Aug
6
Do we really TRUST brands?
August 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I was reading an article on Brand Republic’s Marketing called ‘Brands face trust crisis’ As I read it I wondered whether I had ever trusted a brand. What does this really mean?
So, in my analytical way I started at what I consider a reliable source to explain what trust is: the dictionary. I selected Collins as a modern day reputable dictionary.
Trust:
verb
1. to believe that (someone) is honest and means no harm, my father warned me never to trust strangers,
2. to feel that (something) is safe and reliable, I don’t trust those new gadgets,
3. to entrust (someone) with important information or valuables, she’s not somebody I would trust with this sort of secret,
4. to believe that (someone) is likely to do something safely and reliably, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to look after my child properly,
5. to believe (a story, account, etc.)
6. to expect, hope, or suppose, I trust you’ve made your brother welcome here
noun
1. confidence in the truth, worth, reliability, etc., of a person or thing, faith, he knew that his father had great trust in him.
There were other definitions for both definitions mentioned here that are not relevant to this article.
This poses a new question is your brand just a something or a someone?
If your brand is just a ‘something’ then if it is considered safe and reliable you could say it is trusted based on the dictionary definition. If your brand is a ‘someone’ or has a personality making it a ‘someone’ then trust would be more complicated.
I use the same laundry product, advised to me when I moved to England, having no prior reference or knowledge of the brands here. Word-of-mouth was the major contributing factor. It is a well-known brand. If there is no stock when I shop I take another brand, but next time use the one I have for a while. I have changed brands in my life: usually to do with supposed benefits of a new brand.
The question I then asked myself is do I buy because I trust the brand, trust people who advised me or by it out of habit?
Now I had to look up what habit meant:
Habit
noun
1. a tendency to act in a particular way,
2. established custom or use, the English habit of taking tea in the afternoon,
3. an addiction to a drug,
4. mental disposition or attitude, deference was a deeply ingrained habit of mind
Based on the definitions of trust and habit and what I know of myself I would say all three.
But, something still niggles inside of me and I feel this is too shallow a method for me to feel comfortable to say yes I trust xyz brand. Is that because we treat brands as ‘someones’ and trust is not such a simple matter? However, based on the markeing article I read it could just be because I am a woman and more inclined to distrust media.
What are the major indicators of ‘trust’ in the world of branding and branding metrics I would like your opinions on this? I will post my findings here in a few days.
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