THE CONVERSATION MANIFESTO
Why the future of communication lives in the questions people ask.
A small but important update about the podcast
Over the past few months, the podcast has grown much faster than expected, and I’ve decided to take a step that will improve both the listening experience and its overall discoverability.
Starting today, Content With a View returns to Spotify as its main platform. This will allow me to work more effectively with Spotify’s algorithm, reach new listeners, and offer a more stable and seamless audio experience.
All episodes will still be available here on Substack, along with extra content dedicated to the community.
Thank you for being part of this project — the best is yet to come.
CONVERSATION MANIFESTO
Conversation will be the primary revenue-generating asset of the next decade.
This isn’t a slogan—it’s a structural shift already underway.
While social platforms morph into a form of linear TV—where scrolling has become the new remote control—we’re witnessing a slow but meaningful inversion of behaviour. It’s not mass yet, but the direction is clear: a part of the audience is moving out of the wild, chaotic territories of the open platforms.
And the reason is simple.
When advertising becomes the dominant business model, platforms must grow relentlessly. Quarter after quarter. Up and to the right. Which means everything—product, design, content, creators—ends up revolving around the need to sell, not the need to serve. It’s an engine that performs well, but eventually exhausts attention, trust, and relationships.
Today creators are the real media brands. Some stronger than traditional media.
But the real revolution isn’t reach, or creativity.
It’s conversation.
The ability to build a dialogue, a community, a culture.
The kind of cultural fandom legacy media have lost—and most brands still don’t even know how to approach.
The question is: have brands truly understood the shift?
And are they using the creator economy to have conversations—or simply to be seen?
1. The traditional advertising model: the great comfort zone
For decades, branding followed a simple equation: the more I see you → the more I remember you → the more I choose you.
TV was the megaphone, then the web, then social media, then creators.
The model works.
It works because it’s simple, replicable, scalable.
It works because creators are cheaper than TV and can drive conversions.
It works because TikTok has created a new gold rush of engagement.
But here’s the problem: brands are using creators as upgraded testimonials, not as conversational partners.
Around 70% of collaborations are still used purely for awareness.
No dialogue.
No relationship.
Just exposure.
That’s why influencer marketing keeps growing—Italy included—without deeply reshaping brand perception.
2. People are leaving social media → moving toward “walled gardens”
Since 2022, the time spent on social platforms has started to show a small but consistent decline.
Still huge, yes—but the trend matters.
Early adopters and younger audiences are seeking safer, quieter, more intentional spaces.
Substack, Discord, Reddit, Telegram, vertical communities, closed groups.
Spaces where you don’t shout to be seen—you listen to belong.
Because people no longer want to be targets.
They want to choose, filter, understand, connect, breathe.
The open feed has become a slot machine of ads and content.
Closed gardens, instead, offer meaning and relevance.
While brands continue to chase “the perfect meta-message”, people simply want a place where they feel recognised, not chased.
3. The age of conversational AI
Real disintermediation isn’t coming from social platforms.
It’s coming from automated conversation.
Global chatbot market 2024 → $15.5B
Global chatbot market 2029 → $46.6B (24.5% CAGR)
88% of consumers have already used a chatbot (2022-23 (Botpress, Tidio)
And here’s the crucial point:
when people have a question today, they ask AI first—brand second.
It reduces cognitive anxiety.
It cuts through complexity.
It offers instant clarity.
And it lets you avoid all the noise: the ads, the slogans, the corporate websites.
I don’t trust the spot.
I don’t get the post.
I don’t have time for your brand copy.
So I ask my assistant.
Done.
If you’re no longer the first touchpoint, you’re no longer guiding the narrative.
4. Gen Z isn’t switching channels—they’re skipping the whole system
Gen Z doesn’t watch TV.
But they’re not migrating to other mass media either.
They are doing something more radical: bypassing entirely the places where brands built their identities for decades.
TV spots → ignored
Sponsored ads → scrolled
Influencers → saturated
Creators → used as megaphones
Which brings a tough question:
can brands still decide what people think about them?
Maybe not.
Because control of the narrative is no longer in the feed—it’s in the conversation.
5. What happens when you rebuild a strategy from real listening
Years ago, working with a major global Italian brand, I saw the mechanism from the inside.
The narrative was immaculate: elegant, perfect, dreamy.
But completely disconnected from the real product experience and the real people using it.
We tore it down and rebuilt it from scratch: listening, observing, immersing, conversing with the world around the brand.
The outcome?
+30% growth in the company’s most strategic business channel.
In one year.
Without AI, without social, without hype—just reality.
Today the effect would be even faster and stronger.
But it requires courage. And truth.
6. The new paradigm: from messaging to “conversational utility”
The question is no longer “what do we want to say?”
It’s:
“what conversation do we want to trigger in people’s minds?”
Beautiful content isn’t enough.
Consistent content isn’t enough.
Safe content isn’t enough.
Brands must become points of reference when people have doubts, questions, decisions, frictions.
A modern brand must be able to:
be interrogated,
answer honestly,
be useful,
be human,
be coherent,
show up not when it wants to, but when others need it.
This is a complete shift in posture.
7. How is authenticity built?
Authenticity isn’t a tone of voice.
It’s an operating system.
1. Truth > Slogans
Start from real problems, not pre-packaged solutions.
2. Listening > Ego
Communities define you far more than any brand book.
3. Answers > Declarations
A single micro-solution beats a macro-vision repeated endlessly.
4. Transparency > Perfection
Show the process, not just the glossy outcome.
5. Consistency > Virality
One identity, everywhere, without cognitive dissonance.
The challenge?
Brands are scared.
Scared of internal politics, external criticism, sensitive topics.
But there is no shortcut: you must pick a territory, own it, and defend it.
Playing safe gives you vanity metrics, not relevance.
Conclusion: the future belongs to brands that understand, not brands that talk
We have entered the age of augmented conversation.
AI is the first filter, the first advisor, the first orientation layer.
And the broadcast model—TV or social—risks becoming a very expensive background noise.
The future belongs to brands that dare to:
listen,
answer,
dialogue,
simplify,
be authentic,
be useful exactly when people need them.
It’s no longer about being remembered.
It’s about being understood.