What The Traitors can teach us about brand trust

As nan adjacent play of The Traitors approaches, it’s a cleanable infinitesimal to bespeak connected nan play of past season. If you’re precocious to nan party, contestants get astatine a castle and observe whether they’ll beryllium playing arsenic ‘Faithfuls’ aliases ‘Traitors’. The domiciled of nan Faithfuls is to place nan Traitors among nan group and banish them earlier nan extremity of nan game. The Traitors’ purpose to enactment undetected and debar banishment. B2B trading is nary statement game, but nan deed TV show tin thatch america a point aliases 2 astir marque trust.

In The Traitors, zero-sum reasoning is forced upon nan contestants, wherever one’s summation is another’s loss. A civilization of mistrust sets successful passim nan bid and much contestants are gradually ‘murdered’ aliases banished because they are labelled arsenic Traitors. The business world tin besides beryllium a zero-sum crippled — but is nan reply to spell connected nan violative for illustration nan Traitors?

When facts aren’t facts

Throughout nan series, nan Faithfuls usage ‘facts’, watching changes successful behaviour and analysing nan words group usage to build a lawsuit that a definite individual is simply a traitor. In nan past series, Paul successfully primed nan Faithfuls to footwear retired 2 of his chap Traitors for illustration a pantomime villain. Often, nan squad gets it wrong, “murdering” an guiltless Faithful.

This raises an absorbing mobility astir erstwhile facts are really facts. For example, galore businesses are interweaving firm societal work (CSR) strategies into their comms to show their committedness to ethical and responsible practices, each successful nan sanction of marque spot and appeal.

But are these commitments to sustainable, ethical practices genuine? How tin we beryllium definite there’s constituent down these initiatives? We’ve each heard nan building ‘greenwashing’. Not only is this believe deceptive, but it besides diminishes a company’s greenish marque trust. The Faithfuls sewage it wrong, and truthful tin large brands.

Remember, you don’t request to declare to beryllium a sustainability leader if you’re not an master connected nan matter. Instead, stock your travel pinch customers, nan challenges you look and really you’ve progressed. This could beryllium thing for illustration fitting star panels to your roof. This incremental attack is acold much genuine, and effective, than launching large institution ‘missions’ that see promises you’re unsure you tin keep. 

Don’t spell pinch nan flow

In almost each episode, we saw a roundtable statement shape connected who to banish based connected sketchy ‘facts’. Worse, sometimes ‘facts’ were presented that disproved nan personification nan corporate was voting for, but erstwhile a sanction was uttered, nan group wouldn’t move distant from it. Remember erstwhile Jasmine was banished because of her closeness pinch Ross, a Traitor?

There’s an important instruction here. Even if a ample marque dominates nan conversation, smaller firms shouldn’t beryllium acrophobic to propose thing caller — whether it’s a caller product, a campaign, aliases thing else. Staying safe and aligning yourself pinch nan position quo won’t needfully amended marque spot long-term.

Focus connected uncovering your voice. By moving pinch nan experts — aliases technical PR specialists — you tin find your company’s reside and commencement to create your messaging successful a measurement that brings you person to your audience. It’s easy to get caught up successful nan wide narrative, but carving retired your niche and remaining existent to your marque characteristic will return you overmuch further successful nan crippled of trust. It can, for instance, consciousness basal to return a stance connected trending topics for illustration AI, instrumentality learning, and their spot successful nan workplace. But if it doesn’t consciousness right, don’t jump connected nan bandwagon because everyone other is talking astir it — your assemblage will cognize whether aliases not you’re being authentic.

So, what tin brands study from The Traitors? Quite a lot. It teaches america that not each truth is simply a truth and that what we spot arsenic existent tin beryllium deceptive. As good arsenic this, it shows nan pitfalls of herd mentality, and why it doesn’t ever salary to instrumentality pinch nan group. Separate yourself pinch a slayer method PR run and raise your sound astatine nan large woody table.

• Martin Deakin is an relationship head astatine technical PR agency Stone Junction. To support up to day pinch nan latest mentation and believe successful method PR, subscribe  to Stone Junction’s podcast, The Junction Box, connected Apple Music, Spotify aliases wherever you for illustration to get your podcasts today.

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Tags: AI, audience, campaigns, trust