Some companies succeed in telling their story not only with words but also with images and even more so with their doing.

It has become a more and more complex task as companies engage in a variety of fields beyond their main activity. The good thing is, that as transparency grows, their doing becomes more visible. Companies pursuing their goals by engaging in environmental projects and supporting politics are being questioned. It gives them an opportunity to reflect on the way they pursue their goals. They find themselves called upon to remain coherent with their main message.

Something marketing and power have in common is the quest to influence. The alignment of the type of influence they seek and the message they convey determines if they are perceived as authentic.

In polarized times as we have them, this is hard to attain. It requires even more precise work. One that allows gaining clarity on one’s message. The same work repeats itself while sharing the message. That’s due to the many details within which it is shared.

A message is being conveyed via the product or the service. In this it finds itself transformed for example due to bias. The bias isn’t necessarily bad, however, it can impact if your audience finds itself well addressed or not.

The message also finds itself in every process within the organization as well as towards the customer. It can be in the small exchanges with chatbots that helped and frustrated. And it can be in all the nitty-gritty details of your relationship with your customers.

The how is just as important as the what.

Humans are tolerant. However, we all are much more perceptive of incoherence than most think. Taking the time to make oneself aware of all these details and figuring out how to shape them serves in creating an authentic message.

It takes time and many iterations until it becomes a message that feels true.

One as vivid as a poem or a song.

Leonhard Cohen’s Hallelujah is one of these examples. It took him something between 5 and 15 years to write it. Its power led to more than 300 cover versions.