Real Speak..... it's About Time!

Ever wondered why brands/companies hire writers and agencies (outsiders) to write their outward communications?? It’s always driven me crazy!

Why is it that a companies message doesn’t come from real people within in the company with real talk, honesty in the hope of a real connection with their customers? They talk to people like they’re an english teacher grading every step for grammar and punctuation, instead of talking to customers like a person standing next to them in a bar, restaurant or bus stop.

I’ve always said to my team that communications have to pass the ‘Bar Test’. I always ask when reading PR or marketing messages “if you spoke to someone like that in a bar would they listen or walk away and avoid you like a weirdo?” If we want people (customers) to connect with our brands and products we need to get back to honesty and real talk.  We need to understand that we don’t need to be polished robots and that consumers are so sick of having to research and dig for the truth about brands and have started to gravitate towards brands with real personalities from the people behind the products and brands.

Look at the brands people are gravitating towards in the last few years, they are either brands still in connection with their founders or brands with a local feel that use ‘Real Talk’.  The appeal of craft beers and other similar products is partly because they are such a breath of fresh air from the polished and largely BS messages we are getting from the big national brands who are so disconnected from their customers and ultimately their people internally.

I’m really loving seeing the entrepreneurial brands and products coming to the forefront and their honest marketing messages.  Can’t wait to see it continue to grow and hopefully we’ll see more local and real businesses pop up all over the country.  Then we might see the big brands and companies learn…… you gotta be real!