Marketing authenticity isn’t just a buzzword – it’s about creating genuine connections that make customers feel confident in choosing your brand. On Episode 51 of “Marketing, Demystified,” host Jenn Mancusi spoke with brand positioning expert Kathy Guzman Galloway, known as the “Clarity Wizard,” about how brands can do authentic marketing.
The evolution of brand authenticity
Authenticity wasn’t a common focus in marketing a few decades ago. Kathy recalled her experience working at a major food and beverage company around 2005-2006, where they attempted to manufacture authenticity. “You can’t take five or six brand managers in your corporate office and say, ‘go into this room and create a workshop and figure out how we do authentic Mexican’ because that’s not what authenticity is,” she noted.
A common misconception is that brand purpose must tie to philanthropy or social causes.
“You don’t have to be giving away money to poor kids in Africa to have a purpose,” Kathy emphasized. “It is a valid purpose for Frito Lay to say, ‘we just want people to have fun with their food, because the world is hard.'”
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Balancing art and science for authentic marketing
Brand positioning requires both analytical frameworks and creative intuition. While the science provides structure around target audiences and market positioning, the art comes from understanding why customers should care about your brand.
A common concern is that focusing on purpose might conflict with business targets. However, Kathy argues that purpose and profit work together rather than against each other.
“We’ve falsely created a narrative around purpose that it’s directly tied to a social mission,” she said. “Once you start going down the path with good intention, with a genuine desire to make an impact in the world, the rest of the pieces actually fall into place.”
Building long-term success
For brands looking to establish authentic connections, Kathy recommends starting with clear intentions. Even if execution isn’t perfect, showing genuine effort to improve and align with customer values builds trust. “The intention is half of authenticity, if not more,” she emphasized.
This approach not only drives business results but also makes the challenging work of brand building more meaningful.
“Don’t you want to wake up every day and say, ‘Look, this was a hard day, but I know that today I sold units of my product, and people are now going to have this moment that they can feel good about,'” she said.
The key takeaway? Authentic brand positioning isn’t about manufacturing an image – it’s about clearly communicating your genuine purpose and consistently delivering on that promise to customers. When done right, it creates lasting connections that drive both purpose and profit.
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