It has never been easier to buy visibility in India today. A brand can be trending within a matter of hours due to a viral reel, an influencer shoutout, or a brand aggressively pushing its ads. On the other hand, reaching a level of credibility is still as slow as ever. The gap that is increasing between being seen and being trusted is causing a scary reality for businesses that are operating in different sectors. Being visible without being credible is not neutral anymore; it is a liability.
There are more than 900 million internet users in India and over 500 million active social media accounts in the country. According to industry sources, Indian brands will spend over ₹80,000 crores on digital advertising in 2025. The figures speak very loudly for themselves – brands are screaming louder than they have ever done. However, consumer trust is not developing at the same pace. Trust in advertising and social platforms, according to the Trust Barometer of Edelman, is considerably lower than that of earned media, expert voices, and authentic brand actions.
Such a disparity makes the brand ecosystem very fragile. When a brand has been highly visible but lacks credibility, there is more pressure for its actions. Consumers reject more and more ads, journalists scrutinise more stories, and regulators become more attentive. What seemed to be growth might be turned into licking your wounds very soon. Indian startups have had the opportunity to see it with their own eyes. High-visibility fintech, edtech, and consumer brands in India have undergone credibility crises powered by such factors as exaggerated claims, bad governance, or messaging that doesn’t align with their vision. In all of the instances, the problem was not the shortage of attention but of trust.
Trust in a brand comes through trustworthiness, disclosure, and confirmation. It is related to a brand’s conduct when it is not promoting itself. So, are the promises being fulfilled, are the leaders being held accountable, are the customers’ grievances being taken care of, and is the communication honest during the losing stages? Indian consumers of all ages (25 to 75) are becoming more and more demanding. They verify reviews, follow media coverage, and spot inconsistencies between brand messaging and brand behaviour.
Public relations has a very important part here. Differently from marketing, whose main aims are reach and conversion, PR concentrates on belief. The trust buffer that surrounds brands is built up through this buffer of activities, earned media, thought leadership, the positioning of a credible spokesperson, and crisis preparedness. The buffer is very useful during the volatile moments. Reputational capital as reported by data is the main driver of the fast coming back from crisis situations that companies enjoy and the main factor behind them continuing on the path of long-term valuation despite the promotional visibility they experience.
Visibility, in India’s crowded market, is no longer a factor that sets you apart from the others; credibility is. An honest-communicating local MSME may even do better than a brand that puts too much money on advertising but has questionable practices. Consumers grant integrity with loyalty, investors grant transparency with trust, and employees grant purpose with dedication.
The risk is to mistake attention for authority. Trust is not equal to a million views. Respected does not mean trending. Brands that are only after visibility, which, at the same time, don’t spend a dime on credibility, in fact, are increasing their risk. Every message is turning to be your next liability, every claim is waiting for its verification, and every misstep is going to be picked at a higher speed than your correction.
The coming time is for those brands that realise this change. They say less but say more. They align marketing with ethics, storytelling with facts, and growth with responsibility. In a world where everybody is visible, the real competitive advantage is credibility.
Because at the very end, being visible may get you noticed, but it is credibility that decides whether you will be believed, followed, or forgotten.
