Trust is something that goes a long way at the moment, a time many brands and institutions are under scrutiny. Here we explore what this means for your brand.
I was talking to my husband the other night about how so many things that used to be revered and respected are now being called into question. Politicians, banking, the Catholic Church, Cricket Australia. And it got me thinking, that when it feels like you can’t trust anyone, how does that impact brand? So there are loads of studies about the impact of trust and brand success. That’s not a revelation. But when I was looking about, I found a 2016 study that said that 73% of consumers were willing to pay more for a product that had complete transparency,
and that’s something that I think that we should pay attention to.
So let’s talk about transparency. I don’t think it means that you need to give away trade secrets, but it does mean that you need to think about what motivates your consumers and then talk to them openly and clearly about what you do for them in that regard. So for a food brand that might be an ingredient list. For a law firm it could be the steps that you’ll go through from start to finish as a client. Or with an aged care company, it could be the process you use to hire and review the staff that actually work with the aged.
And I also wanted to add consistency. Think about all the different facets of your business and whether you really believe that they are consistent. Consistency doesn’t mean that you can’t evolve or change. In fact, it means that the trust that you build up with consistency allows you to introduce other products and services. So while you have your coffee this morning have a think about what you currently share with your consumers. Is there anything more pertinent? Can you be more open? And think about your complete business. Are you consistent? And what processes can you put in place to ensure that consistency?
That’s it from me. Time for brekkie.