Since the beginning of Collective Content, we’ve always been concerned about authenticity. Even if what worries us hasn’t always been called ‘authenticity’ – because, let’s face it, that word isn’t the best. Let’s jazz it up a bit. We’re talking about keeping it real.

Real for who? For our clients and for ourselves. A good agency is transparent. A client’s work should pass through an agency like light through glass—shaped, coloured, focused but essentially unchanged in character and still clearly that client.

So why revisit this subject again? Because of a recent bad experience.

There’s someone we’ve been following through his blog for a while. I’d go as far as to call him a prolific blogger. He’s engaging, inspiring, insightful and clicks with any growing small business, let alone agency.

Imagine my excitement when I tuned in for a live online event hosted by this person and his colleagues. I was going to hear the words of wisdom straight from the source. I wasn’t expecting perfection, of course, and the content and approach were generally fine.

But there was a problem.  This wasn’t the person I’d been reading for several years online. 

Or at least it didn’t sound like him.

The simplest conclusion is that he’d had help with his online columns. Now that’s not unusual and it’s certainly not something that we’re against. Collective Content even provides that service, mainly for execs in the tech industry.

But – and here’s the big thing – we promise that what we create credibly captures the person we’re helping. Not only does it represent their organisation but, if you met the person in the flesh, he or she would be able to discuss the same issues with you. We’re not their brain. Even if we’re pretty smart too, it’s not about us trying to look clever. It’s about letting the client shine.

We think this is an important promise. To keep it real and present every client with authenticity.

So, at this point it’s worth us saying that we won’t misrepresent clients by creating content that couldn’t come from them. Help articulate the ideas? Absolutely! Collaborate to tease out the best bits? Yes! But we don’t put words into their mouths, or on their pages, that aren’t true. That’s the Collective Content real content promise.

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