Why trust, motivation, remain key in brand-building —Experts

Stakeholders in the nation’s marketing communication industry  have identified trust and motivation as some of the key ingredients, needed by a brand to effectively win the loyalty of its customers and enhance its equity.

Speaking at this year’s World Consumer Day, organised by the Brand Journalists’ Association of Nigeria (BJAN), in Lagos, recently, the Chief Executive Officer of Kantar Millward Brown Nigeria, Mrs. Ugo Geri-Robert  argued that the increasingly competitive business environment, globally, has made it imperative for  brands,  desirous of commanding a fair share of their market segments, to earn their consumers’ trust.

She also mentioned the following factors as leading to building trust in brands such as the brand being Aspirational, Emotional, Motivational and Functional.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Building Trusted Brands: ‘The Nigerian Experience’, Geri-Robert believes that  one of the ways such trust could be earned is for the brands to exhibit  competence and integrity.

She  however  noted  that  such  trust is usually  earned  through conscious, concerted and continuous  efforts by the brands to identify with the passion and  needs of the consumers.

“Trust is not  just what you say, keep and just drop outside the gate.

Trust is a journey with knowledge at different levels, and one level of trust  graduates to another,  until you arrive at that  desired level of trust,” she added.

She also stressed the need for brands to know the level of trust  it enjoys  with its consumers to enable it ‘speak the  language the consumers understand.

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Citing the Toyota example,  the Kantar Millward Brown boss, stated that the car manufacturer had to recall many of its products (cars) off the streets and showrooms when it was discovered that the airbags installed in the cars were faulty.

She described the car manufacturer’s act,  jettisoning profit for  its consumers’ convenience, as a way of  building trust in the minds of such customers.

Contributing, Mr. Michael Umogun, a Senior Manager at Kantar Millward Brown Nigeria harped on the need for serious businesses to make Research and Development, a critical part of their operations.

“Some  multi-national companies that we work with, have  made research and development (R&D), innovation part of their DNA. Some will tell you no action should be taken until the consumer is consulted,” he stated.

Umogun believes interfacing with such  consumers and knowing their needs will give such brands the competitive edge in the market.

“It’s this expectation that will drive what they will do at the end of the day. The multinational  organizations will come into our market and do better than the local businesses; since they know far more about the market than the local company that sees investment on research, development and innovation as wasted budget or revenue,” he added.

In his contribution,  Mr. Bolaji Okusaga, the Chief Executive Officer of  Precise Media noted that despite having a  customer relations structure, some brands are still far from being customer- centric.

He therefore counseled that for a brand to be successfully built, such brand must first understand the man who consumes the brand, how the brand defines the man and how  such person relate and the attributes that go with that relationship.