The Next Decade of Marketing Will Be Won on One Thing: Trust!

AI is reshaping everything around us, but trust has not caught up yet, and what we see today is only the beginning of a much deeper trust crisis in marketing.

76% of consumers agree that it is getting to the point where they cannot tell if an image is real (according to Getty’s global research). That single number is already rewriting the rules of marketing.

Everyone who knows me knows I have always been deep into technology. My poor handwriting proves it, I have lived on keyboards my entire life. And I genuinely believe AI is one of the MOST empowering creative leaps we have ever experienced. It expands what individuals and brands can do at a scale and speed we could not touch a few years ago.

Early this morning, on a flight full of business travellers polishing their decks before landing, I noticed that almost every second laptop screen was filled with slides about AI strategies, AI engines, AI transformation. Everyone is racing to unlock the potential of AI.

But something else is rising just as fast, a crisis of trust and perception, driven NOT by the limits of AI, but by its INCREDIBLE capabilities.

Consumers are rapidly losing confidence in what they see, and that is where the real challenge begins.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• 98% of consumers say authentic images and videos are critical for trust, according to Getty research.

• 71% of people across the US and Europe worry they will not be able to trust what they see or hear because of AI, according to the Quirk’s Global Consumer Trust Study.

We have crossed a line where people are not only questioning brand messages. They are questioning their own senses. That changes the entire dynamic of storytelling and communication, which means that trust is becoming the most valuable brand currency.

Reach helps. Relevance helps. Creativity helps. But none of it matters if people do not trust what they are seeing.

AI is NOT the problem. In many ways, it is the greatest unlock of our generation. It gives creators more power, it gives brands more possibilities, and it gives people tools that were once reserved for a very small group of experts.

But as AI grows in capability, the value of human truth grows even faster.

The brands that will win are NOT the ones producing the most AI content. They are the ones creating CLARITY, CONTEXT and TRANSPARENCY, so people understand what is real and what is not. They are the ones who protect trust as their core asset.

Because in a world where anything can be generated, the rarest and most valuable currency becomes something technology cannot fabricate. Trust. And the brands that earn it will define the next decade of marketing.