trust: the $1 trillion advertising & marketing problem

TRUST: THE $1 TRILLION

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

PROBLEM

The growing inverse relationship between corporate expenditures on advertising and marketing against consumer trust presents a future threat that needs to be addressed

By Hollis Thomases, 4/27/2014

ADVERTISING & MARKETING WORLDWIDE

IS A $1 TRILLION BUSINESS

"Advertising [$500B]is only about half of marketers' budgets… $400B more spent on direct marketing and another $150B spent on agency fees + Nielsen ratings/market research [$40B just by itself] + marketing tech/automation systems”

Dan Salmon, BDO Digiday 2013 Exchange Summit

TRUST IN ADVERTISING IS AN ISSUE

“Just 22% of consumers trust

emails from companies or

brands, 13% trust ads on Web

sites, and only 32% trust ads

in any channel” MediaPost, April 2014 citing new Forrester Research

IF ADVERTISING IS NOT

TRUSTWORTHY, IS IT

EFFECTIVE? WHAT IS??

UNPAID MEDIA IS MORE TRUSTED…

…AND GAINING MORE GROUND

INFLUENCING DECISIONS

Measures consumer reliance on respective media sources now versus five years ago

FOR MILLENNIALS, USER GENERATED

CONTENT INFLUENCES 50% OF DECISIONS

EXPERT & PEER REVIEWS OUT-PERFORM

BRANDED CONTENT

FAKED & MANIPULATED UGC HARMS

CONSUMER TRUST

Business Insider reveals Ellen Degeneres’ selfie at the Academy Awards was a sham, 4/5/15

Search Engine Journal covers new allegations, 4/10/14

AMERICANS’ TRUST IN LARGE INDUSTRIES

IS WANING

EVEN BRANDS CAN’T TRUST SOME MEDIA!

THERE’S NO PILL FOR THIS PROBLEM

Throwing more money at the problem alone is

not the solution (how much of the growing $1

trillion spend is just waste?)

Consumer trust cannot be bought; it needs to be

earned, and more so than ever

Like diet and exercise can remedy many modern

diseases that instead get over-medicated because

that’s easier, companies need to face real truths

To win and retain customers, brands need to go

on a “health plan” to get to and treat consumer

distrust (root cause) and waning ad efficacy

(symptom)

HOLLIS THOMASES – DIGITAL LIAISON

In 1998, multi-time award-winning entrepreneur Hollis Thomases founded Maryland-based Web Ad.vantage, providing strategic digital marketing and advertising solutions. In 2013, Hollis became a sole practitioner focused on digital marketing awareness and advocacy – ensuring clients are educated and avoid the pitfalls, wasted revenue and missed opportunities resulting from the fast-changing digital landscape.

In January 2010, Hollis authored the book, “Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day,” by John Wiley & Sons, and has been a columnist with Inc.com, Social Media Marketing Magazine, and ClickZ. Hollis also frequently speaks at industry conferences and association events.

Hollis Thomases graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Social Relations. You can find her in the Twittersphere @hollisthomases, on LinkedIn, by email or by old-fashioned phone: +011-484-679-6364.

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