A Utopia of Quality Beacons

Recently, I heard an intriguing thesis on the ZEIT podcast Die sogenannte Gegenwart: the end of social media may be near. Suppose this scenario plays out—because we’re all exhausted by the chase for likes, shallow messaging, AI-generated content, and the conditioning toward instant reactions. What would come next?
Perhaps quality media would become the new go-to, even for younger audiences. Maybe brands would assume a more prominent social role and evolve into media houses in their own right. In fact, we’ve already seen glimpses of this, before many brands abandoned their content platforms in favor of social media.
Now, we may be on the brink of a renaissance of depth and high-quality content—published on proprietary platforms, offering orientation, and strengthening communities. There are plenty of reasons to refocus on substance instead of formulaic content. And in that lies enormous opportunity for brands.

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But how can brands ensure that this content will still be found if Google, the number-one search engine, is soon replaced by AI tools? If only ten percent of people search with ChatGPT or Perplexity—or if Google itself offers nothing but AI-generated answers—then the SEO game changes completely. Perhaps in the future we won’t even be talking about SEO-optimized texts, but rather about Generative AI Optimization—optimizing content for AI-generated search results.
But back to quality: substance has always been a guiding principle in my career. I grew up in publishing, surrounded by journalistic products. And when I moved into advertising, I realized just how deeply this industry also engages with societal developments and human needs. Even if, at the end of a deep dive, what remains is just a sharply crafted line, that line is built on a profoundly true insight.

We live today in a divided society, shaped by fears of the future and the rapid advance of artificial intelligence. All the more important, then, that we (once again) engage more deeply with substance and authenticity—across all generations, levels of education, and social backgrounds. Because only an informed society is a strong society.
Yet through social media—TikTok above all—and clickbait culture, even quality outlets have become conditioned to favor simple truths. Not long ago, content marketing still took the time to create carefully curated, high-quality material: long-form reports, interviews and analyses, smart infographics, and sometimes even controversial debates. Above all, it felt human. Today, we’ve given in to the lure of superficiality and quick clicks. Speed and the sheer scope of possibilities—fueled in no small part by generative AI—have seduced us.
I was left baffled just recently by the launch of the new app Butterfly, which presents us with a dystopian vision of social media. The interface looks like Instagram, but its twist is that upon signing up, users create one or more AI personas—so-called butterflies—that generate photos and interact with other accounts on their own. They’re designed to coexist with human accounts, which also post and comment in the feed.
But what value do these kinds of posts really have? Content has become increasingly interchangeable, and this shift will only make people feel less connected. Social media is becoming less human—whether we like it or not.
Now is the right time to pause and reflect on whether this type of content truly reflects our values. The decision about why we write something, and the stance we take, remains fundamentally human. We are the curators of our content, guided by curiosity and intuition. What matters is the topics we choose—not who, or what, produces them.

What we often lack are strong narratives. Tactical maneuvers dominate, while the effort to grapple with complex issues is neglected. We need to relearn how to argue productively—and how to tolerate differing perspectives in the process.
I say this also against the backdrop of growing consumer expectations: people increasingly want brands to take a stand on social issues. When brands communicate with substance, they earn trust and loyalty. Patagonia is a prime example. The brand’s success is due in part to its willingness to embrace bold storytelling, which sets it apart clearly from the competition. Creativity and innovation are crucial here—they’re what make knowledge accessible in fresh, unexpected ways.
Perhaps it’s a bit old-school, but it’s worth pausing to ask: what are we really spending our marketing budgets on, and what do those investments deliver in the long run? The hunger for substance is real—and it matters. I’m curious to see what we’ll make of it. Or, to borrow the words of Mattes Schrader: “I’m convinced it will first get darker before the light returns.”