Branding Leaders Discuss Why Companies Need Courage and Consistency

Authenticity and consistency in brand marketing allow for companies to not just be created but to be sustained with longevity, said Dara Treseder, the chief marketing officer at Autodesk. Courage, she said, is essential to build trust with consumers. “Having the courage to not only have purpose and value as a brand … but that stick-to-it-ness regardless of what comes your way—I think that is one of the things that helps you deepen that emotional connection with your customers and allows you to stand the test of time,” said Treseder, whose company Autodesk creates software for a variety of industries, from entertainment to infrastructure to design. She provided sustainability as an example of a value that Autodesk has been committed to prioritizing for years.  Treseder’s comments came during a conversation with two other innovators and experts on consumer behavior and marketing at a TIME100 Talks event in New York City on Nov. 18, 2025. Treseder was joined by Katy Milkman, professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania; and Nuno Leal, EY Studio+ America Marketing Practice Leader at consulting firm Ernst & Young LLP (EY); on a panel moderated by TIME executive editor Nikhil Kumar. Treseder went on to say that authenticity is just as important as commitment in order to keep trust with customers. “Authenticity is consistency,” she said. “Consistency between what you say, what you believe, and ultimately what you do. And when those three things are in harmony … that is ultimately how you earn trust.”  Milkman, who studies behavioral economics, said that statistics support Treseder’s statements that consumers value consistency in brands, especially when it’s paired with a powerful and empathetic stories that people can resonate with. “It’s critical both to have narratives and people who we can see in the narratives,” Milkman added. “When [consumers] have a story that they can associate with this company, they can see it has helped people and how it’s helped people, that is much more powerful as a way of keeping them happy.” Treseder noted that authenticity has placed a lot of responsibility on brands like Autodesk in a changing world. She pointed to Edelman’s 2025 Brand Trust report, released in June, which found that trust in brands has “soared” in recent years: 80% of people reported trusting brands they use, a larger percentage than trust in traditional institutions like, media, government, and their employers. The panelists also emphasized that artificial intelligence will change the way we interact with everything, and they said brands are going to have to step up to the plate. That desire for consistency, Leal saidsays, should not prevent brands from taking risks out of fear of making mistakes. If companies are too scared to take marketing risks, they are “avoiding taking the next step.” Leal provided the example of when he was talking about AI to a major company’s head of brand, and the executive immediately recoiled.  “If your first reaction is not taking any risk and not taking any step, I think what will end up happening is that 80% of your brand will just be vanilla,” Leal said. “In my opinion, that’s one of the biggest risks: not risking anything.” The panelists agreed, however, that some companies are relying too much on AI and new technologies in a vacuum. Instead, they said, companies should use AI to help bolster their own human creativity and authenticity. “There’s some research showing that when either customers or entrepreneurs rely on AI in a vacuum, it can actually lead them to make worse decisions than if they had a mentor or a coach or a human in the loop, but when people rely on AI and have an AI coach as well as a mentor, that’s when you really see tremendous benefits,” Milkman said. “Think about how to make this experience and this shift more social, so that we’re not just relying on these tools in isolation, but they’re helping us in a community together.” The panel ended with the three panelists predicting how brands and marketing might change in five years. AI, they said, will not overtake the role that brand has in culture, if companies play their cards right. “I think you actually have to elevate brands in your organization,” Leal said, “and keep it insulated enough so it’s still coming from human beings and it’s still fostering creativity.” TIME100 Talks: Culture, Choice, and Change—Empowering Consumers was presented by PMI U.S.