Trust has never been more critical for businesses. In today’s climate, understanding what consumers expect from your brand and why they advocate for it, determines success.
I’ve been privileged to work across brands with deep heritage: British Airways, Glenfiddich, No7 and Visa. A clear pattern emerges: brands achieving 2x growth don’t just satisfy expectations they systematically exceed them by laser-focusing on consumer drivers of choice.
Examining the key areas
Brand Consistency
For consumers to trust your brand, the total brand experience must be in lockstep, product, service, messages, and availability. This often spans departments you don’t directly control, making it essential to rally the organisation with clear vision and standards informed by consumer insight. When No7 commits to clinically-proven results, every product formulation, adviser consultation, and customer outcome must reinforce this promise.
Authentic, Credible Advocates
Trust amplifies through credible voices, “people like me” validation. Identifying these people or partners is worth its weight in gold. For Boots, empowering store teams and No7 Advisers as genuine experts creates authentic advocacy that resonates far more powerfully than traditional advertising.
Open Transparency
Consumers seek transparency, though requirements vary by business type. They may want ingredient provenance, your stance on societal or environmental concerns, or clarity on how you’ll handle problems. These moments present huge opportunities to win trust and advocacy or potential trust-breakers. Organisations that prioritise transparency and execute brilliantly in these moments see real growth.
The Business Growth Impact
Trust isn’t a feel-good metric, it’s a business multiplier. When organisations systematically build trust across all touchpoints, they create sustainable competitive advantages that compound over time. Investing in trust measures commands premium positioning (consumers pay more for trusted brands) and drives efficient acquisition and conversion (shifting from “why buy?” to “why not?”).
The very best position to rally the total organisation to this aim and unlock this growth is the CMO.
So, the question facing marketers in 2025 isn’t whether trust matters, it’s whether they’re measuring and building it systematically enough to achieve the 2x growth that trust-leading brands consistently deliver.
Authored by Richard Bowden, Marketing & Digital Director, No7 Beauty Company
