Q: To regain people's trust, do brands need to do less marketing?

My friend and fellow curious citizen Dr. Gauti Sigthorsson put me onto a fascinating discussion amongst academics in the digital humanities space. I am still delving in and out of it.

One of the subjects touched upon was the relative value of Google NGrams to those in academia.

Which led me to do this...

 

Pointless? Meaningless? A fundamental truth?

There are so many things wrong with this chart, but the simplicity of it should at least stimulate debate about the importance of Trust in brand behaviour...

 

 

Comments

[Nandini]

There maybe some truth in this as it allows for a sense of discovery like Apple products. They don't tell you any features and the only ad I ever saw was the ipod billboards. You discover the brand yourself online and then when you use it and there is much delight in that.

[citizenbay]

Hey Nandini, thanks for taking the time to comment. The trust that Apple have built up over time has been done without the rational, performance related form of marketing that so many others in the hardware space have done (warranty, speed, memory size, security). It is simply great design for simple products that fill a perceived need. Trust design, trust apple.

So more investment into design, and less on the marketing perhaps?

[Helene Venge]

Excellent chart! It's a key question, and probably not one with one answer. Google don't advertise, Zara focuses on their retail presence etc - you know all the examples. But I think there's definitely something about transparency - the fact that marketing no longer 'buys' you trust (and thank god for that), in fact it can do the opposite if overdone or done wrong - enter your chart. Brands should start focusing more on the brand promise (what's inside) and less on the branding or marketing (the wrapping).

[citizenbay]

Hey Helene

Thanks for contributing (as always!)...there is also a question about how marketing is defined... Sales people are as much a part of the marketing effort as the 'marketing activity' is.