The passing of J.D. Salinger a few weeks back took me back to my high school days when we were forced to read his classic novel, The Catcher in the Rye,  featuring Holden Caulfield, the teenage protagonist who explores the phoniness and inauthenticity of New York City and  the elite prep school circle from which he has been expelled. The book was one of the first novels to draw me in and help me realize that the best story-telling is more than skin deep. Its message still resonates today. So what can companies who are looking to create authentic brand experiences learn from the 17-year-old Holden?

• Tell Your Story in Your Own Voice. J.D. Salinger’s book was controversial because for the first time an authentic teenage voice was echoing the truths we all thought about but were afraid to reveal.  A famous Holden quote: “It’s funny.  All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.” When companies speak to us, are they talking above us, below us – or right to our heart?  When a company’s brand speaks to our heartfelt experiences, without patronizing or pontificating, it resonates.

• Phoniness Will Be Outed. Holden made a mission of exposing phony people. In the age of social media, the brand experience is more exposed than ever, with every customer being an online Holden Caulfield, ready to out the mis-aligned brand. Case in point, Comast’s customer service issues were exposed by a customer with a handycam witnessing a cable installer asleep on his couch. He uploaded it to YouTube and it became the customer experience case study for the newly empowered dissatisfied consumer. Four years and 1.4 million views later, Comcast has learned a hard lesson.

• Every Customer Counts. Holden’s vision was to be the “Catcher in the Rye”, saving children as they walked over the cliff, one at a time. Sometimes companies get so overwhelmed by the nature of Customer Experience Management, they lose site that even one customer can mean the world. What if every company aimed at improving the customer experience simply told their employees to have one goal: Retain and wow just one customer every day. That customer would tell ten others, and so on.

The Catcher in the Rye once had the dubious distinction of being at once the most frequently censored book across the nation and the second-most frequently taught novel in public high schools. The book remains widely read with total worldwide sales over 65 million. Perhaps the book’s authentic voice and simplicity will soon be taught as essential branding strategy in corporations everywhere. Well, maybe not. But a few tips from an authentic classic couldn’t hurt.