Why genuine authenticity matters to your brand.

With a huge number of competing priorities it can be difficult for brands to stay true to who they are and what they're about. It takes discipline to remain focused on what it is that attracts customers to your brand, and boldness to know when to change track if customer expectations have changed or grown tired.

Nike, the brand that stands for Authentic Athletic Performance have launched their Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign. This concept brings together a huge range of athletes and talent to creatively demonstrate their core purpose of Authentic Athletic Performance.

Authenticity can be displayed in an almost endless variety of ways, and in an age where brands are now able to listen to what their customers need and want, and respond; in an increasingly crowded marketplace, with an audience that is increasingly time-poor and disinterested, genuine authenticity throughout an organisation, as well as its communications messaging is a brilliant strategic shortcut to building trust and affinity in your products, services and brand.

The main questions businesses and managers need to ask is, how are we going to implement authenticity, how do we measure it, what are the tactics we're going to create to ensure this is how we do business?

It's vital that the rubber hits the road both internally and externally; that authenticity isn't just a marketing message, but a way of communicating with your customers, staff, partners and suppliers.