It's Time to Hit the Reset

Why It’s Time to Hit the Reset Button on Trust

In an age of digital and social media trust is a hard word to define.  Wikipedia defines a trusted party as one who is “presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, laws and their previous promises.” 

Cluetrain Manifesto’s co author, Doc Searls, warns of a coming “advertising bubble” and a push-media “attention economy” crash.  If this is true, then marketers in particular need to recount and rehash the rules of trust.

Trust has three main components:  credibility (delivering on promises), care (demonstrating an understanding of the other party’s needs) and congruency (the extent to which a brand’s and a consumer’s values are aligned).  To foster trust, marketers must think of it as an overarching principle, one that transcends sales.

Consumers trust the brands that demonstrate they really mean it.