In this op-ed, Emelie Jessika Lundberg, general manager at Bread Agency, argues that in today’s crowded marketplace, product quality alone is no longer enough to win customers. She explores why brand perception has become the true competitive advantage, how the pursuit of “authenticity” has lost its impact, and why marketers should instead focus on building brands that consistently align their words with their actions.
Dunkin’ hasn’t changed its coffee.
Yet in 2025, the 75-year-old brand saw a four per cent increase in preference in just six months, translating to 4 million more adults actively choosing Dunkin’ over competitors.
What changed wasn’t the product. It was how people felt about the brand.
Your product still needs to be good. But it’s not enough anymore. When everyone’s coffee tastes fine and everyone has access to the same resources, perception is what separates you. Not features or price points, but how people feel about your brand.
In this world, being interesting can beat being the best.
The great flattening
The shift is inevitable because the operational layer of business has been completely flattened.
Everyone has access to the same platforms, data, supply chains, and software. The tangible advantages that once separated brands have become baseline expectations. Distribution and manufacturing efficiency matter, but they won’t differentiate you anymore. Product quality still matters, but the gap between good and great has narrowed enough that operational excellence alone won’t win customer preference.
When everyone’s working with the same tools, the advantage lies in how you understand culture and express that through everything you make.
Look at the brands that are being talked about right now. Who Gives A Crap sells toilet paper, while Gentle Monster sells glasses.
These aren’t revolutionary products. What makes them work is that the business itself has become the creative idea.
Every part of the brand reinforces who they are.
The authenticity trap
For the past decade, brands have been chasing authenticity. Show the behind-the-scenes. Be vulnerable. Keep it real.
But authenticity has become its own performance.
When every brand is being “authentic” in exactly the same way, using the same aesthetic, posting the same style of content, it stops feeling genuine and starts feeling like another marketing tactic.
Audiences are exhausted. Only just over a third of consumers believe influencer endorsements are credible anymore, down from over half of those questioned the previous year.
What’s replacing authenticity? Alignment.
Alignment means your brand behaves the same way it speaks. Your story, your decisions, and your customer experience reinforce each other so consistently that audiences never have to question whether they can trust you.
Being aligned isn’t about being raw or vulnerable. It’s about being consistent.
Patagonia doesn’t post tearful confessionals about the struggles of running a sustainable business.
They just consistently make decisions that align with their stated values, even when those decisions cost them money or customers. That consistency builds trust in a way performative authenticity never could.
What this means for marketers
If perception drives preference as much as product quality does, then marketing becomes the competitive advantage. This is where you win. Marketing isn’t just promoting the product anymore. It’s what makes the product matter.
Your social media strategy isn’t supporting your business; it is your business strategy. How you show up culturally isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s how you create value and differentiation.
You can’t optimise your way to cultural relevance. You need editorial thinking and the confidence to have a point of view, even if it alienates some people while resonating deeply with others.
The easy gains are gone. What separates brands now is how well they read culture, how clearly they articulate what they stand for, and how consistently they express that across everything they do.
Your product still needs to work. But working isn’t enough anymore. In a world where everyone’s coffee tastes fine, customers are choosing based on how your brand makes them feel and what it says about them when they choose you.
Where to start?
Look for the mismatches.
Does what you publish match how you act? Does your team experience reflect what you promise customers? Do your metrics reward alignment or just attention?
Then track how often your audience repeats your language back to you.
In comments, reviews, and sales calls. When people start using your words to describe what you do, that’s when you know the perception is landing.
Your product is good enough. What you do with that reality is what matters now.
