If your answer is ‘not much’ then you are probably not alone. Many of us spend a lot of money asking what people think of our businesses and then believe the good stuff and put the bad stuff down to ‘just one of those things’.

Let’s face it, sometimes we don’t like the brutal truth, it is hard to take, hurts us personally and undermines our credibility. Easier to ignore it.  File it somewhere.

Some huge brands have come unstuck by ignoring only very basic customer research. These mistakes have cost billions of pounds, 1000s of jobs and huge corporate and personal reputations.

So I would not ignore the following if I were you.

The truth hurts 

An online poll conducted in January of 1000 people - demographically structured to represent the UK population - revealed some startling brutal truths about how much people trust the brands who rely on them for the bread on their table and the roof over their head.

Here are some highlights. Make sure you are sitting down.
 
We all say that we put the customer first; surely the great British public believe us.

Not so.

20% of people strongly agreed that “In general, companies do not put customers first”. Another 45% tend to agree and alarmingly, only 8% disagree

Startled? I was.

Customer loyalty isn't so blind

Could it be that mouse mats don’t work?

Probably.

Another highlight.

Only 6% of people say that they trust companies as much as they used to.

OK, so you would expect it to be low, but 6%! That barely registers as anybody at all.  We call 5% ‘noise level’ to be mostly ignored.

Does this mean that corporate Britain has lost all trust? Even if this is half what it really is it still shows an alarming lack of trust in our brands.

So it is no surprise that the research also revealed that 81% of people agree that more importance is placed on what companies do rather than what they say. Only 3% disagree. Just think of the implications.

And just when you think it couldn’t get any worse you find out that people only give you one chance to get it right. In fact, according to this research, only 11% will give you more than one chance.

These are only four facts from a large national survey; the other results are equally startling. We expected distrust, but not as low as this.

Adapting or dying?

Many people would argue that all these figures do is show that the old rules about brand building are redundant.

We are now entering a whole new era of branding and we had better learn the rules of the new era quickly before our brands whither and die.

At the centre of the change are customers themselves. They are empowered, know how to complain, can find out the brutal truths and they read company actions and strategies like an open book.

Today’s customers look at companies from all angles; as consumers, potential employees and investors and they build up a picture of a brand through the 1000s of ways they interact with them or find out about them.

The rules have changed. But you can still win.

Customers are asking “who needs to be loyal to whom?” they are inverting the customer brand relationship and they are in control.

Remember what happened to M&S when it forgot who was in control of the customer relationship, Sainsbury went through the same process of disconnection.

Not everyone can straighten brands out

It is very simple. The way people trust brands is the same as the way they trust other people. People who do what they say they are going to do, maintain consistent values and behave in a consistent way (personality) are those that are generally trusted.

Those that say one thing and do another are those abandoned after their one chance.

Getting back to winning ways

But whilst the rules have changed the importance of winning hasn’t.

In a period of over supply, massive competition, time pressures, media fragmentation and customer confusion your brand and how you deliver it can determine whether you win or lose in business.

So if you want to start winning then just looking at your design and communications will not do.  It only scratches the surface. If that is all you do you can say good bye to your brand. 

If you want to win in the new era you need to do three things.

First, take a look at your market research. Are you really exploring your brand through 360 degrees? Are you really getting the truth?

Then look at your brand vision – is it rooted in the brutal truths, is it truly differentiating, have you really got different values to your competitors and a distinctive personality?

Then take a look at the brand behaviours, the processes that enable things to happen – are they really aligned to delivering the vision?

Be hard on yourselves, it could save your brand and if you do these three things your brand will thrive in the new era and you will deliver well beyond your expectations.

Trust me.

Andrew Stothert is the co-founder of Brand Vista based in Cheshire and a former CEO of JWT Manchester. He was also previously marketing director of A.G Barr.

www.brandvista.co.uk

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