There is a pervasive darkish cloud that lingers above all marketers. It is a cloud which casts a shadow over our collective credibility as an industry. And though it will never fully quite dissipate, even on sunnier days, in my experience it manifests differently according to different audiences. Understanding which audience you’re dealing with is the key to chase away its shadow.
The Three Faces of Marketing Trust
Firstly, there is the trust that we all seek to engender with consumers. In the telco sector, trust is the greatest driver of brand consideration. If your customers trust you, it means that you are doing things right across an array of factors that drive said trust. Much of this is something marketing can affect of course. Shifting perceptions or shining a light on customer benefits is our bread and butter.
Yet there will always be factors outside of marketing’s control. Think product limitations, stock issues, inflationary price rises, or incidents of force majeure (like a network outage). Have you ever had to apologise to the nation in print? I have. It is purely an exercise in damage limitation. That damage is to trust. And the irony is that, irrespective of how trust is adversely impacted, it falls on us in marketing to repair it.
The strongest brands boast marketing teams that not only master the basics, the classics, the controllable, they also have an edge on their competition by being poised to mitigate those “known unknowns”.
Secondly, there is credibility that marketing has within your organisation. I’ve written elsewhere about the paradox that is our industry’s propensity for smug self-adulation that lies in stark contrast with our collective inability to fly the flag for marketing internally. Ours is a culture which celebrates performance by heaping ourselves with awards, most of which are meaningless to our non-marketing colleagues. This is frequently evidenced – sector agnostically – by marketing finding itself at the forefront of budget cuts, seemingly the obvious first choice to take the hatchet. How many of us work in a business where marketing is perceived as cost, rather than an investment? Many, is the truth. And if that sounds familiar, it means you have a job to do.
At the top there is of course the need to be transparent about marketing spend and holding yourself honest and accountable on the numbers. Nothing sinks credibility faster than marketing reporting all greens when sales are red. But this challenge extends beyond the C-suite. Perhaps even more critical is how your work is viewed by your peers in other departments. You need them to be defending the direction of the brand when marketing is not in the room. And for that to happen, you need for them to have bought into your vision.
The best way I have found is to bring your colleagues on the journey rather than presenting them with a fait accompli. Invite non-marketers into the marketing process to glean their insights, early enough to give them agency and make an impact. Simplify marketing jargon when you share your work.
Showcase success and share the wins as a win for the business, not just marketing.
This gives your colleagues a reason to have a vested interest in marketing’s success. After all, everyone wants to be proud of the brand they work for and so you’ll naturally be pushing against an open door.
Thirdly and finally, there is the credibility we have with partners – in other words, with each other. VMO2 is a major UK advertiser and a big part of my job is to suss out partnerships that will deliver a win-win. I am therefore constantly being pitched to and pitching myself. On the one hand it’s fascinating to peek behind the curtains of brands you admire or get excited by world-class innovations. On the other hand, it’s hard not to become a cynic when number inflation is rampant and when we over-promise and under-deliver to each other, which happens too often. The other major factor at play is operational trust. Regardless of the strength of the output, if the working relationship is arduous, I will reconsider a partnership. Life is too short! There is a qualitative spectrum to all of this. Ask yourself where you sit on the spectrum. Because what you can be certain is that reputations travel fast in our little industry bubble. Left unchecked it will hinder potential collaborations.
From Shadow to Sunlight: Navigating Your Audiences
Much to the chagrin of my team, I’m fond of quoting Socrates when he said, “I know that I know nothing”. So I’ll be the first to admit VMO2 has room for improvement. Being self-aware of the problem is a step in the right direction. Why not then fully commit to being the light that pierces the gloom? Building or rebuilding trust isn't about entirely chasing away the shadow of doubt that lingers above us. It's about learning to navigate our audiences. Those marketers I am jealous of get this right, and their brands stand out from the pack. They don’t just seek to repair credibility, they elevate it, turning scepticism into steadfast loyalty. After all, in marketing as in life, the sunniest days follow the stormiest clouds.
Authored by Johnny Winn, Head of Advertising, O2, Virgin Mobile & Virgin Media O2
