Who do you trust?

source : http://www.economistconferences.co.uk/

I may be harping on for my own reasons about truth at the moment (book available NOW) but with trust in government and business in the UK in decline and well below the global average we need marketing to deliver truthful communications if we expect any kind of lasting competitive advantage.

Growing scepticism is clearly visible in the 2012 Edelman Trustbarometer.    On the upside trust in media information sources has increased, not just in the UK but worldwide.  TV and radio news and traditional broadsheet newspapers score particularly well.

On the downside in the UK survey : Trust in government leaders has declined.  Trust in company CEOs has declined.  Trust in technical experts in companies has fallen off a cliff.

In stark contrast trust in “a person like myself” has shot up (really significantly from 35% to 60% in a year).  This makes the role of positive word of mouth profound, and word of mouth is best generated by truthful communications. 

The other factor to shift is how much people trust what “regular employees” of a company tell them about that company.

This makes the role of the employer brand equally profound.  At a recent Economist Summit Chris Craft spoke eloquently about the need to ensure that the advertised brand is represented in the employer brand for every single member of staff.    The employee should be considered as part of any campaign’s target market.

In 2007 we proclaimed that we were now in the Age of Dialogue and claimed that what your target market say about you is as significant as what you tell them through your advertising.

Edelman’s Trustbarometer proves this continues to be true.

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