"More people are seeking genuine human connections and human experiences," said Alex Underwood, global head of agency development for community-centred platform Reddit. “We've done research to explore Gen Z attitudes around search and social and there is growing weariness and apprehension about these artificially curated feeds."
That research, From Search to Research: How Search Marketers can keep up with Gen Z found that Gen Z consumers are increasingly sceptical of influencers and choose to trust the reviews and endorsements of their peers on Reddit, whose 16bn posts and comments makes one of the world’s largest archives for human conversations.
When asked how these leaders build trust in today's digital landscape, Allegra Krishnan, chief loyalty and engagement officer for McDonald's, urged: “We need to be more transparent about when we're using AI – customers see through it and want more authenticity."
Matt Bushby, CMO at the property website, Rightmove, added: "Trust is central to our brand. There are efficiencies from AI but there has to be a balance with how that is perceived. We tread a fine line and have quite a lot to lose if we get it wrong."
Here are the key themes of this conversation hosted by Reddit:
Don’t fake it
But what actually is trust? Katie Lee, chief operating officer at global agency Wavemaker, said: "There's emotional trust and functional trust. Some brands, like Amazon, have huge functional trust but fairly low emotional trust. It's important to look at supply chain and operations."
Sarah Sorrenson, global head of media for drinks giant Diageo, said: “A big part of our focus is building responsible media. We want to be the most trusted CPG organisation and we need to feel we are in a trusted environments. We've focused on investing in under-represented spaces in media.”
Patty O'Hayer is global head communications and government affairs for Reckitt, the health and hygiene company, whose brands include Dettol and Durex. For her, "trust is driven first and foremost by product quality. But it's also how you show up in any interaction."
Search party: the next wave of marketing
James Shoreland, CEO of VCCP Media, believes that trust and privacy concerns provide opportunity for marketers. "They're bringing marketing skills back to the fore," he said.
"We love SEO and linking SEO to creative is our treasure box. My grandad used to say to me, 'what people think, say and do are three different things'. SEO really gets to the essence of what they're really looking for. It's a great catalyst for thinking more broadly about targeting. I'm excited about the next wave of marketing using SEO."
Community and context
Cat Chappell, Mediahub’s head of platforms and investment, said that demographics were less important than what users were searching for and interested in. "Moving to those contextual signals makes media work harder for brands," she said. "Contextually you get a better understanding of them which means you can have those more authentic conversations."
Hannah Walker, head of mid-market partnerships UK, from Reddit said: "Reddit is much more about contextual marketing – [advertising around] pop culture, football, fandom or anything people are interested in."
She said that conversations come from informed and authentically passionate people, which drives trusted advice and recommendations. Reddit's community-centered model creates diverse and contextually relevant conversations to audiences at scale. "More thoughtful recommendations happen when in the right context."
Underwood added: "What Reddit offers is the opportunity for brands to be part of community conversations in contextually rich environments, ultimately helping to build trust with their customers in brand safe environments."
Jem Lloyd-Williams, CEO of Mindshare, said: "We want to double down on channels that work. Communities are a big part of trust. You can mine communities and then play that back to them. By implication it shows what they're worried about."
Creating a dialogue
"We talk about how we share the tech with our customers, how we can co-create," said Krishnan. To celebrate the birthday of McDonald's icon Grimace ("your fuzzy purple bestie"), McDonald's created a special meal and shake. “People started putting it on platforms everywhere. We just let them take it because it creates a dialogue. That brings the trust and they feel part of a cultural moment."
James Shoreland, CEO of VCCP Media added: "When I worked in the movie business we had this saying 'you can't plan everything, but you must plan for everything'. Quite recently we helped a brand launch a drink in Miami, and we engaged with Latino communities, with parents, gamers and even little tiny subsets of Latinos in Miami. But every day, it's quite exhausting to work out what you're getting back but the key decision is, 'what do we not react to?'"
The wait of expectation
But what about when there's a reputational crisis. Stick or twist? O'Hayer was clear. "The risk is not responding. The assumption is that if you don't respond, then you are implicit or that you're not aware of the cultural context of your brand. Following Roe versus Wade [the overturning of the 1973 case legalising abortion in the US], there was an expectation that Durex, as a brand, would respond. Sometimes big companies step back and wait because they think it's too dangerous. But there is a peril in waiting."
Lloyd-Williams asked: “The crucial question: is it going to add oxygen? Or is it worth having a point of view and having your say? If you're clear on the answer then you can do something about it."
Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary, Super Size Me, put McDonald's in a very public firing line. "The McDonald's approach was how do we get the haters back with us?" explained Krishan. "But then there was an intentional shift not to market to the haters but to the superfans, and have a lot of fun with the brand and do it in an authentic way."
Memorability: the latest metric
“We’re swamped with metrics and KPIs,” said Shoreland, “so we’ve done research to measure memorability. If you remember something positively you will trust it.”
O’Hayer added: “We measure brand trust, corporate trust, reputation and attention to buy. It’s interesting to note whether you’re a house of brands or a branded house. In some cases individual brands contribute to corporate trust. But trust is not the same as awareness – it’s a very small segment. Trust linked to intention to purchase is a very defined metric.”
The rest isn’t politics: companies can save the planet
Patty O’Hayer, global head communications and government affairs, Reckitt said that while trust in politicians is tanking, that “trust in companies is at an all-time high”.
“Gen Z are not counting on politicians or governments to solve the world’s problems, they’re counting on companies. There is an expectation in younger consumers that you will not only not deplete the planet, but also something about its problems.”
On the panel…
- Matt Bushby, CMO, Rightmove
- Allegra Krishnan, VP and chief loyalty & engagement officer, McDonald’s
- Patty O’Hayer, global head communications & government affairs, Reckitt
- Sarah Sorrenson, global head of media, Diageo
- Katie Lee, chief operating officer, Wavemaker
- Jem Lloyd-Williams, CEO, Mindshare
- James Shoreland, CEO, VCCP Media
- Alex Underwood, global head of agency development, Reddit
- Hannah Walker, head of mid-market partnerships UK, Reddit
- Cat Chappell, head of platforms and investment, Mediahub
All roads lead through Reddit
Key takeaways from Reddit’s research
Discovery Between 17% (consumer electronics) and 66% of recommendations come at the discovery stage of purchasing when consumers search ‘best product etc’.
Consideration 52% of recommendations occur at the consideration stage.
Decision The most recommendations at the decision stage (30%) of consumer tech purchases as consumers ask for help choosing between different products.
Twice as many US Gen Z social-media users say they will rely less (than more) on influencers in five years’ time.
While 40% of social-media users say they first hear about products through search engines, influencers or Amazon, they view these resources as “unsafe”, “impersonal” or “untrustworthy”.
There’s a tidal wave changing the way we search. Dive into the full research and learn what these evolving behaviours mean for your media mix here >>>