Are we over ‘Authentic’ yet?

Authentic means all the good things, such as genuine, done with passion, original, and not taking short-cuts.

I frequent ‘authentic’ cafes staffed by bearded men (who apparently wax the rest of their bodies), and tattooed ladies, all festooned with the other accoutrements that go with Hipster style (jeans, retro-t-shirts, messenger bags, androgynous clothing, body piercings, etc.).

Sometimes I do find myself wondering if it is actually possible to be authentic when you are actually copying the same style as everyone else, but yet again, maybe I am just being curmudgeonly. I enjoy the overall image – it implies creativity, even if it isn’t; at least it provides a bit more variety than the usual corporate bland.

I’m a big fan of cafes where the coffee and food have been made with an obsessive attention to getting the product just right. And as an amateur designer I am a huge fan of the homewares and everyday items that are now coming out, but, unfortunately, refuse to pay for any of these designs in the ‘authentic’ design shops – I can’t afford it.

On the flipside, I am sure that you, like me, are sick of trying every new ‘authentic’ cafe – when most of new cafes I go to would be better off with a Nespresso machine, or at least go on some barista training courses to better learn how to use their machine (even if they do buy the best authentic coffee roasts).

From a business point of view the best examples of businesses that follow an authentic model are cafes that source their beans, roast their beans, educate their customers, and put up a décor that is original and inviting. Customers are willing to pay a bit extra for this experience.

If you wish to set up an authentic business then you need to realise the following.

1. Excellence is the requirement – your product must be of the best quality. It could be fresh ingredients cooked perfectly, it could be great design with great materials and fabrication, or it could be a perfect experience.
2. Sustainability – it requires customers to remain interested in what you are offering. If you are ‘on-trend’ then be prepared to no longer be fashionable in a short period of time. Minimise your costs and retain profits to enable you to pivot to the next trend.
3. It is hard to scale – the pricing point and ‘authentic’ experience need to be systematised and replicated, with quality control in place. You can set up a good sized family business, but there are likely limits.
4.  It requires a good customer base. For example, there is large and growing organic food business with supermarkets stocking organic growing. However, organic food is recognised as being more expensive, so people tend to have an ‘organic’ phase in their life rather than be that way for life. There’s nothing like having a mortgage and kids to make you appreciate the price of cage laid eggs, milk and vegetables from the regular supermarket. Hell, have more than four kids and you will consider dumpster diving out the back of takeaways, fighting off the homeless and drug addicts just to save a few pennies.
5. The longer you are in business the less tolerant you are of the idiosyncracies of ‘authentic’ employees. You know, people who work to the timetable in their own head, turning up when they want to, can’t take criticism, and don’t respect that you own the business and that you have to do capitalist things such as paying bills.
6. You are really setting up a craft/boutique business that relies on customers willing to pay for the product. This mostly sucks as a business model as you are competing against larger businesses who can produce goods at a lower cost and market better than you. Such businesses have been round for centuries, and sell almost exclusively in the luxury market as that is the one market willing to pay for quality and innovation/originality.
7.  Marketing is hard. You can’t simply call yourself authentic any more, and put bearded guys wearing shorts showing off their tattooed legs to indicate you are all original. Now that is the new norm, you are going to have to find ways to cut through.

We are now seeing not only big brands co-opting authenticity, but also legions of well meaning amateurs with zero originality or interest in the product setting up businesses, and trying to take advantage of the higher pricing point. They have diluted the ‘authentic’ brand and are well on the way to destroying it.

At best, the ‘authentic’ brands with great products will grow – just a bit, and we are all going to stick with them. A bunch of new entrepreneurs have been inspired by this trend and have set up great new businesses. We will see, however, a winnowing of the rest.

I am, however, now over everything being authentic. When McDonald’s starts selling ‘authentic’ Big Macs it will be time to find a new trend – you have been warned folks.