We recently hosted a breakfast debate at our agency, Feed.
The subject: honesty.
As the agency’s managing director, I wanted to get to the bottom of why we lie so much – particularly as an industry – and try to present the case for honesty as a great return on investment. Who is telling the truth these days?
Bankers and politicians frequently stand accused of deception, but it’s also common for brands to face allegations of cheating, most notably in the recent case of the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
Today’s world should be about being open source, sharing and lifting the veil of mystery and superstition. Never before have we been handed the cultural and technological opportunity to right wrongs; to be inclusive, democratic and honest.
But what have most agencies done? They’ve taken an opportunity and twisted it into a money-spinner, a top-secret algorithm or a hashtag. Honesty has retained about as much meaning as its more fashionable cousins: transparency and authenticity. All this obfuscation has made us look like bad salesmen intent on just peddling our next shipment. As a result, the business community is losing faith in our ability to add tangible value.
Our debate revolved around the opinions of three leaders in their field: Judith Secombe, group publishing director at Hearst Magazines UK; Hannah Wilson, head of marketing at Gumtree; and Ewen Macaskill, defence and intelligence correspondent at the Guardian. They discussed honesty and how we must fight to defend it.
Secombe’s central point was that honesty as a blunt instrument doesn’t always work – just ask Gerald Ratner. Honesty is a multi-faceted concept relying on authenticity, integrity and, in the main, trust. Too often data only tells only half the story. Now the media landscape has opened up, corporations have nowhere to hide and they’re beginning to realise they are directly accountable.
Wilson argued that there is a burgeoning social hangover, in that while millennials don’t present themselves honestly on social media, they increasingly expect honesty from their friends. Honesty becomes subjective and people hypocritical in their approach to it.
In terms of lessons for brands, young adults want authentic experiences to kill boredom rather than price reductions. Authentic honesty has become the new normal. It’s a trend that people want to be associated with but without necessarily taking the responsibility to live it.
MacAskill, a journalist for 42 years, pointed out that honesty lies at the very heart of his job. His contract is with the reader. Being devious and cunning to get a story is one thing, but lying is quite another. But the jaded public is his biggest concern, as research shows they don’t trust anyone, least of all the media.
The common theme from the debate was that honesty takes bravery, tenacity and a lot of hard work. It’s no coincidence that these are the attributes that lead to the creation of the best marketing.
Honesty starts conversations that will take you to incredible places – full of social, moral and economic success. Ultimately, telling the truth isn’t always easy, because we’re seemingly programmed to lie.
But try to rewrite the code. You won’t look back.
Matt Lynch is managing director at Feed
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