Synthetic Authenticity

I was flying home from Las Vegas last week, and I wanted to pick up something to keep me occupied for the four hour flight. Instead of the usual star gossip, Time magazine’s 10 Ideas That Are Changing The World caught my eye.

One of those ideas was Synthetic Authenticity. Hmmm sounds like an oxy moron, however, the article written by John Cloud claims synthetic authenticity is driving America’s consumer market.

A major focal point of synthetic authenticity is the virtualization of American’s lives. People are making “friends” on Facebook and MySpace they have never met. Remember they aren’t your friends unless it’s confirmed. Major companies such as Microsoft and Apple are pitching products to bloggers.

James Gilmore and Joseph Pine II run an extremely successful consulting firm in Aurora, Ohio called Strategic Horizons. It was nine years ago these two wrote that businesses need to start selling the experience, not just the products.

Buyers aren’t just purchasing products according to the age old supply and demand laws. People are buying based on how they “feel” about a certain pair of shoes or the latest two door roadster. Products have to reflect what a person thinks they are, or what they strive to be. The obstacle for companies is to sell authenticity, even if they aren’t really authentic.

Admit that the marketing campaign is silly and actually has nothing to do with your product. Step up and create an experience that most buyers will enjoy. The Web allows companies to present themselves however they wish and maybe not for what their product actually does. If people can have totally different lives on the Internet, so can companies. But would it kill them to be a little more transparent?