The Human Behind the Brand: Authenticity and the Skills Shaping the Future of Comms in an age of AI

Insights From Sam Bleazard, Employer Branding Lead at Fortnum & Mason 

Making heritage relevant

Fortnum & Mason has been part of London life for more than 300 years, predating the Industrial Revolution. But, as Sam explained, heritage alone does not guarantee relevance.

The challenge is not to treat a heritage brand with so much reverence that it becomes distant or untouchable. Instead, communicators need to find ways to make that heritage relevant to today's audiences and different generations.

For Sam, the answer was to humanise the brand.

When he joined Fortnum & Mason, he saw an opportunity to take audiences behind the doors of the iconic Piccadilly store and reveal the people, experiences and stories that existed beneath the surface.

That meant looking for the stories that weren't already being told.

One example was the diversity of Fortnum & Mason's workforce. With around 1,000 core employees representing approximately 60 different nationalities, there was a compelling story sitting within the organisation that wasn't necessarily visible externally.

Finding and amplifying those stories helped create a more accessible and authentic picture of the organisation — one that went beyond its products, heritage and iconic status.

The employee experience is the employer brand

For Sam, storytelling isn't simply about producing attractive content. It is fundamentally about reflecting the genuine experience of working for an organisation.

That has become increasingly important as employee expectations change.

Younger generations, in particular, cannot necessarily be relied upon to stay loyal to an employer simply because of its brand recognition. Organisations need to work harder to demonstrate what life inside the organisation is actually like.

This is particularly relevant in sectors such as hospitality, where employee turnover can be high.

The answer is authenticity: showing the organisation from the inside out rather than creating an idealised version of it.

Trust makes authenticity essential

The need for authentic storytelling becomes even more important at a time when trust in many traditional institutions is declining.

As Sam observed, organisations can increasingly become an important source of trust for employees — through their colleagues, managers and leaders.

But that trust can easily be damaged if communication feels manufactured or disconnected from reality.

And this is where AI presents an interesting tension.

AI can generate convincing content. It can replicate voices, create images and produce stories tailored to what an audience might supposedly want to hear.

But convincing is not the same as authentic.

The more technology develops, the more important genuine human experiences become.

Employees are not simply looking for polished content. They are looking for moments of humanity.

AI is a tool, not a replacement for creativity

Rather than viewing AI purely as a threat, Sam sees significant opportunities for communicators.

AI can help brainstorm ideas, process large volumes of content and summarise information. It can be a powerful editing and productivity tool.

But communicators should not switch off their creative instincts.

The distinct voice of an organisation — and the ability to recognise what makes its people and culture unique — remains a human strength.

As Sam put it, every organisation has its own “X factor” or “special sauce”. The challenge is finding it.

At Fortnum & Mason, that X factor isn't simply beautiful products, delicious food or a famous heritage. Those things can become soulless without the human stories behind them: colleagues going above and beyond, exceptional customer service and genuine moments of human connection.

The same principle applies regardless of sector.

Whether you're communicating for a retailer, law firm, financial organisation or technology organisation, human endeavour is what cuts through the noise.

The skills communicators need for the future

So, what does this mean for the future of communications?

For Sam, several skills will become increasingly important.

Resilience

Communicators need to continually demonstrate their value and prove their contribution to organisational goals. In an environment where leaders are under constant pressure to make or save money, communication teams need to show how they contribute to reputation, engagement and business outcomes.

Editorial judgement

When organisations are producing more content than ever, the challenge isn't necessarily creating more. It is knowing what matters.

Communicators need to become sophisticated editors and curators, identifying the stories that deserve attention and presenting them in ways people can actually absorb.

Data and insight

Data is increasingly important, but collecting data isn't enough.

Communicators need to understand the story behind the numbers, uncover the insight and translate it into something simple, clear and meaningful.

Journalistic curiosity

Perhaps most importantly, communicators need to get out from behind their desks.

Authentic stories rarely emerge from assumptions or spreadsheets. They come from talking to people, observing what is happening across the organisation and asking better questions.

Sam described this as developing a kind of journalistic hunger — approaching the organisation with curiosity and a desire to discover the stories that haven't yet been told.

Look for the story underneath the story

One of the strongest examples from Sam's experience came from a campaign called “What's in a Name?”

On the surface, the campaign was about encouraging colleagues to be more respectful of names that might be unfamiliar or difficult to pronounce.

But when Sam began interviewing employees, the story became something much deeper.

People spoke about how their names represented family, faith, history and identity. One colleague described their family name being incorporated into a centuries-old church in France. Another spoke about family lineage.

And one colleague, who had moved from China to London, shared that they had changed their name to a Westernised version because they had felt embarrassed and uncomfortable when colleagues struggled to pronounce their original name.

What began as a campaign about pronunciation became a much more powerful story about identity, belonging and the experiences people bring with them into the workplace.

That is the value of looking beneath the obvious headline.

Finding the human story

The future of communications may be increasingly shaped by AI, but that doesn't make human storytelling less important. If anything, it makes it more valuable.

When audiences are surrounded by content that can be generated, personalised and replicated at speed, genuine human experiences can become the thing that makes communication stand out.

The role of the communicator is therefore not simply to create more content.

It is to find the truth inside the organisation, understand the people behind it and tell the stories that make others care.

As AI becomes better at editing, generating and repackaging information, the organisations that stand out will be those that know what makes them genuinely human — and have the curiosity to uncover and share those stories.

Because behind every brand, every strategy and every organisation, there are people.

And those people are often the most powerful story you have.

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