FOCUS ON Branding
THE REAL DEAL
WHY AUTHENTICITY MATTERS AND HOW TO AVOID LOOKING LIKE A FAKE
BY KATE PAVAO
n their book Authenticity: What
Consumers Really Want, B. Joseph
Pine II and coauthor James H.
Gilmore talk about people’s
growing desire for real experiences.
Pine discusses Authenticity—and
authenticity—with Profit.
PROFIT: Where did the idea for this
book come from?
PINE: Authenticity is an outgrowth of our
previous work, The Experience Economy.
In that book, we show that people today
want experiences—memorable events
that engage them in a personal way.
Through our research and work with
clients [at Strategic Horizons LLP, the
firm Pine cofounded with Gilmore], we
realized that as life becomes a paid-for
experience, people increasingly question
what is real. People no longer accept the
fake from the phony. They want the real
from the genuine.
Another thing we realized is that
authenticity is personally determined.
What is authentic for you can be different than what is authentic for me.
Authenticity is something that appeals to
your own self-image—whether it is your
actual self-image or your desired or aspi-rational self-image.
PROFIT: What does being “true to your
own self” mean?
PINE: You have to know your identity.
You have to be sure that the decisions
you make flow from who you are. This
includes new offerings, new markets, and
ways that you position yourself in the
market. Companies need to pay particular attention to their heritage, because
the easiest way to be perceived as being
untrue to self is to do things that are anti-
thetical to your heritage.
Look at Disney’s California Adventure.
It has not worked effectively, mostly
because it’s inauthentic Disney. Disney is
about creating wonderful fantasy environments based on fairy tales in particular,
or on the fertile mind of Walt Disney and
his followers. California Adventure takes
on a real place—it’s not a magic kingdom,
it’s a Hollywood kingdom. So what is
Disney doing now? They are saying, let’s
view California not as this state on the
West Coast but through the eyes of Walt
Disney himself, who moved there from
Kansas City to ply his trade. This is where
Mickey Mouse became a success, where
Disney built this experience empire. And
now you have authentic Disney.
PROFIT: Can you define “being who you
say you are to others”?
PINE: This is not about your identity but
how you represent that identity. If you
represent yourself falsely, if you say things
in the marketplace—whether through
your advertising, your naming conventions, your packaging, or your public
statements—that do not match the reality
people encounter with you, then that’s the
easiest way to be perceived as phony.
PROFIT: What are companies trying to
achieve when they use words like real and
authentic on their packaging?
PINE: This shows that companies recog-
nize this need for authenticity—or recog-
nize that consumers have this need. But
that’s not the way to go about it. You don’t
want to proclaim yourself as authentic.
You want to be perceived as authentic. <>
KATE PAVAO is a freelance writer based in California.
Getting Real
How can companies become more
authentic? Start by understanding
who you really are and how you repre-
sent yourself, says B. Joseph Pine II,
coauthor of Authenticity. Then exam-
ine the five genres of authenticity:
Natural authenticity. “Things that are
in or of the earth . . . that aren’t artifi-
cial or synthetic.” Think: organic food.
Original authenticity. “Anything that
possesses originality in design.”
Think: Apple’s iPods and iPhones.
Exceptional authenticity. “Any-
thing that’s executed—particularly
individually—for you by someone
demonstrating human care that is not
disingenuously performed.” Think:
Nordstrom’s legendary service.
Referential authenticity. “Something
that refers to something else that is
authentic.” Think: World War II video
games like Call of Duty 2.
Influential authenticity. “Anything that
exerts influence on other entities, calling
us to a higher goal or providing a fore-
taste of a better way.” Think: phrases
that seem to promise a better world,
such as “conflict-free diamond” or
“free-range chicken.”
