Authenticity is more important today than ever. The digital revolution has changed us. Though younger generations never knew any different, it’s changed the way we interact with brands, changed what we expect. In today’s era of "fake news," no one has more urgency to live and connect authentically than media and entertainment brands. So while today’s consumers have media distrust seared into their DNA, they’re still hoping, still looking for the voice that will speak to them, that will help them find their way.

And now, they’re looking for those voices to come from the brands they use.

"Life is much more complicated and simpler than it seems," says Graceann Bennett, chief solutions officer of Dow Jones. "I think the simple part is that we're talking to human beings." The complicated part is that most brands are trying to talk to millions of human beings at once. Technology has convinced us that brands can and should speak to us one-to-one because the technology — like machine learning and automation — exists to make such conversations possible.

But talking to a million customers and talking honestly and authentically with a million human beings aren’t the same thing.

For today’s consumer, authenticity means being both personal and intimately tied to purpose. More and more, people want brands who stand for something, and the way they talk about what they stand for matters. If they don’t speak to our emotions as much as they speak to our logic, they sound fake, out of touch. Finding the balance between the intellectual power of technology and the passion of the human heart is the key. And it all comes down to storytelling.

When we engage with brands, the way they tell stories to us individually is just as important as the stories they choose to tell.

In many ways, technology isolates us, it pulls us apart. And yet it can also bring us together. Through social media and other innovations, It makes it possible for us to find people who see the world like we do, people who may live on the other side of the world, who we would never have met otherwise. The stories we tell help us find community, a place where we find purpose, identity, and belonging. And we expect our favorite brands to do the same. We yearn to be treated as partners, not passive consumers. We want a seat at the table and the chance to take part in the story. But this goes far beyond social media. When companies live their brand and invite us to join them, they empower us to be a part of something bigger.

The authentic brand understands this and makes it possible.

It's a new world. Technology has changed both our expectations as consumers and our ability as brands to deliver on those expectations. But change never stops and this new world is still evolving, still pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, of what we should and can expect. And as always, that change is driving — and being driven by — technological innovation, whether that’s the ability to handle massive amounts of data, machine learning, or virtual reality. But authenticity doesn’t come from technology. "It's not about technology," Karthic Bala of Condé Nast says. "It's not about changing landscapes. Ultimately, you have a customer. It's about customer focus."

So the technology that’s emerging now — and the technology that's still to come — must help brands find and focus on the customer.