

In the modern day, authenticity has become a key player when it comes to gaining the trust of consumers. This is why perfection no longer has a place in marketing campaigns and brand awareness.

There are several reasons why authenticity is now the most important factor, but relatability is one of the key elements that companies and brands should not overlook.

The thing is, human beings aren’t perfect. We all make mistakes. We have our good and bad days. As this becomes a more acceptable social norm, people are looking for brands that they can relate to. They don’t want brands that seem perfect at all times. They want to experience the flaws and mistakes that brands make, just like they do. People relate better to imperfection than perfection, and this is exactly why the traditional approach to exceptionally polished visuals and messages is no longer working for brands. Whether we look at international multi-billion-dollar brands or small businesses, the way to do business has changed, and now we need to focus on building authenticity instead of aiming to be too perfect.

There are psychological factors behind the idea of focusing on authenticity instead of perfection, so let’s take a look at these elements:

Authenticity equals trust: When brands stop trying to be perfect and instead focus on building authority and being authentic within their niche, it helps to create trust among consumers. The average customer feels tired of the extreme polishing that goes into many marketing campaigns from brands that focus on perfection. They want a greater level of transparency and honesty, and that’s exactly what helps to build trust among them.
A human side is relatable: Humans aren’t perfect, as we’ve already established. When brands try to showcase themselves as the perfectly polished company, it’s not relatable. Brands that can show a “human side” become more approachable to the average consumer because they can relate. It can feel intimidating for a brand to showcase flaws and a human side, but that’s exactly what consumers want to see.
Emotions and loyalty: Another thing that comes with showing this human side of brands is the increased opportunity to add emotion to marketing campaigns. Emotions are an essential part of who we are as humans. Brands that show emotion in their campaigns and visibility create a deeper connection with their consumers and target audience. This, in turn, leads to a greater level of customer loyalty.

How Brands Can Focus on Authenticity Instead of Perfection

We’ve established the fact that aiming for perfection is no longer a good idea for brands. They should instead focus on authenticity, and this would give them power and results within their niche. For brands that have been focused on overly polished campaigns, changing the way they implement marketing and other strategies can be challenging.

Fortunately, there are some actionable steps companies and brands can take. These steps will allow them to tap into the potential that comes with authenticity over perfection, creating campaigns and a brand that is relatable and creates trust and loyalty.

● Refinement over polished: Perfection usually involves over-polishing campaigns. However, consumers are tired of seeing this. They want to relate to a brand. Authenticity doesn’t necessarily mean a brand should implement campaigns that are unstructured and unorganized. However, they should find a way to refine their content in such a way that it doesn’t seem too polished, but still authentic.
● Stories drive emotions and trust: Brands should also look at how they can incorporate stories into their marketing campaigns. This could be related to the founder and their story about how they decided to start their business. Difficulties faced during the startup phase can also be an ideal topic. These are the types of stories that drive emotion and create strong connections between the brand and its ideal target audience.
● Focus on experience: Brands should begin to focus more on the experience they have in their industry instead of solely focusing on creating a polished appearance. This also means implementing a strategy that focuses on human-first marketing, where real people are shown in the visuals created to promote the brand online and in the real world. When this is the focus, it builds trust and authority within the niche the brand targets.

Conclusion

Brands used to be all about perfection in their marketing campaigns and public image. However, things are changing quickly, and they now focus on becoming more relatable to consumers. This journey allows brands to offer more meaning in their advertising material and, through this approach, rise to power through being more authentic.