“Today’s consumers—and today’s employees—want, above all, to know that what they’re buying into is authentic. This is even more acute when you’re asking them to take a chance by trying something new and unproven. Whether a company intends it or not, advertising in all its forms is that company’s most public expression of what it thinks is important, and how seriously it takes its customers and employees. Ignore this, and the most you can hope for is an amusing advertising experience that might make people briefly remember you, if only for that. But be authentic in your commercial messages, and people will do better than remember. They’ll believe, and belief is the root of loyalty. A good rule of thumb: Don’t ask your ads to say anything your CEO couldn’t say with a straight face.”
The Orange Code: How ING Direct Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a Cause