What Consumers Really Want
Authenticity is in the air – literally, with the rise of reality TV programs beamed nightly into our homes. We also encounter it on the packaging of products, in the advertising copy of tourist destinations, during our own conversations with friends, and – most importantly, in our own decisions of what we choose (or not) to experience in our everyday lives and what we choose (or not) to buy. You already see it all around you as a consumer, which means that your customers are already judging your offerings based on how real (or not) they perceive them to be. The entire thrust of Authenticity is to help you explicitly manage these perceptions so that customers view your business and your offerings as real, not as phony.
Contrived. Phony. Inauthentic. Do your customers use any of these words to describe what you sell – or how you sell it? Then you’d better change that perception fast.
People increasingly see the world in terms of real or fake. When deciding to buy, today’s consumers judge authenticity as much as price and quality.
In Authenticity, Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine argue that to trounce your rivals, you must “render authenticity.” Through vivid examples, the authors show how to assess your customers’ perception of “real” – and how to craft business strategies that deliver it. The first to thoughtfully explore what authenticity really means for businesses, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to deliver the real deal.
Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine are cofounders of Strategic Horizons LLP and coauthors of the bestseller The Experience Economy.
