Truth.

One of the first things that we cover in our work, interviews, and the classes we teach is authenticity as the first principle of any marketing message.  Whether deserved or not, PR has earned a bad rap for being a sometimes deceptive field, and though we’re not a traditional PR company, we’re still in the realm of portraying ourselves and our companies in front of the general public.

Transparency is the ticket to brand relate-ability which leads to long-term relationships, loyalty, and consequentially, sales. It’s a detriment to be deceptive & position your brand as something it’s not, distancing yourself from your audience, consumer or user. We once had a client request to reschedule a casual behind-the-scenes shoot of their studio as they hadn’t had time to put everything away and in order. They asked us to shoot product laid out on white space only, instead of the vibrant rows of product hanging surreptitiously around the studio.  We tried their way and ours. Needless to say, the later was shared across a variety of social platforms and was even tagged to the Tumblr fashion radar. Chaos is much more interesting and reality more compelling.

We practice what we preach, being as up-front as possible about our personalities and the lives we lead; we blog about social media and social outings with equal fervor, even if what we’re sharing could be interpreted as flighty, ditzy or just plain silly.  Sure, we’re all of those things sometimes. 

As the fitting movie Clueless put it, “Cuz we’re keepin’ it real.”