PEOPLE & PURPOSE

Only 21 % of UK adults say that they have never lost trust in a brand in a YouGov poll – with 35 % of respondents reporting that they have lost trust in a company due to unethical business practices, and 28 % saying the same of misleading advertising. Losing audience trust can have serious consequences for a company – with 66 % of respondents saying that they boycott brands that have lost their trust. To ensure consumers trust a brand, its messaging has to be linked to its core brand purpose, says Julie Woods-Moss, Chief Marketing Officer of Thoughtworks.“ Most organisations decide what they want to be known for, then write toward it,” she says.“ We do the opposite – start with what’ s already true and build the narrative forward from there.” Yakov Danilevskiy, VP of Global Marketing, Services Division, at Schneider Electric, agrees.“ Purpose-led storytelling is still about one question,” he says.“ What does this person need to hear, and does the answer trace back to what the business actually does?” To build campaigns rooted in trust, organisations must make sure that brand purpose is authentically embedded into every aspect of the company – instead of just the marketing function.

74 October 2026