Brand Trust: Why It's Important

It’s the seventh year in a row that the popular chocolate maker Whittaker’s has seized the Readers Digest title of New Zealand’s most trusted brand.

Whittaker’s Head of International Markets Matt Whittaker credits it to “We think it is a combination of our 122-year history, reliability for quality, and our innovation in creating tempting new products over recent years - sometimes in collaboration with other iconic Kiwi brands, or in support of important causes. All this has helped us maintain that trusted status," As New Zealand Herald comments, those that were surveyed mentioned “Whittaker's quality ingredients, business integrity, local manufacturing, prices, advertising, and care for the environment”.

Why is this important? For starters most brands, stripped of all marketing and advertising, deliver something functional. Consumers don’t buy the brand function, they buy the brand promise. With the brand promise comes with an emotional connection, which builds trust. Just have a look at the numbers...

Today’s consumer can easily swap between competing brands and without trust in your brand they will easily do this. You can’t expect a consumer to buy your products or services, stay loyal to your brand or to be an advocate if they don’t trust your brand and your brand promise. By having a trusted brand, you’ll consistently have a solid base of customers who will always go to your brand over competitors even if the functionality is the same.

Think about a friend or acquaintance you trust and talk to often for advice. You know that their advice is generally good and it's worked for you in the past. You're more likely to go back to them in the future for more advice because you know what they're like and you trust them. The same can be said for brands. You're more likely to go back to a brand that you can trust will do what they say they're going to do and give you the same (or better) experience every time.

How to build trust for your brand.

In the simplest form it needs to start at the foundation of brand building - consistency and aligned values are key. Inconsistency in brand message, image and/or experience leads to customer confusion and therefore rejection. Consumers emotionally connect with the brand promise from shared values. When they select the brand over another they are making a statement to the world about what they stand for and who they are. Whittaker’s rise to most trusted brand received a boost when the giant competitor Cadbury used palm oil in it’s products. Not only does it go against the values of consumers (environmentally unfriendly) but it also goes against the consistent experience with the brand (the taste changed). The result was their consumers no longer trusted Cadbury, translating to a massive drop in market share.

At Attraction Studio we understand how to build and deliver brands that are consistent with a strong brand promise. Ultimately we create an identity for our clients that people connect with.