The ethical imperative: building trust in brand management

Trust in institutions, businesses, brands, and media is at an all-time low. Misinformation and disinformation are significant risks.

World leaders gathered at Davos in January 2024 with many pressing concerns on their agenda – but one that captured my attention is the urgent need to rebuild trust where distrust in information, governments, institutions and media grows. They believe that misinformation and disinformation are two of our biggest short-term risks.

The consequences of this trust deficit loom large for today's brand and communication managers.

The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a stark reality: over 60% of leaders in government, business, and media are not trusted by us to tell the truth, and government is seen as less competent and ethical than business.

This sentiment has a significant impact on successful brand management.

What's emerging (and a timely reminder) for leaders is to unite and collaborate, to be more transparent and to communicate more clearly why people should trust and engage with businesses and brands.

In this climate of mistrust, brand and communications experts have an important role to play in supporting their leaders in rebuilding trust, ethics and integrity in their brands and businesses.

Brand management is agnostic

Brand management does not differ from B2B, B2C, or industry and sectors.

A brand is your product or service's identity – it tells people who you are and what you stand for.  A breach of ethics or sudden loss of trust affects people's confidence in your brand.

I think of brand management as a simple equation:

brand = behaviour (culture) = reputation

They are intertwined and connected.

So, when there is an ethical breach, the brand story changes, trust is eroded, and the brand's connection with the consumer can impact parts or the whole of the business. Recently, we have seen highly publicised examples with Qantas, Optus, Rio Tinto, AMP, Westpac, CBA, PwC, and 7-Eleven stores.

Managing your brand in crisis

Managing your brand in the event of an ethical breach, when trust is low, is ultimately the responsibility of the CEO, with oversight from the Board. A team in the business should be dedicated to supporting leadership to address and rebuild trust and reputation. The team is a mix of internal and external experts with expertise in risk, legal, HR, finance, cyber, IT, operational and supply change, and communications.

Communications experts bring a specialised lens to rebuilding trust and reputation. They bring expertise in crisis management, communications, social media, government, and public affairs to the crisis management team. They are crucial in influencing leadership, obtaining support, and preparing in advance.

Don't wait for the brand to 'fall from grace'

The timing of managing an ethical breach or a slide in reputation and trust can start long before a breach occurs.

Sometimes, the data will tell the stories and is communicated through several avenues, including customer complaints, employee sentiment, product performance or other feedback mechanisms. In other cases, a breach could be sudden and may be spurred by an event or catastrophe.

Crisis management preparation is essential to managing brand damage, and marketing and communications experts have a key role in working with leadership to ensure the work is done early.

The standard at which a breach is managed and the impact on your brand is directly related to how much time and effort has gone into preparing for it.

It takes longer to rebuild trust than to lose it

Marketing and communication professionals know rebuilding trust can be a long and expensive exercise. However, it is a reality that we need to remind leadership of regularly.

It is essential that marketing and communications experts are trusted advisers to leadership, and they can feel comfortable having honest and hard conversations if necessary.

Don't underestimate the situation

My final point is that it is better to overestimate the severity of an event and adjust down if needed.

A seemingly minor incident could turn into a crisis affecting brand, trust, and reputation that could span weeks, months and longer.

There are a few planning protocols that I think should always be switched on.  These are:

• Look at the data relating to performance and feedback regularly.

• Look for emerging themes and invest in role plays and scenarios.

• Have your crisis playbooks and processes up-to-date and ready to activate, with awareness of how the focus of a crisis can quickly shift.

• Ensure you stay close to leadership and other members of the crisis team.

• Consider the steps have you taken in your organisation to prepare for a potential crisis or fall in trust and adjust where necessary.

I mentioned earlier that the consequences of the trust deficit loom large for marketing and communications professionals.  This is true at any time but amplified during a crisis. Our role is to work to minimise that trust deficit and work to restore trust and reputation.