10 learnings from MADfest: stop writing 'be authentic' into your creator briefs

3. A creator doesn't need all five to read as authentic

One genuine strength offsets a gap elsewhere. A creator with deep expertise can get away with a smaller audience bond, and vice versa. That's why who you cast matters far more than how tightly you brief.

4. Sincerity is not the same as credibility

Sincerity makes people listen. Credibility makes them act. A warm, likeable creator promoting a product outside their lane gets trusted as a person, not as a source, so the content is liked but not actioned. The posts that convert come from a genuine voice backed by real experience in the category.

5. Authenticity is decided at casting, not in the brief

This is the whole point. Casting, product fit and creative freedom are the only things that add the five properties. If you get the casting right, you don't have to ask for authenticity. If you get it wrong, no brief line will save it.

6. What a creator posts unpaid tells you more than their media kit

Run a keyword check across their organic content, including political and values-led posts, and review their brand collaboration history. Are the partnerships well matched, or does the feed read like a rolling ad break? Real alignment shows up in what they do when no one's paying them.

7. Read the comments, not just the engagement rate

Engagement rate is a useful community signal, but comment sentiment is where you see whether the trust is real. Look for genuine questions and shared experiences, not bots and emoji. The dashboard can't tell you that.

8. The shorter the brief, the more authentic the result

The longer and more prescriptive the brief, the more you strip out the voice you hired the creator for. Give the non-negotiables — disclosure, claims you can't make, the core message — and then stop.

9. Never send a script

A word-for-word script guarantees the stiff, read-off-the-card delivery audiences discount on sight. Hand over the message, not the sentences, and trust creators to know what performs with their own audience.

10. Disclose plainly, and mind the saturation ceiling

Don't soften or bury the ad label. 80.1% of UK consumers want creators to state clearly when content is advertising (source: GWI / ONIM, 2025), and the ASA requires it anyway. One caveat the talk was honest about: even a perfect, well-cast, fully disclosed post can get discounted when a category is flooded with sponsored content. Briefing for credibility fixes the creator relationship. It can't fix channel-level saturation on its own.

The numbers behind the argument

• 78.1% of UK consumers watch creator content because it feels authentic.
• 68.7% watch because the content aligns with their values.
• 41.4% stop following an account when there's too much sponsored content.
• 29.3% unfollow when recommendations feel untrustworthy.

Source: GWI / ONIM consumer data, 2025.

FAQ

Why shouldn't you tell a creator to "be authentic"?

Because it asks them to perform sincerity on command, which is exactly what audiences have learned to spot. The instruction can't add expertise, an audience bond or genuine passion. Those come from who the creator is, set at casting rather than in the brief.

What should you write in a creator brief instead? 

Give the non-negotiables — disclosure requirements, claims to avoid, the core message — then get out of the way. Keep it short, skip the script and leave room for the creator's own voice.

How do you find authentic creators?

Look past follower count. Check what they post organically, review their collaboration history, use engagement rate as a community signal and read comment sentiment. An honest check on whether their values match yours matters too.

Does authenticity affect performance? 

The audience data says yes. Content that feels authentic earns attention, while too much obvious sponsorship and untrustworthy recommendations drive people to unfollow.

Want the data behind this?

The budget, ROI and audience benchmarks referenced in the talk come from Kolsquare's State of Influencer Marketing report. Kolsquare gives brands access to the data that makes better casting possible: organic content, past collaborations, engagement and comment sentiment, all in one place. Download the report or book a demo.