Why should we believe you?

The straw that broke the camel's back or the consumer's trust was the events of 2008. A survey in the UK at that time found consumers trusted their supermarket more than their banks. Today, five years later, even that trust has been eroded.

This was according to Dion Chang, founder of Flux Trends, in his recent presentation in Johannesburg, entitled The Breakdown of Trust or as he termed it: When trust goes bang and becomes a commodity.

Who do you trust?

Chang said top of the no trust list is government. "The phone hacking scandal is just one of many events involving government, internationally and locally, that have led to a lack of trust from consumers. In South Africa we have probably refined not trusting a government to a fine art."

Police were also part of this said Chang, "There have been over 5 000 claims against the police locally costing the police over R13 million."

Religion has also lost its lustre. With scandal after scandal rocking the Catholic Church, it has lost two million followers.

Seeking refuge in food is also not an option. "The horse meat scandal did nothing to grow consumer trust. What angered consumers the most was not that the meat was horse meat, but that they were being lied to."

He points out that while we might believe the Chinese eat anything, in China rats processed with additives and gelatine and passed off as lamb rocked that country as much as the horse meat scandal in the UK.

When it comes to technology, consumers might be embracing it but with Identity theft and phishing continuing to grow, consumers are wary of technology such as mobile banking. "We have more than 20 cases of fraud reported in South Africa every day," quotes Chang.

In the leisure arena things don't look much better. "Sporting heroes are falling and match fixing rife. We watch a sporting event not knowing if it is real or fixed and cheer on athletes and then wonder if they are on drugs," says Chang.

Green washing, which is when a company claims to be green but is not, has led to consumers distrusting what brands say they are doing. "In South Africa we also have black washing, i.e. companies that say they are BEE but are not. We now also have good washing, which is the perception that a brand is doing good, but in reality it is not".

A new breed

Rising up from this is a new breed of vigilantes - the geeks that leak. All of them are young millenniums and they want to make the world a better place. They are a new breed who believes transparency and privacy are the cornerstones of society.

"We are also seeing a rise of antitrust products. Radio frequency identification, which is a chip in our sim cards, but the downside of this technology, is that people can walk past you and scan your information. So someone has developed a wallet that protects your chip so no-one can scan it."

Another example is the DNA Scanner which scans the DNA in your food so you know exactly what you are eating. Then there is Stealth Wear Clothing with its anti-drone hoodie so drones cannot detect you. Don't forget the privacy visor to stop facial recognition technology.

So how can brands rebuild trust with the consumer?

You must earn it says Chang. "No brand can be all good so rather be "fawsome", which means embrace your flaws and admit you are not perfect. Consumers want brands to be human and to tell the truth."

If you do make a mistake, say sorry quickly - within 24 hours. "After the horse meat fiasco, Tesco placed ads in all the major newspapers apologising and then pledged to go local and place cameras in production facilities."

A brand must share its consumers' lifestyle. In other words does the brand share the same values as "me' and does the brand value me?

"Trust is a commodity and the retail environment has to improve its trust. It can do this by being personal, being the expert and being competent, providing good signage and communication. The frequency of communication needs to be upped as well."

To sum up brands need to be:
• Be authentic
• Listen
• Be transparent
• Know your customer
• Solve problems
• Be consistent
• Act fast
• Audit your brand identity regularly.

Concludes Chang: "Remember trust takes years to earn and seconds to lose."