A good friend and former colleague, Lynn Upshaw, just published his latest book on branding and marketing. Entitled "Truth: The New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World," the new book is an important examination of a problem that has plagued marketers for years, but has, in my view, now come to a head in our business.

I have not yet had the chance to read Lynn’s new book, but I did read the bylined article he wrote on the subject that was published last week on AdAge.com. It was perhaps no coincidence that Ad Age editor Jonah Bloom also published a commentary last week on this summer’s "Ins and Outs" of advertising, and "honest advertising" was on on the "In" list. Kudos to Lynn and Jonah for attacking this critical industry issue head on. The timing could not be better.

The sad fact is that advertisers and public relations practitioners (more broadly put, marketers) have not traditionally been known for their truthfulness. In fact, just the opposite is true. These professions almost always rank near the bottom of the list when it comes to public trust and respect. (Down in the basement with politicians and car salespeople.) As a longtime marketer who is proud of his profession and especially of his adherence to truth and integrity, I can understand why the public is so skeptical of our claims and strategies. To say that marketers (the professionals themselves and the companies that employ them) bend the truth to suit their interests is a ridiculous understatement. It is just a part of what we do as a business, and it is hurting us and the products, services and ideas that we promote.

Lynn Upshaw cites some excellent examples of companies that play fast and loose with the truth. He also highlighted several praiseworthy organizations that stick tenaciously to the truth as a matter of principle and pride. It is depressing how many examples there are these days of the former group’s lack of truth telling. And, it is not just a matter of lying outright to consumers and the public overall. The lack of integrity and straight talk that Lynn describes in his book also includes things like selectively presenting the facts, not standing behind service and product claims (including bad customer service), and just making claims that strain credulity and insult our intelligence. (No…advertisers actually do that?!)

In the "straining credulity/intelligence insulting" category, the recent "Bold Moves" branding campaign from the beleaguered American car company Ford stands out. In this campaign, Ford is desperately trying to convince the car buying public (and all of its key stakeholders such as employees, shareholders and partners) that it is still a dynamic, successful auto manufacturer that is taking "bold" steps to demonstrate its leadership, strength and viability. It sounds more like whistling past the graveyard to me. Does anyone really believe that Ford’s recent cars and trucks are anything even approaching "bold"? The new Mustang is a decent update of the original pony car from the sixties, a time when Ford really was a bold company. But, a retro car with outdated technology is anything but bold. The new Ford trucks are just evolutionary examples of the company’s rapidly diminishing cash cow. The much touted Edge crossover SUV has an interesting design, but from an innovation or even value standpoint, it ain’t bold. And the Fusion, heralded by Ford as the Accord/Camry killer, is a nice sedan, but just not bold enough to take on those industry stalwarts.

So what constitutes bold in today’s auto industry? The Toyota Prius is bold. Whether you like its gangster style or gas guzzling Hemi engine or not, the Chrysler 300C sedan was bold. Hyundai’s 10-year warranty is bold. The Lexus LS sedan that can parallel park itself is bold. Honda’s incredibly successful remake of its CR-V, or the innovative Honda Ridgeline pickup, are both bold.

Ford’s "Bold Moves" campaign is just another example of the dis-ingenuousness of American marketers (and this is particularly true in the US auto industry). Just because they say they are bold, does not make it so. It is just not credible and honest, and the public sees through it immediately. What might have been actually "bold" was if Ford had been straight forward and candid with the public about its attempts to right itself and reclaim its former leadership and profitability. For example, it could have touted such brand attributes as quality and value, two areas on which Ford is actually making good progress lately. But bold?!

Memo to Ford and other marketers: Saying it loudly and often does not make it believable to your publics. It has to be credible. Even better, your messages should be sincere, too. People today are hungry for authenticity and genuineness. If you can deliver on that as a marketer, you already have a leg up on your competition.

Last year the celebrated new word was "truthiness." Coined by the faux TV "news" host Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report," truthiness is one of those wonderful words that sound just like what they mean. The word represents how marketers — and politicians and even journalists — play games with the truth to exact benefit for themselves. It’s not exactly lying, but it’s not actually telling the truth either. Hence the diminutive "iness" which cleverly modifies the word truth, creating a vague middle ground of veracity that seems to be fair game today.

No, it’s not fair game. Telling the truth should not be a game or an option for marketers and communicators. Believer it or not, they (we) do have a little thing called the public trust in their hands. Every time we prevaricate, even just a little, or hold back on the evidence that questions our claims, we are abusing that trust. And the more that trust slips, the more our consumers and customers vote with their feet and switch to our competitors, or just opt out altogether.

As Lynn Upshaw recommends in his timely new book, make some bold moves of your own and start insisting on telling the real and whole truth in your marketing. You’ll feel a lot better about it. And so will your customers, employees and other vital stakeholders, who ultimately will find ways to reward you for being straight with them. 

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