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On November 6 2003 we held a launch event for Neil's book "Authentic - how to make a living by being yourself" and the wider authentic business movement. The event was held at the offices of Solarcentury and was attended by Cafe Direct, innocent, Yeo Valley Organics, Organic Express, and Howies. The event was organised by a team comprising Authentic PR, Authentic Business and the marketing people at the publishers Capstone who managed to attract journalists from The FT magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian/Observer, The Ecologist, Marie Claire, Positive News, Ergo, The Big Issue and more.

This is the speech, which Neil gave.

If we accept the notion that all markets are conversations, then we must also accept that all markets are communication; after all, what is a conversation without communication? Yet in this ‘Communication Age’, isn’t it amazing how often it breaks down? Points are missed. People are misunderstood. Expectations are dashed. Corporate myths survive unchallenged for years. What is it that’s so difficult about communicating?

For many years marketers were in control and advertised their products and services in order to sell as much as possible of what they produced. However, there has been a seismic shift in recent years and it is now the consumer that calls the shots.