Winning trust in the Covid era

When it comes to purchasing decisions, 70% of people surveyed by Edelman in 2020 said trust is more important than ever and is second only to price when it comes to choosing a particular brand.?

This increase is in part due to the stresses of the pandemic with many people reverting back to what they know. With their bandwidth fully stretched; they are relying on their old memory structures and knowledge to guide them. It has led many consumers back to the tried and trusted legacy brands whose distinction and familiarity have been rewarded by a welcomed sales boost.

“The story over the past five years or so has been one of lots of focused companies in various categories getting to the market with new, innovative offerings. But there’s been a slowing down of some of that launch activity. And consumer preference has skewed to brands that they trust and that they know, this year “trusted brands” have regained ground from “new specialist brands entering the marketplace” - Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider

This observation is backed by a recent study by Deloitte conducted during the height of the pandemic which found that the more an individual was concerned about their physical and financial wellbeing the more likely they were to purchase brands they knew and trusted.?

If the concern for physical and financial wellbeing lasts, there are big implications for both new brands looking to grow as well as for established brands to devise their comms to capitalise on this desire for trust.

Trust is more than a reason to believe

What is the first thing you think of when someone tells you to trust them? You stop trusting them right? Well, the same principle applies to brands, you can’t tell people to simply trust your brand. It isn’t an RTB or part of your comms plan. Trust is a feeling. An emotional response. Over time, it is something that is built through a whole brand experience through intrinsic and extrinsic attributes (see chart 2). It comes from everywhere, from the influencers used, media formats advertised in, interactions with customer service, packaging and product quality to name a few. Get one wrong and everything else has to work harder. Luckily there are some fundamentals for brands of all sizes and differing maturity who want to win and maintain the trust of their customers.

Remind them what they mean to you

For established legacy brands with impressive trust scores, it is imperative to harness the power of pre-existing memory structures. However it is equally important that all new comms take from rather than recreate the old to avoid losing relevance if the effects of the pandemic on brand buying fade. Bodyform, a household name built upon their trusted reputation of challenging society's views. Their campaign ‘Blood normal’ is a full on assault of the stigma's surrounding periods that was so badly needed and their audience was crying out for. Post campaign share of voice vs Always (the category leader) went from 5% to 74% within a month of launch, and received praise from both women (and men!) achieving a 90% positive sentiment at the time of launch.?

Be seen in trusted places?

Understandably starting small means that advertising on social media is key to keeping costs down. However, ads seen within mediums such as social, on websites and direct mail are significantly less trusted (up to 450% less) than TV, radio and print.

An example of the potential gains to be made from including trusted media in a brands media mix comes from Monzo who when advertising on TV for the first time saw a 167% increase in sign-ups. They attracted more than 250,000 new customers, up from 150,000 a couple of months before and prompted brand awareness which increased 13 points from 35% to 48%.

“Clearly we went into this looking to see a significant uplift in downloads and people creating Monzo accounts. It was pretty insane actually. We saw in June by far our biggest month?of sign-ups ever…. And we are still seeing those impacts today.” - Tristan Thomas, Head of Marketing and Community at Monzo.

This is of course in part due to an increase in awareness but the growth can also be attributed to being seen as a trusted brand advertising in a trusted medium. This is especially important in the banking sector where trust is placed higher than price as a factor in choosing a banking provider (45% Vs 43%) and is second only to convenience and ease of access at 47%.

Partner with credible influencers to develop transparency

Transparency is an incredibly powerful tool to use when building consumer trust, especially when faced with a crisis. Defined as “an understanding of where and how it sources its materials and how it treats its staff'' by Accenture, transparency makes up a major part of brand trust. When consumers were asked about which specific qualities attracted them to purchasing a brand (66%) said transparency was the most important factor after price in their purchase decision.?

Trust issues will affect any brand at some point or another. Some put out ads such as Amazon in light of the recent Panorama documentary about the conditions their warehouse staff face. In many cases, these ad’s feel insincere because the protagonist is paid by the brand and has unknown credibility credentials to the viewer. Often, it feels like you can almost see their arms behind their back as if they’ve been told ‘you’ll lose your job if you don't say we're great’.?

This is where we believe partnerships with influencers who have credible impartiality and are known for telling the truth could work wonders for a brand's trust scores. Taking them behind the scenes (provided you have nothing to hide) allows influencers to tell the brand’s side of the story through their unique perspective of the situation and what you're doing to resolve any issues. They may even help uncover something that you never realised was great about the company.

McDonald’s used this approach to overcome their food quality issues which had been caught in a spotlight of negative attention. To build trust in their product they took Mum’s behind the scenes to see how their chicken nuggets were made. This invite was then extended to other influencers such as Jack Maynard and Jamie’s food tube to name a few. The plan worked and by the end of 2016, the brand finished with the highest trust rating it has ever seen and part of a wider plan which saw McDonalds grow by 1.8% Vs 8.1% decline for rival Burger King.

Be engaged and know when to apologise

Saying sorry or admitting shortcomings can be hard but it shows honesty and gravitas as a brand. Those that choose not to risk losing both trust and customers, with 88% of consumers less likely to purchase from companies that leave complaints unattended. The effect of apologising cannot be underestimated – even when it comes to the most serious situation it can make a huge difference to an individual's propensity to forgive. In a recent British study of malpractice patients, 37% said they would never have gone to court in the first place had an explanation and an apology been extended.?

When it comes to corporate mistakes a good apology can turn anger into amusement. KFC famously apologised which prevented a mistake from turning into a failure. Rupert Younger, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation suspects it may be more than a laugh they received - "They have been open and transparent and incredibly authentic, I think they're going to have more people wanting to go to KFC than less ... as a result of this."

In essence, trust-building emanates from everything you say, do, the company you keep and where you appear. Get it right and the rewards could be huge with the likelihood of purchasing, consumer loyalty and advocacy skyrocketing.