THINK INSIDE THE BOX

I’M BEGINNING TO THINK CREDIBILITY is like art or pornography: It’s hard to define, but I’m pretty sure I know it when I see it. A few weeks ago I wrote about the role of authenticity and transparency in establishing credibility. Those are two critical pieces, but there’s more to it than that and I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would put on the “definitive” list of credibility factors.

The temptation to keep adding things makes me feel like Steve Martin in “The Jerk” when his fame and wealth come crashing down and he’s left to fend for himself again. “All I need is this chair,” he says at first. Then, as he makes his way to the street, he expands his list to include a ridiculous litany of other things until his arms are overflowing with “necessary things.”

Although it’s a bit of an armful too, my working thesis is this: Credibility = Expertise + Authenticity + Transparency + Consistency + Empathy.

For the moment, my focus is on empathy in particular. I came to the idea in a roundabout way …

I’ve always been fascinated by the iconography of brands, how symbols take on meaning and build immediate recognition. I recall years ago seeing the classic silhouette of Charlie Chaplin and thinking “now THERE’S a brand.” The bow-legged form, the bowler hat, the mustache, the walking stick … these are the “trade dress” of the silent screen’s most famous comic actor. Once you see that image, there is no mistaking his identify for anyone elses, and there is an immediate expectation (a “brand promise”) of what sort of comedy you are in for.

Over time, the “Chaplin idea” stimulated my thinking around brands as anthropomorphic entities. In other words, what are the human qualities successful brands embody?

In my work over the past year or two, it seems more and more of the client’s time and that of the agencies working on their business has been given over to research and discussions about how we can bring to life a meaningful understanding of what’s truly important to a particular set of consumers. Citing particularly successful brands is an inevitable part of these discussions.

Apple (not a client) comes up a lot. It’s ability to convey — through product development, design, communications, and just about everything else it does — just how much it “gets” its customers (fan base is more like it) is extraordinary.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw a set of drums and hardware (cymbal stands, etc.) made by Yamaha (not a client). As a drummer, my first reaction was “Wow, they really get it.” Everything just made sense and it genuinely thrilled me to see such smart thinking. This was industrial design as a thing of beauty, not for an aesthetic reason, but because it so clearly reflected an understanding of ME.

Hallmark (one of my clients) has this same effect on its “fan base” as well. In a decade of working with them perhaps the most common reaction I’ve heard from customers is “How did they know what I was feeling?”

These three brands have EMPATHY: a profoundly important piece of the credibility equation.

It is perhaps the most anthropomorphic of the credibility factors, and also the most emotionally powerful. A brand (or, for that matter, a person) can establish reasonable credibility by being smart, open and honest, and consistent in its behavior. But to invite a truly emotional affinity, it needs empathy, the capacity to listen, appreciate and respond with compassion.

From a communications standpoint, I’m finding it useful to think about how empathy manifests itself in messaging and programming. An empathetic communication doesn’t shout hyperbolic, overpromising sales messages. It looks for a way to connect, establish commonality and reflect shared insights. Credible brands act like people you trust. Credible communications sound like people you know.

OK, that’s not only a tall order, but a bit pedantic I suppose. Still, I think it’s instructive to isolate and contemplate the components of credibility at a time when any person, brand or organization whose success depends at least in part on smart communication is looking for an understanding of what’s imperative in the midst of unprecedented change.

© 2007 John Armato
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