CMOs not aligned with consumers on brand trust

By October 17, 2019ISDose

An overview of CMO and consumer opinion on what increases trust in a business.

  • Consumers say transparency is the most important factor in increasing business trust.
  • But CMOs think the ability to deliver consistently is most important.
  • Differences in importance are also visible in personalisation, putting the customer first and business legacy.

CMOs aren’t aligned with consumers on brand trust, according to the latest research from Dentsu Aegis Network in their global survey of 1,000 CMOs and 43,000 consumers.

Consumers say transparency is the most important factor in increasing business trust, with 55% of respondents saying so. However, CMOs think the ability to deliver consistently is most important, at 63% of those surveyed. This is out of a possible eight responses.

Personalisation and prioritisation are two other areas of significant difference between the two groups. Consumers rate the level of personalisation as least important in increasing business trust (23% of respondents) but it places fifth for marketers (44%).

CMOs also think putting consumer interests first is vital for brand trust, rating it tied-second most important (53%). Consumers, however, rate it sixth (29%).

Along with transparency, marketers should increase their attention on issues of business heritage and legacy. Consumers rated it as the fifth most important factor while it placed tied-last for CMOs.

High-profile failures in sustainability and data privacy is one reason consumers are emphasising transparency.

Improving transparency and business legacy will be difficult though, as it requires long-term investment – something marketers are struggling to secure. This is worsened by CMOs’ lack of leadership on areas of customer experience and product development. While some have emphasised the rise of the hyper-relevant CMO, closer alignment with consumer opinion is vital to achieve relevancy.

This article first appeared in www.warc.com