In Search of Brand Authenticity

1. In Search of Brand Authenticity Tim Harrap Head of Collaboration Lye Cross Farm

3. Who Am I Truly & Deeply?There’s so much subtlety to the art of brand building, so many layers of expression to understand and master. Yet perhaps the most important thing is one that most brands fail to grasp; truly knowing and understanding who they are – the values that underpin their behaviors, the personality that drives their expression, and the voice that drives their communication. David AnsettCreator of Brands

5. “Markets are conversations” the cluetrain manifesto Story telling Artisanal Amateurs Sticking to your roots Loving the doing Market immersion Being at one with the community Indoctrinating staff into the brand culture

6. (1) Story Telling Brands as collections of stories Traditional approach – brand rule book Idiosyncratic – Dorset Cereals in Jamaica Ten Stories -

7. Ten Stories • Founding myth • Family • Conflict struggle • Triumph/Tragedy • Creation • History • Community • Place • Consumers • Product Service

8. (2) Artisanal amateurs Amateurs – engaged personal passion Artisans – skilled craftspeople / small batches Appearances – downplaying industry Perceptions of sincerity Providing rich history- reflecting humanity & yet, setting standards of industry DC packs

10. (3) Sticking to your roots Stylistic consistency – evolving slowly Retaining key traditions – PDO New initiatives – founding spirit (IB) Moral Messages – Pilgrims Revitalisation – recommit to roots– buyouts DC Supportive Communication Focal Activities – Farmers/farming

12. (4) Loving the doing Production focused Experiencing production – LXF, grading Leaders involved in production Espouse love of craft Quest for excellence – DC over engineered Being design led – DC revamp

13. (5)a Market immersion Tom Peters – focus groups produce products “of” the market – shelves full of “me-too” Inspiration not necessarily from your current customers – reinterpretations e.g. Korea

14. (5)b Market immersion Employ your customers – qualitative input Live in the market – Arnault LVMH visit the market Trust your gut – Roddick “don’t work within systems” Employees to dabble Seed the fanbase “Authenticity has always been derived from the intuition of the artist” Beverland p139

15. (6) Being at one with the community “Notion of putting down roots central to our identity” Beverland p143 Time / Place / Culture Nation – Scotland! Region – Wyke Somerset Industry – Heritage and Quality Culture – Starbucks Australia stripped of cultural heritage Sub-culture of consumption – Star-trek LX or LXF “customers and consumers communicate “an idea of what your brand signifies” McKitterick p87

17. (7) Indoctrinating staff! Staff selection Welfare > salary Tell their stories – Yammer Manage non-performance Staff as stewards of the brand Transmitting tacit knowledge to new staff Encourage creativity risk taking, free thinking, encourage curiosity

18. Democracy

20. Modernity – Post Modernity • Materialism – Post Materialism • Media - Social Media

21. “Increasing consumer power, accelerated by the meteoric rise of social media, threatens the foundations of branding” Mitchell 2012

23. “…modernization is a process of human development, in which economic development gives rise to cultural changes that make individual autonomy, gender equality and democracy increasingly likely.”Inglehart & Welzel

25. The Zero Marginal Cost SocietyThe internet of things, the collaborative commons, and the eclipse of capitalism

26. Contact points Twitter tim_harrap BritishCheese LyeCrossFarm

27. Useful links Alvis Family, Lye Cross Farm Michael Beverland, University of Bath Truly DeeplyMelbourne Kinship Digital Australia Shift Podcasts by Euan Semple & Megan Murray Harold JarcheMaking sense of the networked era Only Dead Fish Neil Perkin

28. Reading Authenticity – Pine & Gilmour Building Brand Authenticity – Beverland The Cluetrain Manifesto – Levine et al Humanize – Notter & Grant McKitterick’s Conundrum Mitchell Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy Inglehart & Welzel Monocle magazine and The Entrepreneurs podcasts Organizations Don’t Tweet People Do – Semple The Zero Marginal Cost Society - Rifkin

29. Thank you