By: Lauren Bender, Administrative Coordinator
One of the best ways for brands to build trust with an audience is by being transparent and honest.
We can all think of examples of brands that have not been transparent. There is a seemingly endless list of brands that, in recent years, have:
- Catered to cultural moments in a way that feels inauthentic
- Made bold claims, only to be found out that their business practices didn’t match their public image
- Been exposed for unethical or unlawful decisions made by company leadership
To build a strong brand, it is important to build a great relationship with your audience. Now more than ever, consumers desire brand transparency – and can tell when a brand is not transparent. But what does this actually mean?
According to AdRoll, “Transparency in business is when a brand maintains open, honest and accessible communications and relationships with internal and external stakeholders. When a company is transparent, it discloses important information about business operations, goals, values and even data that could be considered sensitive, like pricing, sourcing, sales figures and more.”
A study from our partners at Sprout Social showed that consumers often use words like honesty, openness and clarity to define transparency.
While this sounds straightforward, brand transparency takes effort and dedication for organizations to implement. There is plenty of work that goes into being authentic with stakeholders, consumers and the media.
Eventually, these efforts can help prevent and reduce damage during times of crisis. In fact, the same study from Sprout Social found that “When brands are transparent and develop a history of transparency, nearly nine in 10 people are more likely to give them a second chance after bad experiences and 85% are more likely to stick with them during crises.”
When a brand is authentically transparent with its values and practices, consumers grow from being trusting to being loyal to your brand. With so many avenues for implementing authenticity in 2023, brand transparency is more available for organizations than ever before.
Contact us to learn more about how our team can help build your brand’s transparency.