Two compelling challenges are impacting brand marketing and corporate communications in our region today. The first is the huge influence technology is having on business. The second, as a result of corporate credibility being at an all-time low, is the need to establish - or re-establish – public trust.
They offer tremendous new opportunities for marketers and corporate communicators. They also represent major concerns for those tasked with the role of building brand equity.
Information technology is increasing the speed of decision-making and the flow of data at a pace beyond our ability to digest it. It is also creating new media that are more measurable, more easily integrated, and much more targeted.
As a result, marketing campaigns are increasingly becoming more segmented in their content. And the media they employ are increasingly interactive. The messaging is becoming more personal and the over-arching goal is to build long-term sustainable consumer relationships.
Of course, trying to establish sustainable consumer relationships is always tough. But when there's a crisis of corporate credibility taking place, it's even harder. Hence the reason why we're seeing a growing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and a return to cause-related marketing activities – anything with a cause that can help address the public cynicism of business.
And that leads to the second challenge – the need to re-establish public trust in business.
Corporate Australia, like that of many other markets, has taken a beating over the past two years. Financial scandals, corporate governance issues, excessive executive pay and a seeming lack of transparency, have all succeeded in creating so much distrust and cynicism in society towards our public and corporate institutions that most business leaders today are very low on the totem pole of trusted sources of information.
In this issues-rich environment that is Australia, a seemingly common public view is that everything we see on television, hear on radio and read in the newspapers is just 'spin' - invented messaging designed to obfuscate and duck the issue at hand. Other markets in Asia are not far behind, if at all, in their media-savviness – and general skepticism.
It's no wonder marketers are desperate to build strong, sustainable relationships with their consumers.
The new direction we're seeing is one that is based on being socially acceptable, or community-friendly. It's based on a relatively old idea that before you are allowed to sell your product, you first have to ask for permission.
Although not a tangible, quantifiable trend, it's clear that increasingly marketers are recognizing that consumers are making purchasing decisions based not just on product efficacy or attributes, but on whether they trust and believe the company that's selling it, and hold that company in high regard.
It is evident that no matter how much money we throw at the brand-building work, we will never be able to build long-term sustainable relationships with our consumers if we insult them with poor corporate governance, financial scandals and 'spin'.
Large companies have frequent potentially brand-damaging issues. They might include a selective product recall, the sacking of a top manager, or a manufacturing fault.
How can corporations rebuild lost public confidence? One way is for them to adopt longer-term thinking and planning for a start.
The only real way of combating pervasive public cynicism is with honesty. Ultimately, corporations need to establish the kinds of relationships with stakeholders that permit open and honest dialogue. Not spin, but real discussion, and perhaps an apology whenever necessary.
That takes extraordinary corporate courage – and patience. It demands the confidence to allow corporate marketers and communicators to raise operational vulnerabilities internally and to have the authority to deal with them.
Information technology has provided not only the one-to-one marketing channels to reach customers and stakeholders more efficiently and quickly than ever before, but also the internal tools to communicate common messages and updates across company locations around the globe.
Ultimately all that's needed is for the company to have the guts and ability to address its issues openly and honestly in public.
