Authenticity in the Age of Noise: Why Staying True is Your Biggest Advantage
Authenticity is a competitive edge in a skeptical world. Consumers trust brands and leaders who take a stand and speak with conviction. In an era of alternative news and influencers, staying true isn’t optional—it’s how you stand out.
“There are no original ideas. There are only original people.”
One of the biggest challenges for leaders of today’s businesses - both large and growing - is ‘authenticity’.
In the era of Trump 2.0 this (very) loosely-defined concept has taken on a divisive, politicised meaning.
But whatever your politics ‘authenticity’ is this generation’s magic potion.
Why?
Because ‘being authentic’ is what people want.
That might sound cynical. But it’s more than that. It’s actually what they need.
This is not just an anecdote.
Public scepticism toward focus groups, opinion polling, politicians and the news in general is at all-time lows. It’s not just AI or ‘foreign interference’ that’s contributed to this.
Much as these two areas are playing a part, long before ChatGPT the practice of ‘spin’ by politicians and big business - or in other words covering up uncomfortable messages through carefully-worded statements written by communications advisors - did more to damage consumers’ perceptions that their leaders or preferred brands were being honest with them than AI has so far.
And quite conceivably ever will, given the heavy scrutiny of AI systems over their potential for bias or hallucination.
Being authentic is not about becoming the Trump of your industry. But it is about knowing how to take a position on an issue in a way that resonates with your customers or staff. And stakeholders.
In some ways it should be liberating.
Customers and employees are seeking out brands, companies, and company leaders that are prepared to take a position, a stand and embrace a cause. A mission.
Across the political spectrum there are numerous examples - from outdoor wear manufacturer and CEO of Patagonia’s focus on conservation to Elon Musk’s ‘fight for free speech’ in the takeover of Twitter.
Liberating it might be. Easy it ain’t.
How do you embrace a cause or sound ‘authentic’ without making it look like you’re opinion shopping? And then, when you’ve found your true voice, how (where?) do you find, build the community you need to get the word out without removing the authenticity you worked so hard to create?
A wise friend of mine once said to me: “it always comes down to distribution.”
He was actually talking about the key to scaling a financial services business but in today’s atomised media landscape he could have been talking about information and news.
Telling your story today involves engaging with an expanding range of channels, each requiring different styles of communication for their distinct, usually highly curated audiences. Which to choose?
Oxford University’s Reuters Institute of Journalism gathers data to show how much - and how frequently - the ground is shifting. Their annual Digital News Report surveys consumers in 47 countries about where they get their news.
The massive influence of alternative channels and independent voices is a wake up call for business leaders.
Especially those trying to scale the next billion-dollar business.
In France and the UK half of those polled said they used alternative channels to get their news. The proportion rose to 60% in the USA.
And it’s a global phenomenon - as applicable to growth markets as mature western markets:
Just 40% of consumers globally say they trust most of the news.
In Argentina half of consumers, and 62% in Brazil, cited alternative news, influencers celebrities and politicians as a leading source of news and information.
As we’ve seen in the 2024 US election. The US’ is leading the charge of alternative news sources. When US consumers were asked to name the main journalists they follow on social media (both mainstream and alternative) only one journalist from a mainstream channel - CNN’s Anderson Cooper - made the top 10 list of most followed accounts.
In the mid 2020’s ‘personality’ sells. And that’s what you need to stay ahead.
Simon Hardie is an author and founder of findexable - the digital analytics and insight platform. He co-hosts the Born to Disrupt podcast with Mingzulu and Disrupts
