Why Most Brands Fail at Authentic Connection
In a world of AI influencers and cookie-cutter corporate voices, authentic brand communication has never been more challenging – or more crucial. In a recent episode of Talking SaaSy with Inturact, marketing strategist Marcos Bravo shared insights from his fascinating journey from Disney character performer to marketing maverick, revealing why most companies get brand voice wrong and how to fix it.
The Disney Principle: Understanding Human Connection
Before diving into sophisticated marketing strategies or content calendars, Bravo learned his most valuable lesson while wearing a character costume at Disney World.
“Your role is to deliver magic, to deliver a good time,” he explains.
This meant quickly learning to read different audiences and adapt accordingly – whether that meant changing a joke or simply offering a smile.
This early experience taught him something fundamental about brand communication: it’s not about following a script, but about understanding how different people want to be treated and building trust through authentic connections.
“If you break that barrier, after that, it’s easy because they trust you already,” Bravo notes.
Why Most Brand Voices Fall Flat
Many marketers and CEOs treat brand voice as an afterthought, focusing instead on campaigns, metrics, and content calendars. Six months later, they’re left wondering why nothing seems to stick with their audience. The problem? They’re putting the cart before the horse.
Bravo advocates for a different approach: starting with a clear brand persona before diving into tactics. But not in the way most companies do it. Instead of creating dry documentation full of marketing jargon, he suggests literally drawing your brand as a character.
“We’re gonna draw our brand persona. We’re gonna draw a character that is our brand,” he explains.
This exercise helps teams answer crucial questions:
- Is our brand male, female, or something else?
- Are they young or old?
- Are they street smart or book smart?
- What would they eat?
- What makes them angry?
The Rule of Three: A Practical Approach to Channel Selection
One of the biggest mistakes companies make is trying to be everywhere at once. Bravo suggests a simpler approach: the Rule of Three.
“Never bring more than three options to the table,” he advises, drawing from his experience selling diamonds in the Caribbean.
Here’s how it works:
This approach allows for focused effort and clear measurement of results, rather than spreading resources too thin across multiple platforms.
Making “Boring” B2B Brands Exciting: The Competitive Advantage of Dull Industries
Perhaps the most counterintuitive insight Bravo shared was about B2B companies in “boring” industries. Rather than seeing this as a disadvantage, he argues it’s actually the perfect opportunity for distinctive marketing.
“When you’re in B2B, this is the perfect space for you to take a risk because everybody else is doing the B2B thing, which is boring to boring,” he explains.
He cites the example of Wendy’s, which transformed fast-food marketing by taking risks with their social media voice when other burger companies stuck to conventional messaging about their products.
The Power of Diverse Perspectives in Brand Storytelling
When it comes to generating creative marketing ideas, Bravo emphasizes the importance of bringing diverse perspectives into the room.
“You don’t want the TikTok team to design the marketing strategy because they’re the TikTok team. They think TikTok,” he explains.
Instead, he recommends:
- Including people with different senses of humor
- Bringing in perspectives from outside the marketing team
- Encouraging open conversation rather than structured brainstorming
- Being willing to hear and mold “stupid” ideas into something useful
Authenticity in the Age of AI
With the rise of AI-generated content and virtual influencers, the meaning of authenticity in marketing is evolving. Bravo points to Puma’s AI influencer as an example – a virtual persona with a detailed backstory and significant following. But he argues that true authenticity isn’t about being real versus artificial; it’s about consistency and alignment with genuine brand values.
“When you try to push certain values that don’t belong to your company, people can read through and they can see through,” he warns.
The key is understanding and consistently representing your true brand values across all channels and communications.
The Future of Brand Communication
Looking ahead, Bravo acknowledges that technological changes will continue to transform how brands communicate with their audiences. From AR and VR to potential future technologies we can’t yet imagine, the channels and methods will evolve. However, he emphasizes that certain fundamentals of human psychology and emotion will remain constant.
“Things that they’re not gonna change is that humanity reacts to stimulus in a very similar way all the time,” he notes.
Understanding these core human reactions and emotions – and how to evoke them authentically – will remain crucial for successful brand communication regardless of the platform.
Key Takeaways for Marketers
The landscape of brand communication continues to evolve rapidly, but the fundamentals of human connection remain constant. By focusing on authentic relationship-building and clear brand identity before tactics and channels, companies can create lasting connections with their audiences in any medium.
As Bravo’s journey from Disney character to marketing strategist shows, sometimes the most valuable marketing insights come from unexpected places. The key is remaining open to learning, willing to take calculated risks, and always focused on genuine human connection.
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