Ideas circulate on the blogosphere with a ferocity that can surprise us all. Often our response or reaction can be immediate and visceral — while at other times we need a little longer to reflect on what we read, see or hear….
This week I watched a video that made me pause for thought. This piece of user-generated content had confounded me, and I did not know where to look.
I knew that I needed to give this more consideration. And as I returned to this piece in the following days, I began to realize that there was a very deep question at the very heart of this topic — what is authenticity — and how and who is the judge?
User-generated content is often seen as being more authentic than materials developed by brands and agencies as part of their marketing efforts. Sometimes there is a freshness and energy to user-generated content … sometimes it is irreverence. And at other times, it is simply funny.
Watching this piece made me smile at first. The guitar playing was very good, and there was a real earnestness in the singing that surprised me. I could not, at first, place the song … it sounded like something that I knew but it felt alien to me … and then I realized it was U2’s One.
And by the time I got towards the end of the song, I felt compromised, confused. Out of touch with what I was seeing and hearing.
Is it getting better? Or do you feel the same?
Authenticity speaks to our emotions. It gets under our skin. And the brands that we love, that we consider authentic, are those that speak to us on this emotive and instinctive level. It is what we seek in a blog … a voice that echoes or resonates in our heads and hearts.
Can this be manufactured? Of course! The Lonelygirl115 experience was a great example.
It strikes me that it is the readers or viewers who determine authenticity. This video did not work for me, but the performance got a standing ovation from the live crowd. Just take a look at the faces of the performers, look at the way that the crowd moves in rhythm with the strumming. There was something going on there.
The music and lyrical-reworking did not get under my skin (in the desired way), but it did have an impact. I caught the pop music and pop cultural references and this “cover” version captured some of the beauty of the original causing me to open up to the message. Perhaps, for me, this was hyper-authentic — more real than real — frighteningly so.
But, at the end of it all, I was left rather empty, unsatisfied. I DID NOT want more … in fact, I wanted less.
As the lyrics say, “You gave me nothing, now it’s all I got.”
Special thanks to Ariel Waldman for pointing out this video.
Excellent post Gavin. But some how, sadly, I don’t think this clip is fake.
Gavin,
At the risk of sounding like a corporate dork, I like it. Let me explain:
Apparently, this is a sales, marketing, excutive meeting or retreat, and the song is meant as a rah rah sort of thing to motivate the attendees.
Although I no longer work for a corporation, I have been to more then a few of these events. And recalling the brain-deadening boredom that usually overcame me within the first 30 minutes, this isn’t a bad way to spend five of them.
Does the video work for me? Heck NO! In fact I clicked through the last three minutes. But I’m not the intended audience.
lol, if I was at this event it would be very, very hard not to pee myself laughing.
it’d be like watching the office.
U2 in ties and “Hello My Name Is…” badges…OMG, that’s GOTTA be a first!
Seriously — good thing no one had a gun in that audience. They weren’t exactly holding up lighters…it felt more like a polite but uncomfortable group — and half were probably freaked out completely….(“I so have to pull my resume together…what am I doing here?!”)
And Jim — “The Office” analogy is PERFECT!! I just got exactly the same feel from that video that I get from the show. Great comparison!
That’s such a great post! I definitely think is authentic, otherwise BOA would probably not allow that to happen… (or would they?) But, I’m most surprised with how willing BOA was to let these guys do something like that… it seems completely contrary to their conservative-like image. Thumbs up for BOA and the duet, there were great! And what do you know… I like BOA now more than I did before…
Gavin,
I big to differ. This type of changes (or) a varies presentation used to happen even before the advent of YouTube and the other methods of sharing. Now you have the ability to record and distribute it to the wider audience. That does not necessarily mean that the video is good or great. But the viewers have the choice of watching it or discarding it.
I really did not like the song, nor the video, I have the ability not to watch it. the choice is upto you.
May be the relevant question is why does audience do not believe in the content generated by brands and agencies? Is it because they don’t represent he truth, rather a propoganda. What is your choice?
Balaji … thanks for your comments. Much of what we now do on the web has been done before — we have recorded videos, lip-synched to songs etc — but with the Internet our works can be shared with a much larger, and more anonymous, audience.
It is interesting that some brands (and agencies) are appropriating the tools and methods of user generated content to give the appearance of authenticity. Even that can be considered authentic … it depends on who you are, how you feel about the brand, how much you have invested in that brand and what it means to you. It is always your call — you are the judge.
Great post Gav. Yeah, it made me pause, too. I actually feel badly for the guys singing as I’m not sure they really knew what they were getting themselves into…unless it’s a joke (but why to make the bank look so bad?).
I’ve no problem with rah-rah songs but they took such a beautiful U2 song and polluted it with corporate, greedy lyrics…that’s what I have a problem with.
Yeah, it certainly makes you pause. At least it serves as what NOT to do. So there’s that.
I do agree. Yes now a days even brands have started to generate content with the sole intention of creating authenticity. But that did happen even before the advent of Youtube, may be it did not have the number of users as now.
In India, there are a whole load of instances in which products sell by copying music from some popular film songs and then sing lyrically different.
This will continue to happen unfortunately since many know that it is the best way to attract attention.
Can it be stopped. I really don’t think so. As you said it is for the end users to decide whether they like the ploy or not. isn’t it?
Hi Gavin
Interesting post. Having viewed the video I don’t feel I’ve had the wool pulled over my eyes or ‘ripped-off’ in any way in terms of authenticity. I think it is what it appears to be: an ‘in-house’ cover of a song that fits the lyrics revised for it. Good on them. Bit like karaoke really. What you see is what you get! I don’t suppose it’ll become a million-dollar seller and U2 will need to crank-up the legal machine anytime soon.
However, your comments around authenticity mirror my own thoughts regarding the use of apparently ‘real’ people or comments to promote products or services and the often adverse reaction of consumers when the facts are revealed.
A post I made on my blog in September 06 commented on this following Lonelygirl15’s ‘outing’ as an actress rather than – well, a real, live Lonely Girl. The post also commented on the posting of fake testimonials on a well-known New Zealand website by staff that ran the site. Not good in terms of authenticity.
My post noted: We’re increasingly unwilling to accept and buy into manufactured gloss and PR spin when it’s presented as ‘real’. If it’s presented as real it had better be so, otherwise, expect word of mouth marketing to go into overdrive in a less than favourable way –”
The post finished: It’s not so much about the ethics or morality of the issue itself but about a lack of integrity and transparency. Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracian wote: “A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity”. As true today as it was in 1650.