Authenticity. It’s a word we continue to hear and see everywhere. And yet, so often, it rings hollow.
Over the past few years, authenticity has become one of the most overused words in brand leadership—and thereby, perhaps, one of the most misunderstood. I hear many brand leaders, marketers, and communications teams speak about authenticity as if it’s a tone of voice, a transparency policy, and even a creative brief.
By definition, though, authenticity isn’t about optics. It’s not a look, a slogan or a brand story—though narratives certainly help us feel it.
Authenticity is coherence. It’s a felt alignment between what we say, what we do and who we are.
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In recent weeks, across gatherings, conferences and client discussions, one theme has come into sharper focus for me: sincerity is becoming the new currency of brand trust. Not by trend—rather by necessity.
Consumers—especially Gen Zers—aren’t simply skeptical of, or even cynical about, brand claims. They’re carefully watching how brands behave. And asking: Does this brand actually believe what it claims? Does it stand for something beyond its quarterly targets? Is it consistent—or simply convenient?
And marketers, in turn, are facing the limits of what communication alone can do.
The old model told us that alignment was consistency across touchpoints. Yet the feeling of coherence runs deeper. It’s about more than ensuring the same message is everywhere. It’s a guarantee that a message reflects something real.
And this is where purpose work sometimes falters.
Not because the purpose itself is flawed, but rather because it isn’t truly embedded. It hasn’t informed day-to-day decision-making. It hasn’t been operationalized across the brand’s ecosystem, in systems, in structures, and across relationships.
When a gap opens between a stated purpose and lived experience, people sense the dissonance. Fatigue sets in. Trust begins to erode.
In my book Do Good, I explored how brands like Mrs. Meyer’s SC Johnson Lifestyle Brands and Burt’s Bees have evolved without losing resonance—because their stories have always grounded in something true. Not perfect, but practiced. Brand truths expressed through behavior.
And that’s the real test today: Are we building brands that sound aligned—or brands that live in coherence?
Because people can sense when you’re speaking from the heart—and they can tell just as quickly when you’re not.
Today, as so many of us seek anchors to ground us amidst the uncertainty, coherence is a leadership imperative.
It asks brands to go deeper—and sometimes, to hold a mirror up to the business:
- Are we prioritizing short-term optics over long-term trust?
- Are our values informing action—or simply being retrofitted into messaging?
- Are we designing experiences and operations that feel as honest as our voice sounds?
The challenge isn’t to look authentic.
It’s to be coherent.
To lead, to market, and to build in alignment with what you say you stand for.
Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Anne Bahr Thompson, Author Do Good, Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit.
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