Public Relations, Branding and Authenticity: Brand Communications in the Digital Age explores the role of PR and branding in society by considering the notion of authentic communications within the context of an emerging digital media environment. This qualitative analysis explores the challenge of developing authentic brand narratives in the digital age, whilst questioning the problematic nature of authenticity itself. Case studies of public relations activity of successful brands, and those in crisis, are supplemented by interviews with senior public relations and branding practitioners. The book lays out three specific arguments. Firstly, a repositioning of the relationship between public relations and brand practice is explored. It is argued that public relations practitioners are well placed to facilitate brands in the digital age, because of the inherent acceptance of the value of relationship building, adaptation and boundary spanning embedded in PR practice and best practice theory. Secondly, the book introduces a new concept of riparian brands. Such brands are based on solid core values, but have an ability to atune, adjust and naturalise to the prevailing social, cultural and economic environment. Thirdly, the book presents an ontology of the riparian brand in the form of an authentic brand wheel and 15 real-time interaction success factors. Aimed at both academics and practitioners interested in the theoretical development of PR and its emerging relationship with branding, it will also be of interest to scholars of corporate communications, corporate reputation and branding.

Social media is having a profound, but not yet fully understood impact on public relations. In the 24/7 world of perpetually connected publics, will public relations function as a dark art that spins (or tweets) self-interested variations of the truth for credulous audiences? Or does the full glare of the internet and the increasing expectations of powerful publics motivate it to more honestly engage to serve the public interest? The purpose of this book is to examine the role of PR by exploring the myriad ways that social media is reshaping its conceptualization, strategies, and tactics. In particular, it explores the dichotomies of fake and authentic, powerless and powerful, meaningless and meaningful. It exposes transgressions committed by practitioners—the paucity of digital literacy, the lack of understanding of the norms of social media, naivety about corporate identity risks, and the overarching emphasis on spin over authentic engagement. But it also shows the power that closely networked social media users have to insert information and opinion into discussions and force "false PR friends" to be less so. This timely, challenging, and fascinating book will be of interest to all students, researchers, and practitioners in Public Relations, Media, and Communication Studies. Winner of the 2016 NCA PRIDE Award for best book

This volume contains an Open Access Chapter. This collection explores the complex and controversial idea of authenticity. Addressing the concept from an interdisciplinary perspective and offering a diverse range of topical cases.

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, grade: 1,7, University of Bayreuth, course: Global Consulting Programm, language: English, abstract: As the online world becomes louder and more crowded, it's increasingly important to practice authenticity in marketing. Beyond products and services, audiences want to connect on a deeper level with the brands they love. Today's consumers also look for brands that embody values similar to their own. They prefer to support companies they identify with on a greater level than simply purchasing a product they like. Especially younger generations (millennials and Gen Z in particular) are often associated with the practice of buying what a brand values, rather than a specific product. Consumers expect brands to be authentic by sharing their desire to make the world a better place to live, work and do business.

Engage on a deeper level by disrupting the typical business development script Authentic Marketing offers a forward-thinking approach to achieving an entirely new level of engagement with today’s purpose-driven and skeptical audiences. The heart of this process involves finding the soul of your organization. When moral purpose becomes central to your organization, it can deliver benefits to both the bottom line and mankind: a profit meets purpose proposition. This path requires a reinvention of today’s dated business model, abolishing the inefficient, siloed approach of developing a business strategy first and then later creating separate strategies for marketing, HR, manufacturing, R&D, etc. The new integrated model fuses a tight integration of business, technology innovation and engagement strategies, all of which are bound together by a company’s moral purpose. When moral purpose is central to an organization’s core, everything branches out from a place of authenticity. Rather than a siloed CSR effort, you develop employee and customer relationships based on real—not curated—connections with a brand’s moral mission. You build true engagement, trust and evangelism. And, along the way, your customers will actually help to co-create your brand. This book shows you how to transform your business by putting moral purpose to work for your stakeholders and the planet. Embrace a new model that integrates business, technology innovation, and engagement strategies with moral purpose as the glue that binds them together Learn the key steps to find your moral purpose Discover how to engage audiences with a transparent, authentic marketing approach that forges powerful connections and builds trust. With a world of options at their fingertips, today’s purpose-driven customers want a brand they can identify with and trust. Authentic Marketing shows you how to make your brand more human, more likeable, more genuine and guides you on how to connect with audiences on a moral level. This process will build a new level of engagement that will benefit both your long-term value and the world.

The projection of authenticity is one of the key pillars of marketing. Research reveals that consumers seek authenticity through the brands they choose. Based on extensive research with consumers and brand managers this book offers seven guiding principles for building brand authenticity.

While the practice of branding is typically understood as a tool of marketing, a method of attaching social meaning to a commodity as a way to make it more personally resonant with consumers, Banet-Weiser argues that in the contemporary era, brands are about culture as much as they are about economics.