Brands need to be in the business of hope and community if they’re to truly foster trust with their customers in this new world of Covid-normal, says Salesforce’s global chief marketing officer.

Harvey Norman has been the biggest loser in the latest Roy Morgan trust survey, skidding as other retailers benefited from record GDP 9.6 per cent growth for the year and maintained their trusted positions.

Many brands set store by levels of customers’ trust but cracks are appearing in the value of measuring it. That's the view of Fifth Dimension CEO, Lyndall Spooner, whose research consultancy is trying to dissuade clients from using trust scores.

Trust is at an all-time high across Australia’s government, media and corporate institutions according to the latest Edelman Barometer Index - even as the trust-inequality gap remains significantly larger here than globally.

“The way we have historically looked at creating relationships with customers has been relatively ineffective. It's very expensive and it's highly unpredictable.”

Australia has the highest trust inequality in the world, with local consumers lacking faith in everything from government to business, media and NGOs.

Privacy will remain high on the consumer’s agenda, as marketers look to different channels to connect with consumers.

A new report on leadership has confirmed what marketers have known for years, good brand leadership comes down to trust, authenticity, and connection.

Less than a quarter (23 per cent) of Australians are aware of what happens with their personal information after they share it with a data collector.

​Brand experience and innovation are key drivers of brand value, according to a new report.

Dubbed the “Donald Trump of TripAdvisor” by The Washington Post, Oobah Butler turned a non-existent restaurant, The Shed, into the top rated dining establishment in London on TripAdvisor through social manipulation. Speaking at this week’s Online Retailer conference, Oobah Butler delivered his keynote on ‘Cutting through the bullsh*t of social influence manipulation’ where he detailed his scheme while working as a journalist for Vice.

It seems what platform a marketers’ brand message appears on is just as important as the brand message itself.

​Australia is a distrusting nation and this will not change until the customer is truly put at the centre of decision making by governments, institutions, and business, according to a report by Edelman.

​Corporate branding is more important than ever, as companies with a good reputation can command a minimum 9 per cent premium for products, a new study has shown.

Rachael Powell’s job title tells us all we need to know about marketing right now. As chief customer, people and marketing officer at Xero, she is the embodiment of the evolution of marketing and how, in order to achieve true connection with the customer, trust must occur from the inside before it can go out to the customers.

The trust deficit continues to grow between companies and consumers - and to succeed companies must measure and capitalise on their trust assets, according to PwC Australia's entertainment and media industry leader, Megan Brownlow.

Customer trust is not only vital in an environment where customer expectations are increasing daily and competition is fierce, it is a brand differentiator that could make or break a business. You only have to look at the recent scandals around Facebook or the Australian Banks to see this happening.