How brands can build trust among consumers?

A brand can build trust amongst consumers only with honest claims and service with utmost integrity. And these are the companies who can build brands and take milage during tough times as both consumers and channel partners recognize the integrity of the organization and believe in the claims of the brand as they deliver value as per expectation. Another factor which will help on this front is right pricing, not premium or not too low. A price which is identified rightly by the consumers and which offers value for money.

Focussing on R&D will endear your brand to the consumer a great deal. What i mean by focussing on R&D is not just scientific testing but also the art of listening to the consumer and acting on it. Quite often brands spend millions on market research that is either faulty or is totally junked when it calls for a complete change in the product charachteristic which has already seen a lot of money invested.

To explain further let me quote the example of Samsung Washing machines in the US. Before launching new models by the dozen Samsung reinvented the wheel by going back to the consumer and tried to find out a great deal about washing habits and frequency etc. This they then integrated it into its scientific thinking and rolled out the Silver Nano washing machines whereby a tiny globulet of the actual metal silver is placed at the point where the water is pumped into the machine. This helps in releasing silver ions into the tub and hence onto the clothes. Now, samsung didnt just rest on its laurels or its path breaking find, they went ahead and had it tested and endorsed with the FDA in the US which backed Samsungs claim that its washing machine keeps the clothes bacteria free and durable for a longer period of time than other washing machines.

This helped it notch up loyal consumers in the US for its washing machines and sales triples. Now the silver nano technology is patented and finds an echo in all its products like the home AC and fridge.

This certainly is one sure fire way of building trust amongst consumers

Brand is become popular only when it impact on customers mind. How to make effective branding to impact on customers mind it is crucial stage of branding. It depends on how you brand your company & yourself against customers. So, word of mouth publicity plays an important role in building strong trust among customers regarding Brands. 

To build a trust among consumers, a brand must communicate itself not only in terms of product beenefits, but the socio economic benefit to society at large. Apple told it's consumers to "Think Different", Nike told it's consumers to "Just Do It", offlate "Videocon" has started branding it's logo with green. All the branding exercise must exhort consumer not only to remember the product logo based on it's product features by socially and economically relevant point as well. Tata and Birla name evokes trust into consumers mind because these companies has not only sustained the ups and downs with the progress of our country but has also contributed to the country's socio economic development.

Companies should strive to open up their organizations to such an extent that there really isn't any information to hide. Information is only powerful if it's not fully disclosed, so why risk having that power used against you when you can simply eliminate the risk? The open source movement is an excellent example of how open practices can be successful.

Also look at video which talks about Future Consumers, Lifestyles and Online Communities its really amazing..

Trust is the cornorstone of relationships. Particularly, in businesses, people do business with people.  Hence, trust is responsible for business. If a person buys a babycare product from Johnson and Johnson, he trusts the brand completely, after all it is about one's baby.  Similarly, when a person accepts a doctor's prescription and buys the medicines completely as prescribed - it implies that the patient trusts the doctor completely. Absolute trust. Relationships between service or product provider and the consumer is that of trust.

How does such trust or sense of reliability develop? Through continuous win-win relationship transactions. The trust factor is based on mutual benefits. The day a feeling comes in that it is not a win-win relationship, ie., win-lose or lose-win type of relationship, business collapses. Pharma manufacturer Merck had a much fancied brand of rofecoxib (Vioxx) - it was a darling of the prescribing crowd in pain management situations. The day clinical - post marketing surveillance - reports were out that Vioxx causes higher incidence of strokes/heart attacks, ALL TRUST WAS BROKEN, the brand collapsed, US FDA banned it, doctors stopped prescribing and patients sued Merck - everything blew a big hole in the balance sheet of Merck. That is the effect of loss of win-win relationships.

So to build trust, listen to customers, transact on the basis of mutuality (win-win relationships) every time. Emphasize this value in advertising and communcation activities.  This will water the plant called TRUST. www.pharmaceuticalshealthcare.blogspot.com