Reading over Colin’s process for hiring writers, one of the things that stood out to me was that he’s not looking for pure performance capacity. Your ability to do the work is a factor, sure, but he’s also interested in your unique traits and personality.
In this, he’s hardly alone.
As AI and AI-assisted writing continue to be a force in our industry, more and more high-level marketers tell me that they are placing a premium on “humanness.” Lived experiences, unique preferences, passion, discernment, and taste matter more than ever.
After all, when almost every AI model can churn out a basic email, article, or ad, standing out from the crowd as a company or a brand requires the kind of flair and spin that only a real, live human can provide.
Take Wendy’s, the restaurant chain. They have 3.6 million followers on X. That’s triple what Burger King or KFC has, nearly 5x Arby’s following, and some 18x more than global powerhouse McDonald’s. The difference? Wendy’s social media has a distinct personality — sassy, snarky, and quick with a joke. There’s customer service and troubleshooting, just as with the other brands, but the way Wendy’s approaches social media has the brand out-competing much larger fast-food companies, earning considerable amounts of extra and free publicity as a result.
Or consider the German construction firm, Böcker. When the Louvre was robbed earlier this month, they realized that one of their platform lifts had been used by the thieves to access the building. Rather than treating it as a crisis, the company chose to jump on the opportunity, putting out a cheeky advert noting that “When you’re in a hurry, we help transport your treasures.” The campaign earned the firm global attention, and they’ve seen a large increase in business inquiries.
This kind of creative responsiveness — recognizing market forces and crafting unique messages in response — is exactly what companies want in the AI era. Any old model can spit out generic-sounding slop. A real creative mind, on the other hand, can make memorable copy out of almost any situation.
All of this to say, if you’ve been fretting about whether you have the right personality or background to succeed as a writer… or if you’ve been trying to “tone down” your authentic self in the name of winning clients… it’s time to embrace the things that make you unique and different. Who you are, how you react, and how you express yourself are what set you apart from the machines, and in the long run, the ability to look different, sound different, and be distinct will be what helps you find lasting success.