Media & Me - Boosting Brand Reputation
Mind the trust gap - context is key: Who do audiences really trust for news and information?
A new context
Fieldwork for this report was conducted before the coronavirus pandemic became a global health emergency that changed the lives of consumers across the world. At the time of publication, restrictions to freedom of movement have altered our media and consumption habits. It remains to be seen how deep these changes go, and how long their impact will be felt.
For our clients, COVID-19 presents innumerable challenges not only to ways of working, but also to the ability to reach audiences with timely and relevant messages in a responsible, meaningful way.
While the consequences of the outbreak continue to unfold, the fundamentals of effective media and communications planning remain unchanged. As social distancing, self-isolation and quarantine measures become the norm in many markets for the foreseeable future, this report’s findings, examining key considerations for brands and organisations wanting to navigate the risks of personalised channels, could never be more relevant.
We remain committed to helping our clients adapt and respond to the changing media and communications landscape.
The Personalisation Paradox
The Personalisation Paradox
Media is increasingly customised around our stated or presumed interests and needs. There are more channels for us to explore, and more sources of news and information on brands and organisations. Yet there are fewer journalists, and fewer filters between consumers and content creators. Those responsible for building and sustaining an organisation’s reputation may find themselves on dangerous ground.
Technology cuts both ways
Technology makes audiences more and more trackable – giving brands and organisations more opportunity to reach and engage with them in targeted ways. And an individual’s online history can be used to customise the way in which news, information and commercial messages are served to them.
The relevance of the brand messages should improve in line with more accurate targeting. But does this evolution actually make it harder for communicators to reach and influence their target audiences? Are algorithms narrowing the range of news stories and viewpoints that an individual sees so much that they may not come across your organisation’s message? Is personalisation good for advertising but harmful for PR?
Trust matters
‘Spin’, fake news and data manipulation aren’t going away any time soon.
Meanwhile new (increasingly private) media platforms, and creators (such as influencers) appear and evolve, giving plentiful opportunities to reach and engage with audiences.
Marketers are leveraging this new wave of personalisation to target their brand messages. But what does it mean for PR & Communications?
In the rush to explore exciting new opportunities, we mustn’t forget the importance of trust. Measuring audience trust in these new channels, and understanding how using them can impact on your brand’s reputation, is crucial.
This report examines key considerations for brands and organisations wanting to navigate the risks of personalised channels while reaping the rewards.
Mind the trust gap: context is key
Who do audiences really trust for news and information?
Who do audiences really trust for news and information?
The trust gap
Consumers are using more connected personal devices to organise, curate and discover media. And the industry is designing offerings to revolve around these personal preferences. Given this increasing personalisation, brands and organisations need to know that their news and information is reaching the right audience – and that the audience trusts it.
We need to know where our messages are going; where we say what we say is important.
Richard Pennant-Jones, Head of Marketing, Co-op Insurance
We asked connected consumers how much they trust each media channel for news and information sharing.
They told us they trust the news and information they see in print and broadcast media more than that on social media. Company websites are also more trusted than not.
Social media is the only media form with a trust deficit across the total sample – although it’s a different story by age (see below). The range of content posted online is enormous. The opportunity for incorrect information to be posted and reposted, giving it a patina of ‘truth’, is increasingly recognised.
News & Information - The Trust Gap (in %)
The generation gap
Some audience demographics will trust those within their closed network more than those outside it. This trust in the news and information echo-chamber is particularly evident among connected consumers aged 18–34. Only in this age group is social media more trusted than not. Interestingly, newspapers score well across all age categories.
- Social media is most trusted for news and information sharing among 18–34s, and least trusted among those aged 65+. This incorporates both closed platforms (e.g. Facebook) and open platforms (e.g. Twitter).
- Newspapers are the most trusted medium for news and information sharing across all age groups, with no discernible decline among 18–34s.
- Company websites are trusted as a source of news and information sharing except among the over 65s, who are less trusting than other age groups of all mediums except radio programmes.
The lack of trust in certain media forms is an important consideration for brands and public organisations planning communication strategies.
News & Information - The Trust Gap by Market (in %)
The geographical gap
While managing your reputation is a global issue, consumers’ trust in media for news and information sharing varies by market. We believe this is a reflection of local media environments.
The media themselves tend to be locally regulated, structured and funded, all of which have an impact on the degree to which they’re trusted as a source of news and information.
PR and communications plans must be sufficiently flexible for such local differences to be taken into account.
Size isn’t everything
The size of audience attracted to a media form is still important in PR. But the degree of consumer trust in that medium and its content is increasingly significant.
The positive effects of trust make it an important consideration – and a responsibility – for those safeguarding a brand or organisation’s reputation when PR planning.
For media owners too, consumer trust in their news and information capabilities is important. To avoid damage to their business, they must manage their own reputations – not only in respect of those consuming their content but also those pitching content to them.
Harnessing the halo effect
Where do consumers seek out brand information? And do they trust their sources?
Brands benefit from featuring in trusted mass-media forms that lend their authority and credibility to them (the halo effect).
But there’s a risk.
What happens if that media form’s size and trusted status start to diminish? Does the halo effect on brands and organisations reduce as well?
Who do consumers really trust for information on brands and services?
We’ve considered who consumers trust for news, but is it the same when it comes to information about brands and organisations?
Consumers have many ways to collect views and opinions, news and facts about brands and organisations. They can access paid, owned and earned outlets.
We asked our connected consumers which channels they choose to go to and whether they trust the information they find there.
We’ve created a trust score to interpret their responses. This takes the proportion of consumers who say they access media forms for brand news and information, and sets that alongside the proportion who say they trust the media source for that purpose.
For example, while 60% of connected consumers claim to speak to friends and family to source brand news and information, the percentage saying they trust this means of sourcing brand news and information is actually 56% – leading to a trust score of 93.
Trust score (brands and services)
In a world exploding with social media platforms reaching billions of users, organic forms of communication shouldn’t be forgotten. Consumers trust consumers!
I think trust is greatest with peer-to-peer conversation.
Pascale Azria, Executive Director, KingCom & President of SCRP
Friends and family and review sites score highest in our trust score. With more consumer-generated opportunities to reach your audience, PR professionals might consider how they leverage these in their strategies.
Sometimes review sites aren’t a very balanced channel because people writing reviews are usually very happy or really angry! But they’re important and so we pay a lot of attention to them. We have a dedicated team of 20 who try to respond to reviews in real time, ensuring we do our best to meet our consumers’ demands.
Inmaculada De Benito, Director of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Iberostar
Websites and articles are the most trusted mainstream media channels for brand news and information.
While only 50% of connected consumers claim to go to news and information websites to research brands and services, 38% of the total sample trust the information they find there (a trust score of 76).
In Germany, we say that media are the fourth pillar of democracy. But to keep this, journalists need to maintain their credibility – they’re the glue that keeps everything together.
Alexander Leinhos, Head of External Communications, Vodafone Germany
There’s an opportunity to drive target audiences to these media forms; once there, the trusted nature of these sites could benefit your brand or organisation.
Trust in media varies by market
Trust score (brand and services) - by market
Kantar Reputation enables brands and organisations to master their earned media activity. We monitor over a million news sources every day and have 120,000 users world-wide. Our clients can plan, target, distribute, monitor and analyse reputation activities to gain a clear understanding of their media profile, as well as the impact of their communications activities, across all media channels.
Communication campaigns are strongest when they reach the audience across multiple channels in a believable and consistent manner.
Different channels bring different benefits, whether that be mass reach, a defined audience or a trusted status. The best plans take advantage of the halo effect of those channels most relevant and appropriate to the brand or organisation.
Reviewing your licence to influence
Where does trust come from?
Where does trust come from?
With politics driving much comment and content on social media, concern is growing over how much news and information (via any medium) can be trusted.
Is trust generated by the organisation publishing editorial content, or is it held by the individual who creates it?
Credibility resides with news outlets first, then journalists.
Our research reveals that, across seven of the eight markets, the news organisation publishing a story is a greater source of trust for connected consumers than either the journalist writing it or the person sharing it. The exception is Spain where journalists are the primary source of trust. We believe this is because journalists in Spain often report for multiple competing media outlets and aren’t always clearly identified with the news outlet they’re reporting for.
What influences trust in news stories?
Industry leaders told us they believe in the importance of news organisations and appreciate the impact the halo effect can have on brand messages.
We operate in an omnichannel landscape and need to have a holistic approach to our communications across paid, owned and earned media. If I advertise in the Frankfurter Allgemeine, Le Figaro or The New York Times that delivers some sort of positive message about our company. It magnifies the impact of our communications.
Gianfranco Brunetti, Head of Brand & Strategy and PR & Social Media, Lidl
PR & Communication professionals should consider extending their relationship with trusted news organisations beyond the journalists.
Editorial partnerships, event collaborations or promotional opportunities could be explored.
Transparency and trust
The volume of influencers online continues to grow. With dedicated video channels or websites, some have built substantial followings and are seen by many brands as a trusted channel to reach and influence their target audiences.
But as the influencer channel has grown so inevitably have the problems.
Brands and organisations are now holding their influencer partners to account, expecting the same rigour and transparency as with other more established media forms.
Influencers can’t create content or promote a brand successfully if they’re not honest with their audiences.
Pascale Azria, Executive Director, KingCom & President of PR Syntec
Transparency is one of the main drivers in building audiences’ trust. Consumers trust people they know, or feel they know, which explains the trust in influencers. In China, influencers are always paid – a fact that’s clear to the audience. Most are transparent with their followers about their commercial relationship with the brands or products they feature.
Bob Wang, VP Strategy, Social & CRM, Ogilvy China
Do consumers like influencers?
We asked consumers their views on branded content from influencers promoting products or services.
- 24% of consumers agree and 18% agree strongly that they see too much branded content on social media.
- 25% feel strongly that such posts should be labelled in some way.
- This falls to 11% in China, presumably because, as Bob Wang says, it’s always made clear that the influencer is being paid.
- 8% of consumers say they don’t need to be told which posts are branded content.
Attitudes towards branded content in %
Do all brands have licence to influence?
Influencers are better suited to some product categories and industries than others.
In luxury and travel categories, leaders told us that influencers and brand ambassadors are important for showcasing their products in the best possible environment. Their customers enjoy seeing these products at their best in the company of those who best ‘fit’ the brand’s values.
Consumers trust influencers because they appear as friends, sharing moments in their personal lives.
Stefanie Plank, External Communications Director, Swarovski
We’re progressively moving from influencers who have scale across social media to those who are aligned with our values.
Inmaculada De Benito, Director of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Iberostar
The circumstances in financial services are different. Consumers expect transparency and openness in every aspect of the brand’s behaviour, including how it communicates to existing and prospective customers.
We believe it’s important to maintain a strong, ethical position for our brand. We're cautious about using influencers, and on the rare occasions we’ve done so we’ve always made it crystal clear the activity is paid for and that we own it.
Sarah Larvor, Group Reputation Strategy & Planning Director, Lloyds Banking Group
Transparency and trust go together.
It’s very important for us to maintain trust and transparency, both with the media we want to work with and the audience.
Piers Cazalet, Head of Press and Media and Deputy Spokesperson, NATO
Finding the right ‘fit’
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Brands vary in their requirements, often based around a set of best practices built over many years.
‘Fit’ is important. The right influencer for the brand’s values is worth more than the influencer boasting the largest audience.
Strategic communications plans need the right set of ingredients, not just the largest quantity of one ingredient.
We can help communication professionals identify the right ingredients for them, and can advise how best to mix them in the right proportions to achieve the optimum result.
Our easy-to-use analytics dashboard provides key insights in real time on how brands and organisations resonate through their influencers on social media platforms.
Blurred lines
Relevance and privacy: what's appropriate? what's not?
Relevance and privacy: what’s appropriate? What’s not?
Consumers do appreciate relevance and tailored content – as long as targeted advertising is clearly identifiable as advertising, and private messaging apps are (mostly) left well alone. Getting this wrong can seriously damage trust and brand reputation. Brands and organisations need to walk a fine line between relevance and privacy.
There’s a line between paid and earned media
Consumers see a clear distinction between commercial messages and editorial independent of commercial influence. Some 39% told us it’s not OK to send them news stories paid for by an advertiser.
Honesty and transparency build trust. If a brand misuses trust, it can be very hard to regain it. For many consumers there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
Additionally, almost half (48%) of our connected consumers worry that more tailored content means they might miss out on news stories and varied viewpoints that the content-selection algorithms deem of little interest. People do desire relevance, but they also want a rounded point of view. Platforms serving news-aggregated content may not be helpful in this way.
Perspectives on personalised content
- 39% don’t believe it’s acceptable to target them with news stories paid for by an advertiser.
- 48% of consumers worry that more tailored content may cause them to miss out on certain stories and perspectives.
One size doesn’t fit all
There are product categories and industries where the line between news and advertising do blur though. In fashion, for example, we believe some publications are valued by the audience as much for the ads as the editorial. Understanding what appeals to your target audience is more important than any industry-wide, ethical fine line.
Served appropriately, media and communications can provide audiences with interesting and relevant content.
If it's interesting content and relevant to the customer, I don't think they care if the format is an ad or news, if it's paid for or not.
Stefanie Plank, External Communications Director, Swarovski
But one size doesn’t fit all! Financial service brands are concerned about even getting close to crossing the line between objective editorial and paid-for content.
It's not ethical for a brand like ours that is all about trustworthiness, ethical behaviour and low-risk reliability…If it’s something that you're proud of, why would you pretend it's not you? If it's the right thing to do, why would you not have your name on it?
Sarah Larvor, Group Reputation Strategy & Planning Director, Lloyds Banking Group
I don’t think it’s the role of our communications department to pay other people to speak for our brand’s cause. I’d rather reach fewer people with a trusted form of communication than pay people to try to, in some way, fool the consumer.
Alexander Leinhos, Head of External Communications, Vodafone Germany
Regardless of these differences, there’s a line behind which privacy does need to be respected.
The growth in private messaging services is a good example of where this privacy matters.
Private means private
It’s clear that audiences are enjoying the benefits of private messaging apps such as WhatsApp and We Chat.
89% of consumers claim to use a private messaging service
96% of 18-34s claim to use a private messaging service; 64% of this age group use them several times a day.
Private messaging apps are popular not least because they’re more private than social media channels. Privacy and trust go hand in hand.
Attitudes to social media and private messaging services
Privacy matters
- 61% prefer to message their friends on private messaging services because ‘it feels private’.
- 40% use social media less than they used to because of privacy concerns.
Trust is an issue
- 52% of connected consumers agree that they ‘don’t trust’ a lot of what they see on social media platforms, compared with 14% who disagree.
- 35% agree that they trust what they see on private messaging services more than what they see on social media.
While a customised experience is desired by many audiences, the use of private messaging apps by brands and organisations to strengthen their reputation is not acceptable.
If you use private platforms to promote a brand and not because you identified a need from your audience that can only be answered by a one to one relationship, it’s unlikely to be acceptable. You can’t intrude; that’s really the worst thing to do.
Pascale Azria, Executive Director, Executive Director, KingCom & President of SCRP
Different perspectives
Some brands though are setting up groups on private messaging services built around common interests or product categories – and audiences are choosing to engage. A value exchange exists where brands provide a clear benefit to those joining the group.
Adidas has been using WhatsApp to interact directly with customers since 2015*. Initiated by the brand’s marketers as a way to build hyper-local communities in cities across the world, it’s evolved into a core platform for the brand’s global marketing campaigns. WhatsApp, and direct messaging, is seen as a way to grow, rather than buy, influence among fans.
It’s allowed us to build direct relationships with a smaller community of influential people in an ongoing way that doesn’t feel transactional and allows for a conversation, rather than just a broadcast.
Laura Coveney, Managing Editor, Adidas Newsroom London
But the rules need to be clear.
Any brand choosing to leverage private messaging environments must meet audiences’ needs. Consumers should be allowed to join and leave such groups quickly and easily.
A brand’s involvement in private messaging groups must be by permission. They’re closed groups that can enable engagement with customers, not marketing tools – so different rules apply.
Sarah Larvor, Group Reputation Strategy & Planning Director, Lloyds Banking Group
Would you consider including messaging services (e.g. WhatsApp) in your communications plan?
Richer measurement in a connected world
Demonstrating your value to the business
Demonstrating your value to the business
A strong reputation management strategy can only emerge from an understanding of the audience, and the key drivers in targeting, reaching and positively influencing them.
In a more personalised world, where you say what you have to say is as important as the message itself.
From volume to value
Brands and organisations are right to question where their online messages are appearing. Recommendations and decisions need to revolve not just around audience reach, but on the quality and appropriateness of the context in which those messages appear.
My focus is switching from a simple volume reached to quality – and ultimately to value.
Hubert Blanquefort, Director Innovation & Digital Communications, EDF
Earned media builds trust and supports the transfer of trust from credible media forms to brands communicating within them.
It’s crucial to keep target audiences, and their changing needs, top of mind when building an integrated media and communications strategy.
Kantar TGI Global Quick View enables you to profile and plan on the connected consumer, leveraging harmonised international consumer data covering 25 countries. Build impactful campaigns that resonate locally.
A richer view of audience engagement
Using media intelligence to quantify the value of earned media has never been more important, nor more achievable. PR & Communication professionals need to demonstrate how to match message exposure to business objectives and outcomes.
Likes and followers cannot be the sole means of evaluating the role of social media and influencers.
We need better measurement to enrich our view of audience engagement.
If they shared content, how did they share it? If they commented on it, what was the comment?
The analytics application in our Kantar Reputation platform helps you measure the value of your campaigns and benchmark against your competitors and the industry as a whole.
Connecting the dots
Audience trust isn’t owned by any one media form. Brands and organisations should consider the impact of an integrated, connected view across all channels and forms.
Measurement is key to this. Aligning on measurable KPIs linked through to other marketing activities, and establishing how best to use datasets together, can help drive consistency in both messaging and measurement.
Kantar Reputation can create media-analysis dashboards and infographics with a wide range of standard and customer-defined metrics.
How we can help...
We hope you’ve found this report useful as we’ve explored whether personalisation makes communications more challenging.
While brands can benefit from the halo effect of media channels, savvy consumers can see through brand messages placed in inappropriate environments, making it increasingly difficult to plan PR & Communications campaigns.
Kantar enables brands and public sector organisations to manage and measure their earned media activity. We monitor over a million news sources every day, serving over 120,000 users across the world.
Through the Kantar Reputation platform, our clients can plan, target, distribute, monitor and analyse PR materials, gaining a clear understanding of their media profile, and the impact of their communications activities, across all media channels.
Connected Media Intelligence
Your earned media activities rarely operate in isolation as brands develop integrated media strategies across paid and owned channels too. We offer a connected intelligence approach with a range of solutions that support campaign planning, measurement and effectiveness.
Learn more about how we help clients to make smart media choices and grow brand strength, market penetration and sales by visiting our website or getting in touch with a member of the team.
About DIMENSION
DIMENSION is Kantar’s latest thinking on some of the biggest communications planning, buying and measurement issues faced by the media industry.
This year’s study – Media and Me – investigates how brands, media owners and agencies can all win in an increasingly personalised media world.
As consumers use more connected personal devices to organise, curate and discover media, the industry is increasingly designing products and services to revolve around their personal preferences. This trend towards greater personal curation presents enormous opportunities and challenges to the industry that need to be understood.
Uniquely, the study reflects the response and attitudes from twin perspectives: those of the industry’s practitioners and those of the consumers they are trying to reach.
We have two additional reports forming the DIMENSION 2020 study, view them via the links, right.
About the research
We interviewed 8,002 connected consumers in eight markets (Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US: 1,000 respondents in each). Collectively, these eight markets cover over two thirds ($400 billion) of global advertising spend.
Connected adults are defined as those over the age of 18 who use at least two of the following: a PC or laptop (at home or at work), a smart TV (internet enabled), a smart speaker or voice-activated device, a personally owned tablet or smartphone to connect to the internet. We believe this sample to be of the greatest interest and relevance to our clients. The data produced is not, though, comparable with any data gathered from a sample designed to be representative of a total adult population.
Interviews of connected adults were conducted online using the CAWI (computer aided web interviewing) technique by our Profiles Division between 11 November and 4 December 2019. Because a technical issue affected the responses to one question among the German sample, 75% of the original respondents were re-contacted over the period 4–10 February 2020. All numbers quoted in this report are based on this sample unless otherwise stated. A full fieldwork report, complete with methodology and country data, is available from www.kantar.com/dimension.
We also interviewed 37 industry practitioners to elicit their opinions and perspectives. These included senior figures from brands, agencies, media and platform owners, trade bodies, consultancies and adtech businesses. Attributed quotes have been approved for use by the individuals concerned.
About Kantar
Kantar is the world’s leading evidence-based insights and consulting company. We have a complete, unique and rounded understanding of how people think, feel and act; globally and locally in over 90 markets. By combining the deep expertise of our people, our data resources and benchmarks, our innovative analytics and technology, we help our clients understand people and inspire growth.
Written and published by Kantar, April 2020 © All rights reserved.
