Trust is now built through credible personalities, not just branded content. Channels like podcasts and newsletters succeed because they are personality-driven. HubSpot's CEO advises businesses to identify and empower internal figures with high authority to represent the brand.

Mark Zuckerberg's evolution from a highly media-trained, scripted persona to an authentic public figure shows that the old playbook of message control is dead. The market now rewards leaders who are transparent and genuine ("this is me, deal with it"), even if they are less polished. Synthetically generated authenticity is easily spotted and rejected.

Sharing photos or videos of your team in a holiday setting taps into the audience's desire for authenticity. This simple tactic can result in 400% higher engagement, which you can then leverage by personally DMing everyone who likes or comments to build rapport.

Creating a genuine brand voice requires deep immersion, not just a brief. By spending months interacting with dozens of employees across all departments, a consultant can uncover the shared language and core truths that form an authentic, resonant voice.

Encourage team members, not just founders or marketers, to build their personal brands by publicly sharing their learnings and journey. This creates an organic, multi-pronged distribution engine that attracts customers, top talent, and investors. It's a highly underrated and cost-effective go-to-market strategy.

Strict adherence to brand cohesion often stifles creativity and results in subjective boardroom debates. Brands achieve more by focusing on creating relevant, timely content that resonates with their audience, even if it occasionally breaks established stylistic guidelines.

As AI floods the internet with generic content, consumers are growing skeptical of corporate voices. This is accelerating a shift in trust from faceless brands to authentic individuals and creators. B2B marketing must adapt by building strategies around these human-led channels, which now often outperform traditional brand-led marketing.

The nature of marketing has shifted from promoting a faceless corporation to showcasing an authentic founder personality. Companies without an interesting character at the helm are at a disadvantage. This requires leaders to be public figures, as their personal brand, story, and voice are now integral to the company's identity and success.

As audiences push back against AI-generated and overly polished stock imagery, featuring real people in authentic situations will be critical for engagement. Showcasing your team, customers, or volunteers in natural settings—not on a green screen—builds trust and connection, making genuine humanity the key to cutting through the noise.