Opinion

To win on social media you need fauxthenticity

PArnell Palm McGuiness

In this guest post Parnell Palme McGuinness argues Westpac and Airbnb fell foul of social media by trying to be too human and forgetting they are brands.

People demand authenticity on social media. I can confidently say this, because I have heard it said ad nauseam by the gurus and high priests of social. The only problem is, it’s not true.

Recent events have demonstrated that authenticity is a recipe for failure; it’s fauxthenticity that brands and their audiences are really after.

Without knowing a person or brand personally, how can I judge whether they are being authentic? Apparently NSW Premier Mike Baird’s “dad tweets” during The Bachelor finale were authentic, despite costing the taxpayer $30,000. But woe for Westpac and AirBnB. Their Twitter exchange was deemed neither spontaneous, nor authentic; it was just “bizarre”.

HuffPo tells us that we value authenticity on social media because: “Social media bridges the gap; whether that be between friend and friends, celebrity and fan, or politician and constituent. We want people who speak directly and honestly to us. We want to know what they’re doing, what they like and what they think.”

Authenticity, it seems, drives trust and sales. And brands want very much to be trusted and sell things.

Fortunately all is not lost for the Westpac/AirBnB team-up. They can turn to the 14,400,000 Google articles for help on “how to be authentic in social media”. Boy oh boy. That’s a lot of authenticity you can study, replicate, buy or have consulted to you.

There is a fundamental contradiction in commoditised authenticity. Authenticity that you can buy is not genuine. It is art. Appearing authentic means putting on a really good show, one that’s so good it allows us to momentarily suspend our disbelief.

And like any virtuoso performance, it is highly contrived, work-shopped, practiced and planned.

Some of Westpac and Airbnb's Twitter banter

Some of Westpac and Airbnb’s Twitter banter

In fact, social media authenticity is much closer to the traditional insight and entertainment-based arts of PR and advertising than the priesthood would have you believe.

The most successful social media practitioners are well aware of this. They work on creating a great show and bugger the “authenticity”, because frankly, your target audience couldn’t give a rats who you are or what you have to say unless you offer them something of value. The privilege of listening to a brand’s dull conversations is of no value.

There is no magic to social media; it’s just the same process of charm and persuasion that marketing has always delivered, rendered with a shorter lead-time and fewer characters. Granted, brevity is a discipline that takes some mastering. Just ask anyone who’s ever had to cram a narrative ark into a 30 second spot or make a compelling argument in 500 words.

Social media’s role in the marketing mix is to entertain in a way which feels interactive. The audience is cast in the role of voyeur, overhearing a conversation, or if they choose, as part of a conversation, that they can respond to or “share”. In that it has to earn the attention of its audience, it is closest to PR.

When agencies hide behind buzzwords like “authentic” it means they are unwilling or unable to describe what they are actually doing to craft the client’s image. They are struggling to explain how the brand will complement its PR, advertising and digital outreach with this particular channel. It is up to clients to challenge them on this and not be fobbed off by a promise of authenticity.

The Twitter exchange between Westpac and Airbnb suffered from too much authenticity, not too little. It was poorly scripted. If it was “lame” and “bizarre”, it is because the brands sounded too much like a couple of normal people trying to be funny at each other online.

There’s plenty of authenticity on Twitter from real people with no agenda to push.

Most of it’s pretty boring – there’s absolutely no need to add to the canon. Brands with resources have an opportunity to offer much more. It’s time to return to the great traditions of informing and entertaining. Let’s show our audiences we value the precious seconds they spend with our brands, regardless of the medium.

  • Parnell Palme McGuinness is director of PR agency Thought Broker
ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.