Are you trusted?

 

 

 

 

Trust has increased across all institutions, but government most of all

I was looking over the results of the Edelman Trust Barometer, and while I shouldn’t promote a competitor, I think this report is quite interesting.  Although it points to people generally trusting all institutions more compared to 2010, what I find interesting is that the biggest increase in the level of trust is in government.

 

This suggests the strong leadership and decisive actions such as VAT increases in the UK, while being a little hard to swallow at first, are being generally well-received (of course it  does not reflect the recent challenges being faced in certain territories such as Tunisia and Egypt).

 

 

 

 

 

Middle Eastern society expects a lot of corporates

Middle East population looking for corporate alignment with society

What is more interesting for me, living in the Middle East, and the UAE in particular, is the clear difference in expectation of corporations to create shareholder value in a way that aligns with society’s interests, even if that means sacrificing shareholder value, as this graph shows.  I am not sure about the latter part of the statement, but as we work with financial institutions on a daily basis, we are familiar with the principles of Shariah compliance, and in this context the result is unsurprising, and given the importance Middle East society places on following Shariah principles, people clearly see less need for
government regulation on this issue.

Looking to strong leadership 

I am fairly surprised to see the switch of trust between peers and ‘people like me’ to CEOs, although in some ways this mirrors the increase in trust in the government.  In tough times, people look to strong leadership.  Clearly the need for a CEO and associated company to establish, build and maintain the trust of its various stakeholders (clients/customers, employees, partners, regulators, the community etc) is more important than it ever has been.

Trusted organisations/individuals benefit from greater resonance

Trust builds resonance

This report also points to the resonance that messages have depending on the level of trust an entity or individual has built.  This works equally in terms of positive information and inversely in relation to negative information.  The report states that when a company does not have solid trust equity, nearly two thirds of people will believe negative information, whereas inversely, for an individual or entity which is trusted, only 25% of people will believe negative information.  The difference is more pronounced when looking at positive information.  Only 15% of people will believe positive information if an entity/individual is distrusted, as opposed to more than half believing positive information when a company is trusted.

 

Finance sector needs to work on its reputation, unsurprisinglyThe term ‘financial crisis’ alone suggests blame.  Of course the crisis involved more than just the financial industry.  But things are what they are and as such it will take time for the financial sector to fully recover its reputation.   

Finance sector on the floor

This result bodes well for me and my company.  As an organisation with a significant focus on building
the level of trust and understanding of our clients’ expertise, we are well positioned to grow and support industry leaders, particularly in the financial sector.

 

Online sources growing in influence

Again perhaps unsurprisingly, a growing number of people are using online outlets as sources of information.  The online arena is evolving faster than ever before and with more than two thirds of people using the Internet as their first source of information (according to this report), the communications industry must seek to evolve even more rapidly to ensure it is reaching client’s audiences in the most effective manner possible.

Online sources continue to grow in influence

This will involve more and more integration of various marketing disciplines as we witness the most successful campaigns continue to span multiple channels and tools.  Although more consumer-focused, two of the more recent, prominent and successful campaigns include ComparetheMeerkat.com (ComparetheMarket.com), Walkers crisps flavours campaign.  I am confident that such multi-channel, multi-discipline campaigns will become more commonplace. 

In any case – trust will remain key for any company operating in an increasingly competitive environment.

 

 

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