AUTHENTICITY : Are you really doing what you are saying The truth about gender equity and brand image By Sharon Barney Special to Canadian Design and Construction Report If your corporate marketing department says that the company values gender equity, can you honestly agree that those claims are authentic when the top levels of man- agement are 95 per cent male? A recent study from Stanford Graduate School of Busi- ness found that consumers “really want the real thing”: it’s called ‘the value of authenticity.’ The researchers found that ‘authenticity’ is so valued by consumers and the public that perceptions of ‘inauthentic- ity’ can affect revenues by five to nine per cent. 6 – Winter 2015 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report AIG lost 20 per cent of its shareholder value after the bailout, says Corporate Responsibility Magazine. The pub- lic wants truthfulness from its corporations. Authenticity is where the rubber meets the road: the marketing department can market a brand identity as a company that values gender equity, but the brand’s image can be tarnished by management that does not back up those marketing claims with meaningful action. A corporation may be voted as one of the top 10 com- panies to work for, but if the large majority of survey re- spondents are male, it cannot be assumed that female employees hold the same view.