05/28/2026
“Five seconds. That’s all it takes for someone to decide if they trust your brand.”
Leslie Salonen, Brand Manager at Moxie Sozo, has been on both sides of the table, brand side and agency side. That perspective has made her hyper-aware of the signals most brands don’t even realize they’re sending, every single day.
In her latest piece, Leslie pulls apart what actually makes people trust a brand and why authenticity is harder to manufacture than most think. From Burger King President Tom Curtis handing out his phone number, to OUAI CCO and Founder Jen Atkin sitting down on camera to read her product’s harshest 1-star reviews out loud, the brands earning trust aren’t the ones who have it all figured out. They’re the ones willing to show when they don’t.
Trust isn’t built through one big campaign. It’s built (or lost) in the small moments most brands may not even be aware of.
If your brand showed up in someone’s feed today, what would it be saying?
See if your brand passes the 5-second trust test ↓
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