It’s Time to Take the Mask Off

Why your brand should be so much more…

Let’s be honest, sometimes when you are scrolling through social media feeds, it is the photo of a team mid-laugh or a behind-the-scenes look at the actual reality of running a business that catches the eye more.

You stop. You read. You might even comment.

Why? Because in 2026, we are absolutely starved for realism. And with the growth of Ai, that is only going to increase.

I’m Gordon (hello if we have never met before), and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in over 16 years of running Lundie Media, it’s that marketing isn’t a “thing” you do on a Tuesday morning. It isn’t just a brochure or a Facebook ad. Marketing is your entire brand, your specific voice, and, most importantly, your authenticity.

If you’re stuck in the “sell, sell, sell” mindset, I’ve got some tough love for you: you’re shouting into a vacuum (which, thanks to marketing, I still call a hoover).

The Death of the “Sales Pitch”

We see it every day. Clients want to “hard sell” and it sinks like a stone. Then, we post a 10-second clip of their team actually working on a job, interacting etc and the engagement goes through the roof.

The reason is simple: Consumers buy with their gut, not just their wallets.

We’ve become hyper-aware of being “sold” to. We can smell a scripted sales pitch from a mile away, and our brains have developed a natural filter to block it out. But we haven’t lost our appetite for connection. When you show the “real” side of your company, you aren’t just filling a content calendar; you’re building a bridge of trust.

Marketing is the sum total of every interaction a person has with your business. It’s how you answer the phone, how you handle a complaint, and how honest you are when things aren’t perfect. If your social media says “Premium & Polished” but your reality is “Stressed & Scripted,” people feel that disconnect. It’s a “gut” thing.

Your Voice is Your Value

Think about your favorite brands. Do you love them because of their logo? Probably not. You love them because of how they speak to you.

Your brand voice shouldn’t sound like a generic template. It should sound like you. If you’re a straight-talking, no-nonsense person, why is your marketing written in corporate jargon? If your company culture is fun and irreverent, why are your emails sounding like a legal disclaimer?

When we talk about “realism” in marketing, we’re talking about humanity. In a world where AI can churn out a thousand perfect blog posts in seconds, the only thing that actually stands out is the human touch and the unique perspectives that a machine can’t replicate.

Strategy vs. Reality

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should just post random photos of your lunch and hope for the best. That’s not a strategy; that’s a diary.

The “sweet spot” is a balance. You need a marketing strategy that mixes the high-level “what we do” (your expertise, your products, your results) with the “what’s going on” (your people, your process, your day-to-day).

The “What We Do”: Establishes your authority. It shows you know your stuff and can solve a problem.
The “What’s Going On”: Establishes your relatability. It shows you’re a real group of people who care.

If you have 100% of the former, you’re a cold machine. If you have 100% of the latter, you’re a hobbyist. You need both to grow.

What Does Your Brand Say Right Now?

I want you to do something. Go to your business’s Instagram, LinkedIn, or website. Close your eyes, scroll for five seconds, and stop. Look at the first thing you see.

Does it sound like your business? Would you actually stop and read it if you didn’t work there?

If the answer is “no,” or even “I’m not sure,” then your brand is likely losing its voice in the noise. You’re probably working twice as hard for half the results because you’re fighting against the consumer’s natural instinct to ignore “ads.”

The Brand Audit

This is where we come in. We don’t just design “pretty things.” We look at the logic of your growth. We conduct a deep-dive Brand Audit to understand exactly where your message is landing and where it’s falling flat.

We look at:

Strength: Where is your voice actually resonating?
Weakness: Where are you sounding like everyone else?
Consistency: Is the “you” on social media the same “you” that delivers the service?
The Sales Funnel: How do we take that “gut feeling” a customer gets from a genuine post and turn it into a lead?

Marketing isn’t a series of one-off tasks. It’s a package. When your brand, your voice, and your realism are all pulling in the same direction, growth doesn’t feel like a struggle, it feels like a conversation and over time, that leads to more brand recognition, loyalty and ultimately, sales.

Start Growing.

If you’re tired of the “sell, sell, sell” approach and you want to start building a brand that people actually want to follow, let’s chat. We’re based in Glasgow, we love a good coffee and chit chat and we’re focussed on seeing our clients scale by being exactly who they are.