Being authentic and the radical transparency trend bring something scary with them. It means that you must be vulnerable. You can see vulnerability as something "weak", but it is something very powerful. In a time when brands have become increasingly inhuman due to technology, automation and their size, vulnerability can bring back humanity. Brené Brown, a social scientist at the University of Houston, discovered after ten years of qualitative research on the subject of "shame" how important it is to dare to be vulnerable when it comes to connecting with others. According to Brown, shame is the fear of breaking a connection. Shame is necessary to make a connection and to be empathetic.
She found out that people who feel good connected to others all have two things in common:
Vulnerability brings back humanity
So, these people have the courage to be imperfect. By the way, there is a very beautiful meaning behind the word "courage". Courage from the original meaning of the English word comes from the Latin word ‘cor’, which means heart. The original meaning was: telling your own story of who you are with all your heart. Courage is therefore necessary to be authentic. No one is perfect, not even brands. Yet brands advertise themselves as perfection on earth. This makes them distant and less human. Perhaps they have assumed a divine nature. Brands therefore need courage to be imperfect and vulnerable, and in return they gain humanity and connection.
That means that you can make mistakes and bring them to the public. So as a brand, you should not stick your head in the sand, but say: "We made a mistake. We're sorry. We'll fix it!" In this way, a brand gains more layers. Not just the layer of divine perfection, but also a layer of humanity. Making a mistake is human after all. This gives a brand a much more realistic and authentic personality. Strong brands are human brands. So they are changeable, complex and layered.
Strong brands are human brands
Politicians also use vulnerability to give their perception of authenticity a boost. They like to give their voters a glimpse into their private life. This shows that they are really, open, and honest, that they are not playing a role. Showing vulnerability by expressing emotions also helps with this. Hillary Clinton showed a tear to show her vulnerability, authenticity, and humanity and to beat Barack Obama from a hopeless position in New Hampshire during the primaries. Pim Fortuyn also used vulnerability and authenticity. In a radio interview, he said that he could taste his partner's sperm to see what he had eaten the day before. When someone publicly shares intimate matters, it means that person is honest, genuine, and trustworthy. Pim's credo was, "I say what I think, and I do what I say."
Much of food advertising is completely fake.
A great example of showing vulnerability is the American campaign by Domino's Pizza, called "Show us your pizza". The idea behind the campaign is the realization that a lot of food advertising is completely fake. The food is styled and manipulated to look beautiful, resulting in it no longer matching reality. On the internet, you frequently come across comparisons of an advertisement of a food product with reality. Perhaps this idea originated from that. Domino's Pizza decided to go all in and not use food styling or image manipulation in this campaign. They made TV commercials showing how bizarre manipulation can be in making a food commercial. Then they asked their customers to take a picture of their delivered pizza and upload it to the Show us your pizza platform. Domino's Pizza actually used the best photos in their campaign. A total of 25,000 photos were submitted.
It's a great way to "disrupt" the fairy tales from the fast-food industry. No more sugar-coated bullshit. Domino's Pizza turned a vulnerable position into a powerful weapon against the competition.