What it actually means to be authentic in marketing
How to build trust without trying to be everything to everyone.
What We Think
“Be authentic” has become the most overused and underdefined advice in marketing.
Everyone says it but few can explain it. It’s the wax poetic of marketing without a lot of “what” you actually do when you sit down at your desk on Monday to, you know, be authentic.
Authenticity isn’t about sounding casual or sprinkling in a founder selfie or, god forbid, founder story about how you started in a garage. It’s about bridging a deeper gap: being consistent with your brand’s truth while staying connected to your (always changing) customer’s world.
What Authenticity Isn’t
It’s not being informal to sound like a person
It’s not being obsessed with hyper-relevance
It’s not copying whatever tone, meme, or moment is trending this week
It’s not performative vulnerability or AI-generated relatability
What Authenticity Is
1. Consistency of intent
Are you clear on what your brand stands for? Are your decisions across product, tone, and experience in service of that?
2. Transparency of motive
You can sell. You can market. But customers can smell when your why doesn’t align with your what. Clarity > spin. Read “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug if you want help making things clear and simple.
3. Alignment between voice and values
Do you show up the same way across channels, moments, and moods? Can customers recognize you even when the context shifts?
4. Listening without shapeshifting
You don’t need to pivot every time the market blinks, you need to know which signals are noise, and which reflect a shift worth showing up for. This means thinking about it not just reacting.
The Community Gap: Where Brands Get It Wrong
Herein lies the tension: You want to build a community that feels seen, heard, and valued, but in doing so, many brands become over-accommodating and under-grounded. Think about the overly people-pleasing folks in your life. They don’t seem grounded in themselves right? Neither does your brand when it acts that way.
They over-respond to every comment, every critique
They dilute their voice to stay “relatable”
They forget that a community isn’t the brand, it lives around the brand
Community is a relationship that requires clarity on what you stand for, so people can choose whether they belong.
Where Authentic Brands Win
Patagonia doesn’t chase trends. They say no more than they say yes. They’ve built campaigns around what they won’t do. They don’t care if everyone comes along because they know their niche target.
Liquid Death is ridiculous on purpose and never breaks character. They are not for everyone, and that’s the point. It’s provocative because they aren’t trying to appease everyone, but delight a specific group of people.
Duolingo plays the algorithm, but stays inside a distinct tone and brand logic. The chaos still feels like them and imo they are one of the few brands who can still get away with unhinged social.
The Real Question to Ask
Does this decision make us more us , and more relevant, at the same time?
If yes, you’re operating in that rare space where authenticity and market response align.
If no, you’re probably chasing engagement that won’t convert to loyalty. Sors.
TL;DR
Authenticity isn’t about being “a real person.” It’s about being recognizably, reliably, and repeatedly you while still listening to the world you’re in.
Be flexible in execution, be fixed in foundation, you got this.
Coming Up Next
The Trust Equation: What It Takes to Build Long-Term Loyalty in the Age of Skepticism
I’ll break down the key ingredients of brand trust and how to earn it without hype, spin, or over-promising.
What's new in The Brand Insiders Club
June and July we are running a Summer Giveaway Challenge! The person that participates in the most prompts in Kara’s Journal will receive a 1:1 coaching session to do a deep dive into the prompt of their choice. The session will be a live stream for any Brand Insider Club member to join as listeners.
July 24: The Job Market Decoded by Sarah Halvorsen
August 14: Creating Meaningful Social Media Engagements by Aaron Kaufman
Not a member and want to try it out? Get your free day pass here.
What to know this week
Celebrity brands win without ads MrBeast and Loverboy prove you don’t need paid media when your fanbase does the marketing.
Gen Z wants curation, not noise Pinterest shows that Gen Z loyalty is earned through aspirational, authentic experiences over broad targeting.
CMOs go all in on AI At Cannes, brands from e.l.f. to Mercedes confirmed AI is reshaping creative, targeting, and personalization.
Flavor beats fame in beverage marketing Liquor brands report that consumers now care more about taste and transparency than celebrity endorsements.
Samsung stunts with 17,000 gold flip phones Their Olympic product placement paid off — driving a 23% sales bump and global buzz.
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