Brand Marketing in the Age of Authenticity

Brand marketing has been around for years, and yet somehow, something is going wrong. For a very long time, the actual specifications of a product were not the most important thing to a customer: instead, they focused on the branding that came with it.

Countless studies and surveys have proved this over and over again: in fact, a Forbes article quotes that 75% of shoppers said they are more likely to purchase from a company that knows their name and purchase history.

An even more startling – and potentially worrying – statistic is that 90% of consumers said they’re looking for authenticity when deciding what brands they’ll support. That means that the power of the brand is starting to fall short when compared to the power of the review.

Websites such as Yelp and Angi (formally Angie's list) mean that it is easier and easier for people to read reviews about different products and companies, and that means that they are not making brand-based choices anymore, but reputation-based choices. 

This may sound a little like the same thing, but it is not. All it takes is a few negative reviews, and a brand could lose its reputation almost overnight.

Customers are Swayed by Opinions

Because customers are more swayed statistically by opinions rather than brands, that means that it is becoming more and more difficult, and arguably meaningless, for a company to use marketing based on its branding. Advertising your brand may seem clever, but it probably isn't bringing in any extra custom to your company.

Instead, you need to address the changing needs of your consumer group and give them what they want: reviews. You will have great customer relationships with many people, so you should use this great reputation to your advantage. Instead of brand marketing, you should be thinking about reputation marketing.