For years, brands, creators, and entire industries have chased polished perfection. Automation, filters, and hyper-styled experiences became the norm.
But something got lost along the way. People are realising that sameness and surface-level polish don’t satisfy our deeper need for connection, trust, and meaning.
That’s why we’re seeing a shift back to what feels personal, true, and familiar, work that says 'this is us'.
Why the Move Back to Originality?
Because originality is how you stand out.
When everything looks the same, authenticity becomes the most powerful differentiator.
Because people know when something’s hollow. They can tell when they’re being sold to instead of spoken to.
Because trust matters. And in an age of misinformation and machine-generated content, audiences want to know what’s real, and who’s behind it.
Because people want to see themselves reflected in the stories they consume. Not some generic, one-size-fits-all formula, but something with culture, nuance, truth. Originality isn’t about being different for the sake of it. It’s about offering something honest, thoughtful, and human.
A Global Shift Toward the Genuine
We’re seeing this everywhere.
Big tech platforms are adjusting their algorithms to elevate simpler, more real content because that’s what people engage with.
Cannes Lions withdrew awards for undisclosed AI-generated imagery, sending a message about the value of creative integrity and transparency. YouTube now requires clearer labelling for AI-generated voices and visuals to protect viewers’ trust. These moves aren’t rejecting technology. They’re recognising that technology should serve creativity, not replace its human core.
Beyond Media: A Return to Honest Food
This demand for the real isn’t limited to content. It’s changing how we eat. Social media once prized picture-perfect, highly stylized food that looked great but didn’t always deliver on taste.
Now brands are celebrating “imperfect” plating, betting that people want meals that feel like home. In Nigeria, we see this in the rise of home kitchens and pop-ups serving heritage recipes like nkwobi, fisherman soup, or amala, dishes prepared the way they’ve always been.
Globally, brands like Heinz have leaned into campaigns that embrace the beauty of the real, not the staged. People aren’t only eating with their eyes anymore. They’re eating with memory, feeling, and connection.
The Cost of Sameness
Whether you’re in film or fashion, media or marketing, architecture, automotive or advertising, our visual culture has been moving in the same stylistic direction for too long.
And it’s flattening.
"Our visual culture risks flatlining when everyone chooses what’s safe and expected over what’s original. We claim to value individuality and self-expression, yet many businesses still default to fitting in. Originality is rare. Originality is interesting. Originality is what makes work stand out in a world that feels increasingly indistinguishable. In life and in business, you can either fall in line or choose to reimagine what’s possible. At Livespot, we believe true originality means looking at old ideas through new eyes. It means creating something with purpose and courage, even when it’s easier to blend in," says Darey, Livespot's Chief Creative Officer.
When everyone follows the same trends, the same formats, the same safe ideas, we lose the very thing that makes work matter: its humanity. Originality is the willingness to reject the default and ask: Is there a better, truer way? In business, you can either fit in or stand out.
You can follow the mold or break it. You can repeat what’s been done or find a new way to say something meaningful.
How We Think About Creativity
At Livespot, we believe originality isn’t optional.
We’re culture-first and rooted in listening.
We don’t believe in creativity for its own sake. We believe in experiences that mean something, to the people who attend them, the brands that support them, and the communities they come from. Because when everything looks the same, the only way to matter is to be real. It’s time to reclaim originality as a competitive advantage.