Authentic Brands: If You Have to Say You Are, You're Not

If you have to say you are, you’re not.

I was a young marketer working at a membership association when a salesman came in selling swag.

He was trying to provide giveaway items for our members - branded coffee mugs, sunglasses, that sort of thing.

He also had a business card carrier we could engrave with our logo.

The sample was engraved with the words, “Alpha Male.”

After his presentation, as he was packing up, he handed it to the director with a wink.

“Keep that,” he said. “That one’s for you.”

He thought he was clinching the deal, but he actually submarined it. Once he left, our director threw the carrier in the trash.

“If you need to announce on your business cards that you’re an alpha male,” he said, “you’re not.”

It’s a good rule to remember. And it applies to lots of differentiators, not just “alpha male.”

Like “authentic.” Does anything sound shadier than someone saying, “I’m authentic”?

Some differentiators can be shouted. Most need to be whispered.

If you are truly authentic, it comes through in your voice and your message. You don’t need to say it.

The same goes for descriptors like “innovative,” “smart,” and, yes, “alpha male.”

When I develop and adopt a client’s voice, I go through an exercise that results in about five adjectives that describe the voice.

Those adjectives rarely make it into the copy, and never in a self-description. They’re not for readers.

They’re for me, so I can sweep through a draft checking, “Does this piece convey innovation? Does this sound authentic?” etc.

It’s a useful exercise. Whether you write your own content or hire someone to write it for you, I recommend you do it, as part of developing and refining your brand voice.

But once you find your adjectives, remember: whisper, don't shout.

Because often the moment you say you are, your audience begins to assume you’re not.