Archive for the ‘Authenticity Journal’ Category
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April 19th, 2010
Authenticity in the Eye of the Beholder
by Joe Pine
Australian professors Michael Beverland and Francis Farrelly studied how consumers pursue authenticity in their consumption behavior, publishing their study "The Quest for Authenticity in Consumption: Consumers' Purposive Choice of Authentic Cues to Shape Experienced Outcomes" in February's Journal of Consumer Research. As detailed in a report in the ScienceBlog, "When consumers search for authenticity: In the eye of the beholder?" (for those not wanting to purchase the above scholarly article), the authors uphold our conviction that authenticity is personally determined. They cite strange and interesting cases, such as how "committed environmentalists found authenticity in work-related ... read more
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April 12th, 2010
Our First Century
by Joe Pine
I often ask audiences what offerings, brands, or companies do they personally view as authentic. Frequent mentions include entities that have been around for a very long time, such as Levi's, Harley-Davidson, even Tide. I always then say how age naturally gives a patina of authenticity to them.It does seem, though, that once a company turns 100 years old that that patina becomes a deeper indication, often through and through, that people will view it as authentic. And so I want to note that Hallmark has reached that very age this year, which it is celebrating with this authenticity-rendering major ... read more
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April 5th, 2010
Watching the Chief Geek Staying True
by Joe Pine
Here's a great profile from the LA Times on Chief Geek Robert Stephens, focusing on how he stayed with the Geek Squad long after Best Buy bought it: "Entrepreneur turned Geek Squad into a geek army".Not only did Robert stay, but he stayed true. As the second-ever winner of our Experience Stager of the Year (EXPY) award after the American Girl Place, it has been a pleasure for Jim and I to watch him take his small baby (just 60 Agents at ... read more
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March 28th, 2010
Real/Fake Segmentation
by Joe Pine
In an earlier post, "We don't have enough money to be fake," I related this key idea to a recent presentation at the Nederlandse Museumvereniging, or Netherlands Museum Association. At that same event, another issue came up from an insightful participant. He talked about the varied people who go to museums and the various reasons they choose the experience, and then suggested that the Real/Fake Matrix could be used as a segmentation schema! Many visitors seek the Real-real, the truly authentic artifacts of which most all museums are quite proud. They view this as their key ... read more
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March 12th, 2010
Stay True to All Your Roots
by Joe Pine
I recently had the opportunity to do some extended work with a European company and my discussion of the need to be true to its roots hit a nerve. The executives fully recognized how crucial that was -- in fact, honoring the heritage of the company was something constantly on their minds and at the table when making strategic decisions. One issue, however, was hard for them to get their arms around: the multinational nature of the company. While it had clear and strong roots in the small town in ... read more
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March 1st, 2010
A Conversation with Neil Crofts
by Joe Pine
I recently had the opportunity to have a conversation with Neil Crofts who has written several books on authenticity and business. Jim and I cite him, in fact, on p. 123 of Authenticity in our section on "Sense of Purpose". There we quote his book Authentic Business: How to Create and Run Your Perfect Business thusly: "Neil Crofts, founder of Authentic Business in the United Kingdom [now Authenticus based in Mallorca], believes that "purpose beyond profit" is fundamental to making a business authentic; it "shines through in every aspect of what it does . ... read more
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February 18th, 2010
Not All “Advertising” is Advertising
by Jim Gilmore
In Joe's recent Journal post here, he writes: "Not all advertising is phoniness-generating." This triggered thoughts down a different path. It struck me that perhaps not everything printed in a newspaper for a fee (an "advertisement") is really an advertisement. When one runs a feature to commemorate an anniversary, like Kellogg has done, there is inherently less phoniness generated. Perhaps none at all. Similarly, when one runs an announcement for an upcoming event, there is inherently less likelihood of phoniness creeping in. Again, perhaps none does. When it comes to using print -- or any other -- media to help generate demand for one's offering, the polarity ... read more
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February 10th, 2010
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes: 100 years old
by Joe Pine
Not all advertising is phoniness-generating. A recent Kellogg ad that had been running on the back page of the A section of The New York Times does a marvelous job at rendering authenticity for Kellogg's Corn Flakes. It reprints a yellowed copy of the front page of the Times from exactly 100 years ago from that date, then includes its own antiqued ad at the bottom, saying "For more than 100 years Kellogg's Corn Flakes has been a great way to start the day." As Scott McMurray points out at Business History Matters, "One of the most effective ways ... read more
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January 28th, 2010
Find Your Paradessence
by Joe Pine
In Chapter 10 (p. 219) Jim and I write about "how at the very heart of the Real/Fake Matrix lies the interplay of contradictory components -- the polarity between the real and the fake." To fully realize the key to polarity, think of it as the simultaneous holding of two contradictory aspects defining the essence of an offering. The iconic example (see pp. 223-4) remains the Geek Squad, who render themselves cool geeks. Turns out there's a word for that! With thanks to Word Spy, it is paradessence: "n. In a product, an intrinsic property that promises ... read more
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January 13th, 2010
Can You Dig This?
by Joe Pine
While traveling in Europe a few weeks ago I read this piece in the Financial Times by Rhymer Rigby, "From cornfields to Hollywood". It discussed how many industrial brands, including Chevron, Caterpillar, and especially John Deere, were having great success licensing clothing and other goods for sale to consumers. Citing Rita Clifton, the chairman of Interbrand, Rigby relates that "in a retail market obsessed with 'authenticity', these brands have it in spades."I especially liked the story he related of how one "man was so impressed with the service he received ... read more