Own Your Truth
Ah. April. A simpler time.
A time when we didn’t know Aubrey was a deadbeat dad.
A time when we thought everyone in Philly believed in The Process.
A simpler time for sure. But WAY more boring.
Last week, two major stories caught the attention of the Twittersphere and the trolls, meme makers, and @itsmanibro refused to let them go.
Aubrey Graham, also known as Drake, was completely annihilated by GOOD Music President Terrence Thornton (aka Pusha T) and this ruthless diss track.
From claims that he neglects his son with a former Porn Star to images of Drake in extremely offensive black face, King Push decided to flip the once perfect rapper’s image from darling to dartboard in a matter of 3:09.
As Neal Brennan put it on The Breakfast Club, the two men are now “rapping like rich white women… ‘the audacity, I’m upset.’ He’s got a song coming out called I’m flummoxed. And Pusha rapped about caviar facials.” Brennan went onto joke that King Push said, “I don’t think you’re capable of love, Drake. I think because your father walked out on your mother when you were five, I spoke to your therapist, and I think you’re in a lot of emotional trouble.”
Which brings us to another whiney rich white lady, Mrs. Colangelo.
After The Ringer published a scathing investigative report about Philadelphia Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo and the five Twitter accounts where he detailed nonpublic information about his team, Colangelo’s wife Barbara Bottini claimed the accounts were all hers.
Yesterday, it was confirmed that Bottini did, in fact, run these accounts and the Philadephia 76ers still chose to fire their General Manager.
These two perplexing yet highly intriguing storylines bring me to Terrence’s quote during his media circus as he flaunted his win as if he won his first Grammy.
“I’m just speaking my truth. You can’t really argue with that.”
This line from Push, while just one of many that has been stuck in my head all week, illustrates a practice that major brands, like his and Drake’s (up until 5/29), have used for decades in pursuit of success and longevity.
Own up to your truth and nobody can use it against you.
In business today, longevity is beginning to take on new meaning. Just yesterday, CNBC hosted Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon for a 6am interview where the duo proclaimed an end to quarterly guidance.
To them, it no longer makes sense for short term strategy when more than 100 million people are depending on stocks for their savings and retirement.
Regardless of the concept’s viability, the two men are clearly proposing that companies think more long term and begin to pitch themselves to shareholders that they should hang on longer than 8.3 months.
If you follow Buffett, you know his stance on short term stock ownership.
“If you don’t feel comfortable owning a stock for 10 years, you shouldn’t own it for 10 minutes.”
Marketers need to start looking at their business in a similar fashion.
Is this brand value, endorser, project, etc. something we want to align with for the next ten years?
If it isn’t, don’t bother pursuing.
Another point became clear during Becky Quick’s way-too-early-in-the-morning-interview. The healthcare threesome of Berkshire, JP Morgan, and Amazon is about to get its cameraman.
Geisinger CEO David Feinberg was once the frontrunner, but it now looks like the trio of Buffet, Dimon, and Bezos will look elsewhere for the position.
Nevertheless, this trio illustrates a commitment towards brand truths and values, particularly in the case of Bezos and Amazon.
Amazon’s truth, even in the unthinkable world of healthcare, has always been about the consumer. From the time he was a book salesman, Bezos has made clear that everything he does is about servicing the customer.
That is the Amazon brand.
Whether that’s a revolutionary health care company…
Or a streaming deal with the world’s most popular sports league…
Amazon is owning their truth and all brands can do the same.
Even when stuck in a difficult spot.
Take Abercrombie & Fitch as a perfect example.
Once a staple of the fifteen year old boy wardrobe, Abercrombie stumbled for many years amid slumping sales and an extremely misogynistic founder.
Despite hovering around the graveyard, in the last year Abercrombie has created a new brand truth for themselves and their future as company.
Their most recent ad campaign dubbed This Is The Time is a perfect example.
The results have been impressive.
In the first quarter of 2018, net sales at Abercrombie grew 11 percent from the quarter a year earlier, to a total of $739.9 million, according to AdAge.
According to GlobalData Retail’s managing director Neil Saunders, the resurgence is entirely about a new brand truth.
“It has moved from a brash brand to a somewhat confused brand to a brand with a much clearer and more focused identity.While we would argue that this reinvention is still a work in progress, we think that the more authentic tone and the coalescing around an effortless American casual theme has paid dividends.”
Saunders also pointed to a more comprehensive marketing effort that uses platforms such as Snapchat and app-based games to build affinity.
Abercrombie is making inroads with new collections such as its unisex kids line, unveiled earlier this year, and growing loyalty program, which has nearly tripled in accounts, executives said at an event in April.
Creating and owning this new truth was crucial in creating this turnaround.
A&F realized they were no longer the Zack Efron type, middle school darling. They were forced to create a new image and reach an entirely new customer.
Nokia, the once sprawling phone maker, did something quite similar back in 2011 amid pressure from Apple and Google. After noticing an uphill battle they were never going to win, Nokia pivoted towards B2B focusing on manufacturing network equipment and software, patent licensing, and opportunities in wearable technology and the internet of things.
This pivot gave Nokia life and in 2017 they drove over $23 billion in revenue.
On the flip side, Toys R Us failed to adopt a new brand truth as they continued to fight a losing battle against Amazon and Walmart on their path to bankruptcy and irrelevance. What was once a staple of every kid’s imagination was reduced to real estate debt venture, as told by Businessweek.
Let’s be real.
Colangelo isn’t the only NBA GM who likes Twitter. Just ask Danny Ainge.
Drake certainly is not the only deadbeat father in hip hop. Just ask Nas.
The difference is that Ainge and Nas have owned their truths.
Whether with humor in Danny’s case or honesty from Nas, each of these men tackled the court of public opinion head on and owned who they were as people and who they wanted to be as brands.
On the other hand, Colangelo is now unemployed and Drake is “still upset”.
The lesson is that no matter how high your collar or songs reach, refusing to own your truths leaves an opening for someone to use them against you.
Unless you want to bicker like old white ladies at brunch, take the time to craft an authentic brand that can stand the test of time and scrutiny.
As King Push noted…
“Can’t no amount of money create skeletons that don’t exist.”
So just take Warren Buffett’s advice and use it for your brand moving forward.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
