RealitySells

TruTV: Reality, Actuality, or Authenticity?  - by Bill Guertin

What’s the difference between being Authentic and being something else?  -----

Tomorrow (1/1/08), Time Warner will replace their Court TV cable channel with the debut of TruTV, a non-stop barrage of what they call *real-life adventure* programs.  Time Warner has used hundreds of its own 30-second time slots on its other cable channels to promote TruTV, and has taken out upside-down full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal with the caption, *What makes real-life stories exciting is that theyre unpredictable.*

The tagline for the channel is *Not reality.  Actuality.* Which begs the question: What’s the difference?

Quite a lot, actually. 

In reality TV, the settings are staged for a certain kind of predictable unpredictability.  The background is fabricated, but the participants are the focal point; viewers want to see the jilted bacherlorette sobbing, the nanny pulling out her hair, or the partners bickering about the direction to take in a race.  In actual TV, the situations are one-time occurrences that can’t be staged, such as a natural disaster, a courtroom verdict, or a sports drama with unforeseen consequences. 

Since successful business practices often imitate popular culture, what can we learn from all this?  Should a business focus on reality or actuality?

Neither.  It should be focused on Authenticity, which is at a much higher level.

Customers today want to do business with those whose values align with theirs, whose strengths and weaknesses are clearly identified, and whose buying experience remains consistent from visit to visit.  The Four Laws of Authenticity (Freedom, Originality, Transparency, Repeatability) are what businesses should focus on improving in the New Year and beyond. 

Let 2008 be the year of TruYou, and may our Four Laws help you get there.  Learn more about them at http://www.RealitySells.com.