Disruption Without Publicity Isn’t Bold—It’s Brand Suicide
By Karla Jo Helms, Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR™ Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors™.
Innovation without visibility is invisible. That’s the harsh reality killing breakthrough companies across all industries. While brilliant brands focus on perfecting their products in stealth mode, louder competitors with inferior offerings are taking the lead—grabbing market share, captivating investors, and winning over customers. The truth is, the marketplace doesn’t reward the best solution; it rewards the most visible one. Without visibility, even the most groundbreaking ideas risk fading into obscurity.
According to EY’s latest research, 35% of consumers no longer consider brand as an important factor in purchasing decisions. Even more telling, over half of consumers are “switchers” who abandon brands as soon as a better option presents itself. This isn’t just a crisis of loyalty—it’s a clear signal that disruption without a strategic focus on visibility becomes irrelevant faster than ever before. Relying on your product to “speak for itself” is no longer a viable strategy; it’s a gamble with the odds stacked against you. Obscurity has become a company’s greatest competitor.
The Visibility Paradox: Why Silence Kills Faster Than Failure
The rules of competition in the modern marketplace have fundamentally shifted. Brands aren’t just losing market share—they’re losing relevance entirely. With only 12% of consumers saying that brand messaging truly reflects their needs and values, traditional approaches like polished press releases and generic campaigns are becoming nothing more than background noise. Companies that rely solely on their product or service to make an impact are being drowned out by competitors who understand the power of visibility.
Here’s the reality: obscurity kills faster than failure. Companies can recover from bad financial quarters, delayed product launches, or even leadership scandals. But they cannot recover from being unknown. While you’re polishing your solution behind closed doors, your competitors are shaping the narrative, building trust, and cementing their position in the market. The consumer landscape isn’t waiting for perfection—it’s rewarding presence and accessibility.
The data paints a stark picture. Consumers in the US fall into three critical segments: 30% are brand loyalists, 18% are brand agnostics, and a massive 52% are brand switchers. That majority—the switchers—represents the real battleground where visibility determines victory. These consumers are not waiting for the “perfect” product; they’re choosing based on trust, familiarity, and what’s most visible to them in the moment. If your company isn’t strategically visible, you might as well not exist to these switchers.
Strategic Disruption: Turning Innovation Into Influence
To thrive in today’s competitive environment, smart companies are flipping the traditional launch model on its head. Instead of building in silence and promoting only after launch, they’re creating a steady stream of narrative momentum throughout the development process. This isn’t about making premature announcements or hyping unfinished products—it’s about crafting a strategic visibility plan that builds credibility, trust, and market awareness as you refine your solution.
The most successful disruptors adhere to three key principles:
- Own the Narrative—or Watch It Get Weaponized: Don’t wait for others—media, competitors, or consumers—to discover your story. Take charge and create the narratives that matter. Align your innovation with broader trends, industry shifts, and societal conversations that are already grabbing attention. By positioning your product as part of something bigger, you ensure your story resonates not only with customers, but also with journalists and analysts who drive coverage.
- 100 True Believers Beat 100K Fake Followers: Big audiences aren’t built overnight, and chasing thousands of followers too early can dilute your impact. Focus instead on building a smaller, engaged community of true advocates. A group of 100 passionate evangelists can create more authentic buzz and momentum than 100,000 passive followers. When your community believes in your mission, media and investors take notice.
- Credibility: The Currency AI Can’t Fake: Trust travels faster than ads and lasts longer than hype. In a world where 92% of consumers trust earned media more than direct advertising, third-party validation is invaluable. Thought leadership, expert positioning, and partnerships with trusted platforms all help turn your innovation into a credible force in the market. This kind of credibility is not just short-term—it builds a foundation for long-term competitive advantage.
The Future Belongs to Visible Disruptors
The companies thriving in today’s ever-changing landscape don’t just focus on building better products; they focus on building better narratives. They understand that innovation and influence must develop hand-in-hand, not as separate or sequential efforts. While competitors work in isolation to perfect their offerings, these strategic disruptors are out earning trust, gaining mindshare, and creating demand before launch day ever arrives.
The stakes have never been higher. In a market where 53% of younger consumers will abandon a brand for something cheaper or more relevant, visibility isn’t a luxury—it’s a survival strategy. Companies that master the integration of innovation and visibility aren’t just capturing market share—they’re defining entire markets. They’re shaping the future of their industries, setting the standard for others to follow.
The choice couldn’t be clearer: disrupt visibly or disappear quietly. The marketplace has made its preference known. Now it’s time for you to decide yours. Whatever your industry, your survival depends on it. Visibility is no longer an option—it’s the driving force behind influence, growth, and longevity.
About Karla Jo Helms
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR™ Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line—and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumnus of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators, and the media to help restore companies of goodwill back into the good graces of public opinion—Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Karla Jo has patterned her agency on the perfect balance of crisis management, entrepreneurial insight, and proven public relations experience. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception. More information is available at www.jotopr.com/.