Brand Honesty – Why and How It Pays to the Truthful

Global Brand Marketing Director at Zapp, Natasha talks about why honesty is so important to brands. “Understanding the cultural landscape of the world is imperative” and is why honesty has become so prevalent in recent times she says. In a time when “trust is low” and when life pressure and anxiety is high, customers need honesty. It’s very much a “misinformation overload” she emphasizes. “A lot of consumers don’t like a lot of brands” she expresses and in a lot of cases consumers don’t believe what brands are telling them. With consumer scrutiny mounting and the increasing choice to go elsewhere “sincerity and honesty is what customer are searching for”. She further states “don’t make the customer search high and low”, you can present them with what they need, and this may ensue criticism but “authenticity will foster loyalty”.??

Implementing trust in the brand?

Natasha’s first step in implementing trust is making sure the brand mission is “watertight”, it may sound obvious but knowing what problems the brand is trying to solve is paramount. She continues to say listen, and learn to the customers’ needs, this will help the brand to become more “consistent and holistic” in their approach. Staying on top of the customer feedback to paint that “gritty picture” can be done in various forms, from focus groups and comments to trolling social feed and speaking to employees. Then in doing so the “pain points will surface” she says and going forward “transparency is key”, so “own them and share them”. Some of the best campaigns Natasha has been involved in are the real-life stories, told by the customers themselves and because of this honesty it resonates with more customers. Owning these mistakes “doesn’t always have to be serious” she says, an element of humour, especially in the UK, goes a long way.?

Cutting through the noise?

On this topic, Natasha states that challenger brands “weirdly have the advantage” over established brands, as they are forced to be “incredibly creative”. Challenger brands tend to be working with a much smaller marketing budget and a smaller team in comparison to their competitors, and this “breeds a savviness” she continues. On the other hand, for established brands in a saturated marketed, “innovation is key”. Drawing on her own experience, Natasha recalls using customer research in helping Zapp cut through the noise. Knowing why people were using them and adapting their messaging was fundamental, she says. The results showed that “it was the emotion people felt” when using the brand that helped them reimagine their brand marketing from convenience to emotion.??

Tips for honesty?

Natasha’s first tip is to form “a customer insight team if you don’t already”, having a dedicated team, or individual even, for this will enable the brand to keep on top of feedback. Then make sure that the insights team or individual has a direct reporting line to the brand marketing team she emphasizes. She continues to say dedicating “10% of your marketing budget” to this function may seem like a lot but it can help shape research and ultimately better experiences. It’s also important she states, to get the leadership team to understand that brand building and therefore honesty is a long-term venture. She rounds off saying “be bold” and “stop trying to appeal to everyone”, now is a good time to get comfortable with advertising complaints because ultimately it will do the world of good for the brand.?

Conclusion?

To summarise Natasha’s points on fostering an honest brand, the key takeaways are always listen to customer feedback and don’t be ashamed to own up to mistakes. Doing these two things were central to promoting brand health in her past experience. She finishes off by stating “fewer, bigger, better campaigns” should always trump an over-complicated marketing schedule, streamlining this process can be much more effective.?