Audience & Authenticity

Welcome!

Fair warning to you: this entire exercise is intended as a provocation. It encapsulates what I believe true creative leadership is, and what has been core to my success.

Get in front of smart people. Challenge their established beliefs. Discuss, debate or respectfully argue until you nudge them towards a solution they craft and believe deeply in.

Now remember, sometimes we don't want or need to tell an authentic story. In fact sometimes it benefits us just to tell a story people will listen to. But often authenticity becomes a pledge, making sure all parties play by the same rules is crucial.

Opening this season under the umbrella of ‘Audience & Authenticity’ is an intentional dive into creative agency dynamics. Because when your presentation outline includes this:

“We have defined your target audience as [insert slide/s] and this is how we will speak to them authentically [insert slide/s].”

Adherence to the audience’s truth becomes non-negotiable.

Audience:

When approaching a business problem there's, more often than not, a talented person acting as the author of the creative treatment. Here’s what the audience for their drafts looks like. And a few considerations they may have to make along the way.

1. Self - Do I like what I’m writing, is it fulfilling me creatively?

2. Peers - Are the other people in my team going to be impressed by this?

3. Line management - Will my Creative Director/Studio Head/Boss like it?

4. Agency - Does this meet the agency’s expectations? How does it stand up against other work we’re doing?

5. Client - Will the client like it and perhaps/perchance sign it off in the meeting?

6. Creative Industry - Heeeeeey… this is starting to feel good, good enough to win an award?

7. Actual target audience - Will this achieve what it’s supposed to, will it work?

A lot of hurdles to get through before the work reaches the target audience. Each viewpoint, note, suggestion or point of view from that list adds layers of complexity. Effectiveness is often eclipsed by personal preference from someone down the line.

There’s an anecdote about a parachute that illustrates what I’m getting at. A person about to jump out of a plane is offered two parachutes, which one would they like? They respond by asking which one works. Point being. Does liking something equate to its effectiveness? Does that make it good? Defining good remains elusive—but it should not be tethered to personal taste, as is often the case.

Good isn’t static; it evolves. But unfortunately, people like what they like.

Authenticity & Audience:

Here’s the complicated part. Regardless of personal preference, every decision must begin with the audience in mind.

• How do we create authentically for our audience?

• How do we frame our message in a way that is honest and true?

• How do we communicate in a way that isn’t performative or pandering?

Authenticity isn’t about skin-deep mimicry, nor is it about including people who look like me. It doesn’t rely on surface-level creative approaches or stylistic choices presumed to cater to the audience because of what a focus group says.

Authenticity isn't found here. It’s about the story we tell, and how we do it.

My challenge to you is. Whatever your next creative project. Whatever your next business critical issue that you choose to use creative content to solve. Ask yourself these questions when you see a brief. Or before you write a treatment. Or when you’re pitched with the promise of authenticity.

• Is this story ABOUT a community, or does it embrace and echo their creative essence?

• Does it engage with that community?

• Is it led by their creative direction?

• Who is shaping the narrative, and whose perspective frames it?

In the creative process, authenticity hangs by a thread at every stage. Every well-intentioned alteration can erode truth, by putting someone else’s lens on a story.

Hands up, I’ve been that guy. “Cut that middle bit, make him say this… trust me, it’ll be better”. It’s my story now, not yours. The truth has been compromised, and once that happens, it’s a snowball effect.

Did we hire seasoned Director Bob (mid 40s, highly decorated) to interview young female graduates with the aim of recruiting others to your business? Is he telling their story? Or his version of their story? It may be technically a very good story, but does it speak to your audience?

I’m not suggesting the system is broken; rather, too often, creative decisions are made based on personal preferences, comfort zones, or what we believe we can sell to our immediate stakeholders with minimal friction.

Too many times we’re picking the parachute we like. Let’s try to break that habit.

As you were.

MrMcK.

Read - There’s still time to ask for this one this holiday season, if you haven’t read Alchemy by Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman at Ogilvy) I suggest you do. A bit about Advertising, a lot about Human Behaviour.

Watch - Anything featuring JUV Consulting's Founder & CEO, Ziad Ahmed - if you want to learn about GenZ or apply his thinking to any audience demanding authenticity.