Trust me! Building a brand is about more than good PR

There’s a big difference between selling a product and building a brand.

A product can be judged on what it does. Does it work? Does it represent good value? Does it look good? Does it have the features people want?

A brand is rather more complicated.

A brand is a promise. And, ultimately, whether someone believes that promise comes down to one thing: trust.

I’m currently working with an overseas brand that is looking to establish a foothold in the UK. It has a strong product, an ambitious proposition and some big plans for the market.

But there is a recognition that none of that automatically translates into customer confidence.

Particularly when you’re asking someone to spend a significant amount of money, trust matters.

Think about buying a house. You’re not simply buying bricks and mortar. You’re making a significant financial commitment based, at least in part, on the belief that what you’re being told is true. That the building is what it appears to be. That the people selling it are being honest with you. And that, if something unexpected happens, you won’t simply be left to deal with it yourself.

The same principle applies to almost any big-ticket purchase.

That makes building trust every bit as important as building awareness.

And it’s something this particular brand is taking seriously.

Rather than simply telling people to trust it, it is putting the infrastructure in place to earn that trust. That means comprehensive warranties, robust customer support and the kind of back-up services designed to give customers genuine reassurance.

It is also looking beyond the immediate transaction.

There is a significant commitment to UK-based sponsorships and partnerships, with the intention of becoming part of the communities in which it operates. The message is pretty simple: we’re not here for a quick win. We’re investing in the UK, its customers and its communities for the long term.

For me, that is a really interesting lesson in brand building.

Because trust is hard won.

You can’t buy it with a media campaign. You can’t create it with a clever strapline. And you certainly can’t build it by making increasingly extravagant claims about how brilliant your product is.

In fact, sometimes the most effective thing a brand can do is admit what it isn’t.

Be honest about what the product can and can’t do. Be transparent about pricing. Don’t promise something you can’t deliver. And when something does go wrong – because, inevitably, something will – deal with it properly.

It sounds obvious. But in a world where brands are competing relentlessly for attention, there can be a temptation to shout louder and make bigger claims.

The problem is that attention isn’t trust.

Trust comes from consistency.

It comes from saying something and then doing it. Then doing it again. And again. It comes from the experience matching the expectation.

And perhaps most importantly, it comes from demonstrating that you actually care about what happens after the sale.

That is particularly important for brands entering a new market. An overseas company can arrive with an excellent product, a compelling price and a huge marketing budget, but none of those things automatically make it a British brand.

That takes time.

It means understanding the market rather than simply exporting a strategy from elsewhere. It means listening to customers. Building local relationships. Supporting local communities. Investing for the long term.

And, ultimately, behaving like a brand that intends to be here for the long haul.

The irony is that the more you try to convince people to trust you, the less convincing it can sometimes feel.

The better approach is to give them reasons to trust you. Build a genuinely good product, stand behind it when things go wrong, be honest about what it can and can’t deliver, and demonstrate through your actions that you are committed to the market and the people you want to serve. Do that consistently and, over time, something much more valuable than awareness begins to develop: people start to believe that your promises are worth something. And that is the point at which a product stops simply being something you can buy and starts becoming a brand people can believe in.