The Year We Got Sick of Perfect

I feel like it’s everywhere right now. Online, in meetings, in the ads between YouTube videos. Everyone's "authentic." Every brand is "disrupting." Everything is perfectly lit and aggressively performative.

And honestly? I’m over it.

The stuff that’s resonating in 2025 is unfiltered, messy, and deeply human. People don’t want perfection anymore. They want proof there’s a real person behind the screen.

What’s Actually Working

The game has shifted. That mid-tier review with weird punctuation and a little too much backstory? It’ll convince you to buy something faster than a wall of corporate-approved five-star reviews.

Because real > perfect.

I’ve seen it with my clients. When they stop chasing polished messaging and start sharing what’s really happening—the failed launches, the weird pivots, the behind-the-scenes chaos—people lean in. Engagement goes up. Loyalty goes deeper.

You’re Not a Brand. You’re a Person Next to a Brand.

The past year has flooded us with AI content and influencer overexposure. Everyone's exhausted. The cultural pendulum has swung back hard toward actual people with actual stories. And if you’re not tired, you’re not paying attention.

Your audience doesn’t want a highlight reel. They want the learning curve. The version where you thought it would crush and… it didn’t. The story where you figured it out midway through the campaign.

When you say, "Here's where we blew it—and what we learned," that lands harder than, "Look how smart we are."

Friction = Trust

Here's what most content misses: the tension.

Great stories aren't clean. They're messy. They build trust because they show what it costs to do something real.

If you’re building in public, take people behind the curtain. Share the weird idea that never launched. Post the customer email that made you rethink your offer. Let people in on the process.

Friction catches the eye. Honesty keeps it.
In my own life, when things are going awry, I start using the word “Adventure” it really unlocks my expectations. If I’m getting too bogged down in my circumstances not meeting my expectations, instead of continuing to white knuckle life - I try to remember, “This is an adventure, Dan” and it totally rewires my brain. Because things go wrong on adventures, you never know what’s around the corner. And when something happen, it’s no ones fault - it’s part of the story.

The Giggling Hour Is Real

After years of anxiety scrolls, people want relief. Playfulness is back. Joy is trending. Thank God.

The stuff that gets shared right now isn’t the most polished—it’s the most relatable. Outtakes. Bloopers. “We made this and we’re not sure why it works.” If you need an example, go no further than Ryan Reynolds off beat advertising company, MNTN.

There’s power in the looseness.

So What Do You Do With This?

• Post the draft, not the final.

• Say what didn’t work, not just what did.

• Share your voice, not the “brand voice.”

• Skip the performative stuff. Say something true.

Let go of perfect. Let it be messy. That’s where the connection lives.

If you’re figuring out how to tell your story better, I can help. Check out our resources here.

More soon,