Tricks of the Trade: The Performance and Interpretation of Authenticity

Abstract

abstract This paper discusses a Tokyo advertising agency's preparation of campaign ideas for a competitive presentation made to a Japanese multinational corporation planning to advertise in both Germany and the United States, and the part played therein by the author as authentic foreign other. Based on anthropological fieldwork, the paper gives details of the client's orientation and the agency's subsequent market analysis and creative interpretations, while following the back‐stage interpretations of key personnel's tastes by the agency's account team as a means towards making their final selection of campaign ideas for the presentation. This description gives rise to two complementary analyses of authenticity. One concerns advertising as ‘authentic reproduction’ in the context of the interpretation of cultural stereotypes. The other analyses back stage strategy and front stage performance to show how the performance and interpretation of authenticity are tricks of the trade that enable Japanese business organizations to be seen as professional and credible in the eyes of their clients, competitors, customers and partners.

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