Brands must acknowledge their moral responsibility, whether they like it or not
Future Neutral co-founder Oliver Ranck takes the temperature of brands when it comes to trust, values and beliefs.
They say that word of mouth is the ultimate trust mark for customers, but I’d argue that our collective bullshit meter is now so high that anything we read or hear is taken with a grain of salt, even (especially?) if it comes from your mum.
The one thing people do still trust? Companies that provide them with high-quality goods and services on a consistent basis. In many cases, this loyalty runs unimaginably deep – supposedly, ten percent of millennials would rather lose a finger than their phone. Crowds of people will queue through the night for a sneaker drop.
However, with increasing trust and loyalty comes great responsibility. Loyal customers are looking to the companies they love for guidance on how to deal with the world around them, and looking for cues on what’s real or not. In today’s climate of fake news and misinformation, products are something tangible that customers rely on.
