Brand authenticity in the age of AI
When anything can be faked, authenticity is worth more. Calvin Ross Carl on why the payoff is growing, and why getting there takes conviction.
Summary
Calvin Ross Carl calls authenticity the ultimate metric, especially as the world becomes so fake. For the last 20 years of millennial branding, the trick was to invest a generic consumer good with deep meaning. Now that anything can be fake and seem real, he expects an even bigger payoff for going hardcore authentic, and more difficulty getting there. It takes conviction, and conviction means rejecting something.
Highlights
- Authenticity is still the ultimate metric.
- When anything can seem real, real is worth more.
- Conviction requires rejecting something.
Key insights
The old authenticity playbook is wearing out
Wrapping a generic product in meaning worked for two decades. In a world of convincing fakes, it’s harder to pull off and easier to see through.
Authenticity comes from what you refuse
Conviction shows up in the shortcuts a brand won’t take, not just the values it claims.
Detailed analysis
AI makes it cheap to look real. That raises the value of brands that actually are, and it raises the bar for proving it. The brands that win will be the ones willing to reject what’s easy or fake.
Conclusion
As the world gets faker, authenticity pays more. Earning it takes conviction.
Authenticity thankfully still feels like the ultimate metric, especially as the world is becoming so fake. Oh man, I’m so curious about how our takes on authenticity and brand are going to change over the next 10 or 20 years, or honestly maybe the next few years.
During the millennial branding period of the last 20, 25 years, authenticity was such a thing. It was like: take a generic consumer good, invest in it on a deep spiritual level, and make it more authentic. That was the trick for the last 20 years, and it worked pretty well for a lot of brands.
But now that we’re going into a world where anything could be fake and seem real, I think we’re going to get an even bigger payoff for going hardcore authentic. But I think it’s going to be even more difficult for brands to do it and not lean into things that are fake. It takes that conviction. You have to reject something in order to have conviction.