A LinkedIn video crossed my feed last week—a montage of marketers from some conference identifying the buzzwords they would like to see retired in 2025. Most of them said “authenticity.” The comments section erupted in agreement as marketers collectively sighed at the word’s chronic overuse.
I understand the fatigue. The term has been stretched so thin, it’s practically transparent.
Most attempts at authenticity are painfully staged. That social media manager posting “candid” office photos likely took 37 shots to get one that looked spontaneous. The “honest thoughts” shared by a CEO on LinkedIn were probably workshopped by the entire C-suite (and ChatGPT was likely involved along the way).
In their relentless pursuit of authenticity—the one quality that genuinely resonates with consumers in an oversaturated marketplace—companies often construct an artifice that immediately signals to customers they’re being sold to, rather than connected with. However, some brands manage to rise above this paradox to cultivate genuine relationships that feel refreshingly human amid all this marketing noise.
Consider businesses that have recently been transparent about increased prices. When companies explain rising costs honestly and cite specific reasons—increasingly scarce raw materials, higher labor costs, weather- or climate-related developments, or government tariffs—customers often respond positively, even offering support to help keep the businesses open. Meanwhile, giant corporations often spend millions trying to manufacture this same feeling and fail spectacularly.
The problem can be located in the language we use to describe all of this. Most attempts at authenticity are painfully staged. When businesses chase authenticity, they usually fail to manufacture this feeling.
A question rarely asked is: “How do we remove whatever is making us inauthentic?”
When you flip the entire concept, you identify and strip away what’s preventing authenticity from showing through naturally. For some companies, that might mean the corporate approval processes that sand down every edge, the legal departments that neuter every potentially meaningful statement, the brand guidelines that conform to an unnatural voice, or the quarterly goals that prioritize short-term metrics over long-term trust.
Authenticity isn’t a painting where fresh layers can cover previously failed attempts until something looks right. It’s sculpture—Michelangelo chipping away stone to reveal the figure inside. What’s left isn’t “strategic authenticity.” It’s your company standing naked before your audience.
If smaller companies often seem more authentic, it might be because they don’t have layers of infrastructure that systematically filter out the humanity in their communication, though industries face different challenges with this, of course. Massive tech corporations struggle to balance their “move fast and break things” culture with admitting when they’ve moved too fast and broken too much. Financial services must dance around various regulations, which can make their communication attempts as stiff as their recently pressed suits. Healthcare organizations have a great need for authentic patient stories, but must address that need within the context of HIPAA and other privacy laws.
Even still, some measure of authenticity is always possible if you share what you can. Simply being human about these boundaries builds more trust than pretending constraints don’t exist or faking authenticity to mask real limitations.
If you can do that, customers will connect with you on a level that no amount of “authentic-looking” content can ever achieve—because authenticity is what remains when you stop getting in your own way.
Ready to start creating genuine customer connections? Contact us today to explore how Rare Bird can help transform your customer relationships.
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