The Dos And Don'ts Of Branding In The Era Of Distrust

Asa Cook examines the fine art of appearing personable in brand campaigns

- Asa Cook

Remember when branding used to be called ‘corporate identity’? It spoke to one of the key branding rhetorics of the day: ‘you can trust me because I’m a big, global business.’

But last year’s damning research by Ipsos Connect revealed that 42 per cent of people claim to distrust big brands and 69 per cent distrust advertising. As a result, brands don’t always want to look big, corporate and powerful anymore. They want to look real and personable and reflect their true values and roots.

Some attempts to do this can be very successful, building brand loyalty and bolstering beliefs in what a brand stands for. But equally, some attempts to appear more human can be met with massive skepticism and at worst, fury.

So, how can brand designers successfully navigate this minefield? Success comes from telling the human story and getting the tone just right.

An example of brilliant thinking when it comes to this was KFC’s response to the recent ‘chicken crisis’. In a press ad by Mother, the letters of the ‘KFC’ identity were playfully rearranged to read ‘FCK’. It expressed a genuine, human reaction to the issue with the brand holding its hands up and acknowledging its failings with a perfect, relevant tone of voice for the moment. Implicit in the art direction is the idea that KFC’s chicken is so good that it’s unsurprising supplies ran out. It’s genius and I’d be amazed if it doesn’t win awards.