Being fake takes too much work

Why authenticity needs to resonate throughout your brand

RIGHT NOW is the easiest time to lose consumer trust – and with intuitive tech savvy and research orientated consumers, brand authenticity should be a major consideration for all construction brands. Sweeping statements with marketing buzzwords and trend hopping to boost relevance are tactics of the past, the consumer can see right through it!

Recently, the Construction Industry has faced challenge after challenge – you know them better than I do and probably don’t need to hear any more about rising material costs, supply chain disruption and labour shortages. Couple these challenges with the mounting need to deliver on sustainability and new technology expectations and it’s easy to see how a brand can start to lose focus on authenticity.

So, what is brand authenticity?

Brand authenticity is defined as ‘how a consumer perceives a brand to be faithful to itself’.  Is the brand transparent and consistent in messaging? Does the brand have integrity with sincere motivations?  It’s all based on trust, and trust is essential in building and maintaining relationships with specifiers, merchants, engineers, and homeowners.

At Ripple, we work long-term with our clients and spend time learning all the ins and outs of the business. We find out what they love (and hate), what they’re most proud of and what values they want to communicate. We think individuality should be celebrated, after all it’s much easier to be authentic rather than disingenuous. Below we’ve listed out a few ways we keep authenticity at the forefront of the brands we work with.

Proud to stand apart

Awareness of what your competitors are doing is indisputably important, however just because your main competitor is doing something it doesn’t necessarily mean you should follow suit. Every brand has its own story and personality – lean into that. Check out our work for Clarke where we did just that by reflecting their personality in the rebrand. ‘Bold’ was the keyword for Clarke, which we emulated through statement colours, quality photography and a punchy tagline ‘Make it remarkable’.

Involve people

Employees massively contribute to the culture of a company. Speak to them, ask their feedback and involve them in recruitment campaigns. Our client Brett Martin takes great pride in their team and that’s why we brought people to the front of their rebrand campaign.

Make promises… and follow through

Recognise the values that mean something to you. Consumers are quick to spot generic vague commitments and messaging so it’s more important than ever to know where you stand on key issues relevant to your market. For example, our client Xtratherm wanted to make their position on sustainability clear, which took the form of an all-encompassing campaign with dedicated pledges and a corresponding timeline for complete transparency.

Meaningful messaging

Communication is key. Strategic, well-planned messaging is critical in order to connect with the audience. We designed a brand new website for our client Specialist Group, filled with concise messaging and supported with first hand testimonials, helping to build the brand reputation for outstanding quality and reliability.

Feel free to get in touch if you want to talk about how we can help your brand.