If You Get a Chance, Don’t Be Yourself, Be Batman

small business authenticity transparencyAuthenticity, the marketing buzzword from the last decade and the piece of advice given universally to owners of small businesses or large alike and to marketing professionals.  The basic message being, don’t lie about who you are, be authentic.

I have no way of proving this, but I believe that the authenticity movement in business arose in part out of necessity, as it coincides with the explosion of social networks, easy to use blogs, review sites and other internet tools which have enabled people in and outside of a business to tell the truth about their experience with their business.

Perhaps the real advice to business owners should have been, “Be authentic, because no one’s going to believe your marketing rhetoric any more.”

For both altruistic and not-so-altruistic reasons, business owners and marketing professionals across the business landscape determined to make their businesses more transparent.  More personal.  To acknowledge mistakes more readily and address problems (especially problems already in the public domain) more directly and – if you will – humanly.

Last year, Comedy Central’s South Park writers even dedicated a whole episode to the topic. In what was perhaps one of the most memorable installments of that season, the supposed CEO of an oil company that caused a huge underwater leak (and thereby unleashed a Godzilla like scourge on the earth) is shown in a series of commercials in a variety of settings saying, “We’re sorry,”  over and over, ad nauseum.

Maybe it’s time for a new buzzword, a new mantra.  I say, transparency is overrated  and being your authentic self for customers may not be enough.

Instead, I say, “Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. If you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.”

Here are some of the caped crusader’s most endearing characteristics – characteristics that will endear you to customers and employees alike.  If you get a chance, you should be Batman, because:

  • Batman is intuitive.  He seems to know how to show up at the right place and the right time.  He may have been able to do this from his high tech bat cave, for you, it will take an understanding of your customers and the customer life cycle, and the ability to identify where your target markets are and go out to meet them there.
  • Batman is illusive and focused.  He goes in, gets the job done, then clears out to prepare for the next mission.  He doesn’t stick around for the accolades. He considers saving someone’s day all in a day’s work.
  • Batman is constantly preparing and evolving.  Batman seems to know that he lives in an ever-changing, evolving landscape where his enemies will come at him in new forms, with new tools and toys, meaner and leaner than before.  Batman invests in his own tools and technology. He trains relentlessly.

Finally – and I believe this point is my favorite – no one can figure out who Batman is. Batman could be anyone.  And it should be the same in your business.

You want your customers to see your business as saving their day, and you want anyone in your business who has the opportunity to help a customer to be able to do so.  Just like in the Batman comic stories, customers should know that they’ll find their Batman not with the help of a light in the sky, but simply by walking in the doors of your business, calling your customer service line, sitting across the table with a sales or service representative from your business, etc. And those individuals should all be trained and empowered to save the day for the customers with whom they interact.

To your customers, every employee at your business should carry the Batman mystique.

So be authentic if that’s all you can be. But if you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.  Be yourself, or maybe, be something better.

6 replies
  1. Elizabeth Kraus
    Elizabeth Kraus says:

    Reblogged this on DDS Practice Marketing and commented:

    Authenticity and transparency were buzzwords for business during the last decade. Maybe it’s time for a new buzzword, a new mantra. I say, transparency is overrated and being your authentic self for customers may not be enough. Instead, I say, “Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. If you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.”

  2. Elizabeth Kraus
    Elizabeth Kraus says:

    Reblogged this on SavvyStylist.net | Salon and Spa Marketing Ideas and Inspiration and commented:

    Authenticity and transparency were buzzwords for business during the last decade. Maybe it’s time for a new buzzword, a new mantra. I say, transparency is overrated and being your authentic self for customers may not be enough. Instead, I say, “Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. If you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.”

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] my first impulse was to write a marketing article about why businesses should be like Batman. I mean, wouldn’t it be awesome if your customers looked to your business to solve their problems […]

  2. […] Authenticity and transparency were buzzwords for business during the last decade. Maybe it’s time for a new buzzword, a new mantra. I say, transparency is overrated and being your authentic self for customers may not be enough. Instead, I say, “Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. If you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.”  […]

  3. […] Authenticity and transparency were buzzwords for business during the last decade. Maybe it’s time for a new buzzword, a new mantra. I say, transparency is overrated and being your authentic self for customers may not be enough. Instead, I say, “Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. If you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.”  […]

  4. […] Authenticity and transparency were buzzwords for business during the last decade. Maybe it’s time for a new buzzword, a new mantra. I say, transparency is overrated and being your authentic self for customers may not be enough. Instead, I say, “Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. If you get a chance to be Batman, you’d better do it.”  […]

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