Page 8 - AeM_June_2019

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Trust trumps all

Just a decade ago, few people would probably have meltdown in Chinese peer-to-peer lenders, and Big
envisioned a world where the concept of “trust” would Tech’s struggle with data privacy and protection. The
become as prominent in their everyday lives as it has. risks arising from a lack of trust are clear, but
Today we get into cars with complete strangers, lend conversely, are we sufficiently aware of the
money to other strangers on the other side of the world, opportunities? Getting their customers to trust in them
and finance ideas that have no guarantee of ever should be a key priority for CEO, CMO, CTO; every
becoming reality. We sleep in the beds of people we’ve business. Yet surprisingly, there’s hardly any
never met while they worry not one iota that we would management literature that credibly discusses the
mess up their homes or worse. Each of these actions concepts involved with driving company growth through
indicates a level of trust in the other party to come building trust.
through on their promises.
The Trust Agenda
Today, “trust” has become a critical enabler of the
myriad business models born of the digital age. What is trust and how can a company earn it? In
With 60% of the global economy forecast to be digitized psychology, the concept of trust is well documented.
by 2022, the role of trust is likely to grow even bigger.
According to the US Sustainable Accounting Standards
Board, intangibles have grown from filling 20% of Trust is the belief that someone or something is
corporate balance sheets to 80%, due in large part to the reliable, good, honest and effective. It is driven by
expanding nature, and rising importance, of intellectual two ingredients:
capital, research and development and elements like 1. Warmth: Empathy – acting in interest of the
market position, brand perception and reputation. In fact, customer, and authenticity – being yourself.
many of these intangible values are largely a matter of
how well companies are able to build trust internally and 2. Competence: Being logical and consistent,
externally. always delivering on promises.

There have been plenty of examples in recent years of To build trust, CMOs needs to get out of their functional
where a breakdown of trust can bring down companies. pillar and start operating at a more executive level,
These include the spate of incidents affecting Malaysia tying together company mission, marketing practices,
Airlines, to bank runs during the credit crisis, the HR strategies, and technology policies.

8 June 2019 - Cyber-security & Data Protection