The real risk when adding sustainability into a brand narrative isn’t saying too much or too little. It’s failing to connect—emotionally. Failing to enable people to feel why the work matters and how to participate in it.
NEW THINKING
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Anne Bahr Thompson, Author at Branding Strategy Insider
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.
Recently, someone asked me: What is your theory of change? This question has stayed with me. Not because I didn’t have an answer—intuitively, I knew—but rather because I have never quite explicitly articulated the thread that weaves the different strands of my work—brand strategy, leadership, trust, and purpose.
I’ve been reading about soft power a lot lately. Soft power…. It’s a term we typically associate with nations—with their ability to influence, attract and persuade without coercion. There’s no doubt that soft power hinges on culture, values and diplomacy—forces that shape trust not through control, but through resonance.
As the new US administration takes its place in the White House, poised to shape the future of geopolitics and commerce, brand leaders are confronting a stark reality: trust continues to fray. Polarization, misinformation, and a sense of betrayal permeate public discourse. Institutions once seen as pillars of stability are now viewed with suspicion.