Seth Godin recently blogged about the ultimate benefit of a trust
brand. Few things are more important in marketing a brand, product or service. As I read through his short post, I was struck by the words US
embedded in the word TRUST. What a wonderful reminder of what is central to brand
building. The marketing professional better be thinking of US as they try and build trust.
Every day, brands are faced with an infinite number of
decisions that can lead you through a marketing maze. But having an anchor
filtering system is critical screen by which to decide and judge how to proceed. This criteria can
help you improve your decision making efforts because it is so simple.
Both as an entrepreneur and in my corporate positions, I liked to ask a simple question
to filter my decisions - what does this choice or decision do to the trust I have built up
with customers about my brand? Does it put it at risk or does it compound its
growth?
As Seth mentioned in his post, long after people pay a high
price for a product, the residual experience is about if they felt their trust
was violated. It is a great reminder that everything we do as marketers influences how much are brand is trusted.
Think of brands you trust because they act in accordance
with your values. If they lose their way, do they admit the mistake, ask
forgiveness and move on? Or do they try and hide behind a veil of an
inauthentic action? If they have flaws, do they hide behind them or talk about working toward improvement?
Public relations or reputation management is a marketing
tool that when truly understood, allows you to amplify your honesty when you
use it to project truth. It can be a way
to tell an honest story that you aren't perfect but you are working toward getting better at
what you do. Brands that are seeking to do better and fix problems gain trust.
It is when you hide behind the public relations effort that trouble occurs.
It takes US to trust.
Labels: Marketing Moments, Seth Godin, Trust
