The Improv of Branding: Authenticity
The SNL 40th hosted by NBC last Sunday was a 3.5 hour marathon of skits that provided a feast of comedy, quirky actors and more.
Just being in New York City over the weekend made this comedy milestone more real to me. As I walked past Rockefeller Center Saturday evening watching them set-up the red carpet tent…although I couldn’t watch for long due to the Arctic freeze that had captured midtown Manhattan…I couldn’t help but feel just how much more real and relevant the SNL 40th felt being in the city where it is hosted and it was launched over 40 years ago. It was similar to watching Second City improv comedy in the windy city of Chicago where it first originated…as well as where many of the SNL cast members trained.
It’s funny (pardon the pun) but this made me think about branding and the importance of ‘relevance, transparency and authenticity’ for branding to be successful. And that much of the appeal of being in a city to commemorate one of its related milestones means so much more than watching it from afar. And, that the power and appeal of improvisational comedy is very much about its transparency. It is real and authentic and as many of the cast members describe when a skit is not going well, it’s okay to break and laugh out loud. To this end, the importance of authentic content through storytelling and relating to personal experience has never been more important to successful brand-building. With social media and digital as part of the marketer’s mix of communications tools, it is even more important to get your brand message out in an authentic, transparent, meaningful and relevant manner.
It is also important to brand- build with integrated marketing plans and communications platforms with an eye to ensuring the most relevant and meaningful messaging. No longer can marketers simply push out their preferred messaging but indeed they need to step-back and think more about what is in behind their brand and what should drive their messaging content in order to build lasting image and awareness with their consumers.
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