News and Insights
Can Brands Still Be Authorities In A World Of Democratized Expertise?
June 1, 2026
When it comes to consumer brands sharing expertise and standing as a source of truth, the fight for authority has shifted from the “few” to the “many.” Brands are operating in a landscape where authority has become highly fragmented and harder than ever to establish. However, this shift does not make its pursuit less valuable for brands. You can argue it makes it more essential.
For those brands willing to invest in the long game of trust-building, authority remains a competitive advantage.
Expertise Has Been Democratized
If you stop to think about it, we’re surrounded by “expertise.”
Podcasts, blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Medium, Reddit, and other platforms have become stages for countless credentialed experts, influencers, authors, professors, media personalities, entrepreneurs, reviewers, and anyone else seeking to share their perspective, establish a following, and shape their authority.
For example, a brand working to establish its authority as a leader in the consumer wellness space faces competition from: fitness instructors, celebrity personal trainers, healthy eating bloggers, founders of emerging wellness brands, nutritionists, registered dietitians, holistic health coaches, wellness coaches, mental health counselors, yoga instructors, sleep specialists, functional doctors, and medical spa owners, to name just a few. This, of course, doesn’t include competitive brands in the category vying for their own share of authority.
From Product Makers to Cultural Guides
If we look back over the past century, it’s interesting to reflect on the evolution of consumer brands from their start as manufacturers of products to becoming trusted authorities that shape how people shop, travel, dine, manage their homes, raise their kids, and so much more.
Advances in media, marketing, and technology transformed countless brands into cultural guides that people looked to not only for products, but also for expertise, inspiration, and reassurance. Brands became sources of information and authority in our everyday lives.
Today, people still expect brands to provide education, advocacy, and leadership on issues ranging from sustainability to health and innovation, but our view of brands as de facto authorities has certainly changed.
The Erosion of Brand Authority
While it’s interesting to study the rise of brands as trusted authorities, it’s equally compelling to examine how that authority has eroded – particularly over the last decade.
We’ve seen the decline of consumer brands as undisputed sources of information, values, and quality. The explosion of technology-driven access to information (which is oftentimes intentionally distorted), the erosion of brand loyalty, and diminished trust in institutions, including corporations, are among a long list of factors that have accelerated this development.
We’re operating at a time of increased skepticism about what’s real and what isn’t, when disinformation campaigns make it hard for people to know who to believe, and when audiences are inundated with messages from hundreds of different brands on a daily basis.
It’s challenging for any brand to break through and establish itself as an authority.
Defining Authority
It’s difficult to answer the question of whether a brand can still be an authority without defining what it means.
Authority isn’t about who speaks the loudest; it’s about who gets believed. For a brand, that means earning the right to shape how people think, decide, and act in a given space. It’s built slowly, through genuine expertise, consistent follow-through, and a willingness to be useful even when there’s nothing in it for you.
Getting Back to the Question
So, can brands still be authorities in the age of democratized expertise? And is it still valuable for brands to fight for this recognition? From my perspective, the short answer is yes to both, but the answer ultimately depends on the brand and the category.
For example, any consumer brand that operates through a “how you do” or “help you do” business model is well-positioned to be an authority. Specialty retailers are the best example of this. On the other hand, fashion is a challenging category in which to establish authority. Why? Because authority in fashion has largely shifted from brands to creators, celebrities, and online communities
Making A Self-Assessment
As brands work to assess whether they can maintain their position as an authority or fight to be seen as one, they need to ask a series of questions to make that determination. Here are a few examples:
- How do we define what it means to be an authority in our category? How will we know when we get there?
- What is our authority as a brand based on (heritage, innovation, cultural relevance)?
- What unique expertise do we genuinely have that customers can’t easily get elsewhere?
- What original data, research, or insights can we share that support our unique expertise?
- What topic or category can we authentically “own” in the minds of the audiences we’re trying to reach, and who else is fighting to own it?
- Are there any psychological hurdles between our brand and our audience that harm our position as an authority?
- Do we have the tools and expertise to understand how groups or “bad actors” could be working to undermine or sabotage our authority?
- Are we educating people in a way that is useful even when it doesn’t directly drive a sale?
- Do our employees and frontline teams reinforce our authority through customer interactions?
- How would we track and measure the “authority” of our brand? Are we willing to invest the resources it takes to understand its impact on our business?
While these questions are just a sample of what brands need to explore, a meaningful self-assessment requires auditing both your capability to lead and your genuine commitment to do so.
The question isn’t whether brand authority still exists. It’s whether your brand is willing to do what it takes to earn it.
POSTED BY: Kyle Farnham
