Accounting and Consulting
Authenticity
How to navigate the threshold between what’s real and what’s fake
By Patrick Mayock
Smart Business Cleveland | September 2008
In James H. Gilmore’s opinion, much of the world is
fake.
In today’s marketplace, he says consumers traverse “an increasingly unreal world, where parents are buying birthday parties
at arcade outlets, you’ve got the
Geek Squad costume guys
repairing computers and people
are taking vacations at Atlantis
or a theme park in Orlando.”
The idea of authenticity — or
lack thereof — in business
shouldn’t be dismissed as an
abstract, existential exercise. In
fact, Gilmore, co-founder of
consulting firm Strategic
Horizons LLP, says that the concept is the new business imperative. In a world increasingly
filled with staged experiences,
consumers are now making
decisions based on how real
they perceive a given product or
service to be.
This isn’t a recent revelation
for Gilmore. Together with business partner B. Joseph Pine II,
he first introduced the concept
in 1999 in the perennial bestseller “The Experience
Economy: Work Is Theatre &
Every Business a Stage.” It’s
only with the release of their
most recent book, “Authenticity:
What Consumers Really Want,”
that the idea has been thoroughly articulated for the masses,
and people are taking notice.
TIME magazine recently named
the notion of authenticity in
business as one of “10 Ideas
That Are Changing the World.”
So what does this mean for
your business? Potentially
everything, Gilmore says.
“In order to be perceived as
authentic or real, businesses
need to learn how to take specific steps that can be best
described as rendering authenticity — gaining the perception
of being real,” he says.
To begin, simply ask yourself,
“Where are we most fake?”
Citing Dave & Buster’s as an
example, Gilmore points to the
restaurant and arcade’s ticket
redemption center.
“You get all these points on
your card, and you go upstairs
to redeem it for cheap (prizes)
made in China,” he says. “I’d
much rather take my company
to an outing where points go to
some cause in Cleveland, some
inner city reading program kind
of thing than one where everybody wins points that go toward
some cheap, Nerf-ball thing.”
The process of evaluating
authenticity can be challenging,
especially when each individual’s perception of real or fake
can be different. Gilmore says
that you need to embrace this
fact. Instead of stubbornly sticking to patterns of mass production, mass marketing and mass distribution, he suggests taking
a more customized approach.
“You go to NikeID and design
your own shoes,” he says.
“M&Ms are letting you now
print customized M&Ms with
words on it.”
Gilmore isn’t suggesting that
you completely change your
business model to accommodate the unique needs of each
individual consumer. Instead,
look for aspects of your business in which customer customization is possible.
“(The) dimensions of your
business where traditionally you
relied on a few smart people in
a cubicle or office to decide, let
customers themselves design
and customize it,” he says.
As you make these changes,
don’t brand yourself as authentic, live it.
“You should not, should not,
should not self-proclaim your
own authenticity,” Gilmore says.
“Don’t say you’re authentic. Be
authentic. If I were to meet you
the first time face to face and
shake your hand and say, ‘I
want to let you know right off
the bat how very authentic I
am,’ you’d look at me like, ‘What
are you crazy?’”
On the flip side, Gilmore says
that acknowledging your own
inauthenticity can actually make
you appear more real.
“In some ways, it’s really helpful to know you’re absolutely
fake and contrived,” he says.
“It’s almost easier than people
saying, ‘Based on our history,
we’re the original company in
this category. We’ve been here
since 18-whatever.’
“Sometimes, that’s a disservice
because you think you’re the
authentic one when you’re just
as manmade as anybody else.
You’re just older.”
A winning streak
TIME magazine recently labeled
authors James H. Gilmore and B.
Joseph Pine II “legendary business
consultants” in an article citing the
duo’s book “Authenticity: What
Consumers Really Want.”
It is one of several books written or
edited by the pair, who founded
Strategic Horizons LLP, and continues their streak of offering advice for
leaders to join the “Experience
Economy.”
The pair’s previous books include:
“Pine & Gilmore’s Field Guide for
the Experience Economy,” which
offers 10 traveling tools to help business leaders explore their economic
landscape. The book provides real-world learning and offers key models and exercises to help the reader
evaluate and extract best principles
from experiences throughout the
Experience Economy.
“The Experience Economy: Work
is Theatre & Every Business a
Stage,” which asserts that providing
goods and services is no longer
enough. Pine and Gilmore say that in
today’s economy, businesses must
stage experiences for each individual
customer, orchestrating memorable
events that engage them in a personal way. The book offers examples of
how the reader can direct employees
to perform on the business stage
and encourages leaders to look
beyond traditional factors in pricing
and charge customers for the time
they spend with the business.
“Markets of One,” a collection of
articles from the Harvard Business
Review, which was edited by the pair.
The 10 articles chronicle the evolution of business competition from
mass markets to markets of one.
“Mass Customization: The New
Frontier in Business Competition,”
which makes a case that mass production is the cause of America’s
declining competitiveness and
argues for a new model of mass
customization. The book outlines the
strategies required to develop, produce, market and deliver customized
goods and shows readers how to
analyze their industries to determine
whether a shift to mass customization would work for them.
HOW TO REACH: Strategic Horizons LLP, (330) 995-4680 or www.strategichorizons.com
