If anything, the world is more about people now than ever before – the global financial crisis did massive damage to people’s trust levels and today’s customer needs to be assured that you have their best interests at heart – you do that by putting a face to your brand.
It is the age of the #Peopleshift.
Look at the Kardashians and how they used their reputations to build a business empire. Air New Zealand became one of New Zealand’s most trusted brands under the open leadership of Rob Fife.
One way you, your brand and your business build trust is to put the interests of your client first. A way to do that is to add value through education, information and inspiration but, to be accepted as credible, the source itself has to be perceived as credible, trustworthy, admirable, personable, understanding; an expert and a thought leader.
When a leader stands up, steps out and builds a reputation as a thought leader, people take note – it differentiates you from the competition because you have moved the conversation away from the cat fight that is features and benefits into the realm of ideas, inspiration and emotion.
At Attain Marketing we like to think about it as ‘creating heroes’ – business leaders people can relate to because through their profile and their ideas they show that they have the best interest of their audiences at heart.
Heroes are well branded. They stand out. They put the public interest first. They blaze new trails. They inspire others with their ideas and their actions. The cast a big shadow – whether it’s just in their neighbourhood, their small niche market, nationally in New Zealand or on the world stage.