The Exposure

Recently I was working with a large supermarket brand when one of the workshop participants talked about how social media had changed the landscape of branding. The comment was you have to be prepared to be exposed. What this comment meant, was that extensive due diligence can be undertaken very easily now by your customers or clients via social media. It is very simple for customers or clients to get online and start digging deep into your true DNA, your beliefs, the integrity of your management , staff and your operations, how you spend or allocate money, and who you associate with.
Many companies and charities talk about being totally transparent yet keep valuable information from their customers. They’ll share what they want to share but hold back information that could incriminate, damage or shed an unhealthy light on their operation.
Brands need to appreciate that in this day and age, if you don’t give me a reason to believe everything you’re saying is true, I’ll go looking for it. True authenticity in your brand, your people and the contribution you make to society comes from being honest, upfront and dealing with complete integrity.
The US Marines say that integrity is doing the right thing.…even when no-one is looking! Powerful lesson.