Axios Event: Truth and authenticity win consumers

CANNES, France – Community trust is an increasingly lucrative brand asset, speakers said at an Axios event at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Why it matters: The ability to influence others is valuable as brands compete for fragmented consumer attention.

Axios' Eleanor Hawkins spoke with M13 co-founder and partner Carter Reum, actress, founder, author and producer Gabrielle Union, and Range Media Partners CEO and co-founder Peter Micelli at the June 17 event, sponsored by Weber Shandwick.

What they're saying: "When we had the opportunity to build brands, I wanted to build a brand that actually reflected my morals, my values, and that contributes to my peace," said Union, who has built businesses from baby care to hair care.

• Union said she builds trust with her community by offering her authentic opinions about the products she shares.
• "I just got in the habit of telling the truth, and it's worked out, because people trust me," she said.

Micelli founded his talent management brand strategy group during the pandemic to help talent benefit from the huge shifts to entertainment and media brought on by AI and social media.

• The goal is to connect talent, content and commerce in the social media age.
• "The data we look at is that celebrities that are authentic, and Gab is one of the most, their community trusts them so much, and they have more impact on moving community than any corporation does," he said.

State of play: "I think like any business, you have to have a point of differentiation," Reum said when asked how his venture capital firm sets itself apart to appeal to founders. "Everything is commoditized, there's never been more competition," he added.

• Reum said he considers a founder to be great if they have the ability to inspire, because "you have to inspire or persuade a customer to take a chance on you. You have to persuade that key hire to come and leave their cushy job and come work for you. You have to inspire or persuade somebody like me to write you a $15 million check."
• "And if you can do that every day, alongside what I think is most important for these companies, [which] is getting 1% better every day … you just have slightly better odds than all your competitors."

The bottom line: Corporate values are "huge" when considering a brand partnership, Union said.

• Making sure a brand's values align with hers is critical. "I do background checks on everybody. I'm not going to sign up for something because you've given me the whole song and dance … I need to know who's running the show," she said.
• "We have to be in complete alignment – morals, values, you have to walk it like you talk it."

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Weber Shandwick North America CEO and global president Jim O'Leary said that it has been challenging for some companies to navigate increased complexity at the intersection of business and culture.

• "There's certainly more risk nowadays than arguably any time in recent memory, both on the brand side and [on] the corporate side … there's a lot of concern given the pushback against brand purpose."
• "I don't think that brand purpose is dead" but it's wielded in a purposeful way instead of a more performative manner, he added.