Trust revealed as the second most powerful business driver in B2B
More than two-thirds (67%) of B2B decision makers feel trust has become more important in driving success, with it now being the most powerful metric after product or service quality.
The Bridging the Trust Gap report from IPA and Financial Times surveyed over 750 global B2B decision-makers who acknowledged trust as “increasingly critical in commercial relationships”. With 85% also believing that trust delivers a competitive advantage.
Out of those surveyed, 94% believe trust delivers customer loyalty, 93% say it creates a stronger brand, and 62% think it leads the way for premium pricing.
The report also highlights that companies measuring trust as a board-level KPI are believed to be over three times more likely to report stronger profits than those that don’t.
Only 22% of companies have trust as a board-level KPI, although the UK has the highest penetration of measurement of trust across major markets, with 27% of UK companies saying trust is a KPI, compared to 16% in the US, 20% in Europe and 19% in Asia Pacific.
Yet most businesses are underperforming on trust, particularly in finance, tech, cybersecurity, insurance, and property where “trust gaps” are prominent.
For B2B specifically, the research found that reliability, competent human interaction and data security were among the key pillars to establishing trust and removing trust gaps.
In relation to advertising, “gatekeeper media” delivers higher levels of trust compared to UGC sites and platforms. International newspaper and news brands deliver a trust level of 74% overall, and national newspapers and news brands are trusted by 54%, with social media platforms scoring at just below 2% for “high level trust”.
Source: IPA and Financial Times
Half of content creators experiencing burnout
Over half (52%) of content creators have experienced burnout as a direct result of their career as a creator, research from Billion Dollar Boy finds.
From its survey of 1,000 creators and 1,000 marketers, 37% of content creators were found to have considered quitting the industry.
Two-fifths (40%) cite creative fatigue as a key source of burnout, followed by demanding workloads (31%) and constant screen time (27%).
Financial instability is highlighted as the number one factor for burnout, with 55% of creators reporting this.
Three in five creators (59%) say burnout is having a negative impact on their careers, and 58% say it’s affecting their overall wellbeing.
From its sample of 500 UK marketers, two-thirds (64.6%) of marketers agree burnout is having a negative impact on the careers of content creators.
Most (70.8%) agree burnout was a widespread challenge for content creators, with 75.2% agreeing brands have a responsibility to protect creator wellbeing.
Some 61.8% of UK marketers think creators already receive adequate support, and around half of creators feel they receive adequate support from brands (48%), agencies (49%) and platforms (49%).
When asked what would help reduce their burnout levels, 38% of creators said setting work life boundaries would help, 34% pointed to taking time off more regularly and 32% recommend using AI and scheduling tools to reduce workload.
Source: Billion Dollar Boy
Formula 1 fans increasingly moving towards alcohol-free choices
New research from Nielsen and Heineken highlights the shift in drinking habits among sports fans.
Conducted across 11 markets and representative of 70% of the combined Formula 1 and UEFA Champions League fanbase, the research finds one in four sports fans are actively opting for alcohol-free alternatives, with 56% of Formula 1 fans regularly choosing alcohol-free beer over the alternative.
Formula 1 fans drink more Heineken 0.0 than the general population, as 43% of the general population choose the alternative compared to 56% of Formula 1 fans.
Heineken specifically is identified by Formula 1 fans as the drinks brand encouraging responsible consumption the most.
The drinks brand has been a partner of Formula 1 for ten years, saying it looks at the partnership as a way to “drive cultural change”.
Source: Nielsen and Heineken
Consumers ‘more likely’ to buy from brands sponsoring women’s sport than men’s
Consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that sponsors women’s sport than men’s, according to the Women’s Sport Trust’s latest consumer report.
Some 9.96 million consumers say they are more likely to purchase from women’s sport sponsors, compared with 8.38 million for men’s sport. This figure is up 2% since 2023.
Moreover, 30% of consumers think more positively of brands that support women’s sport through sponsorship, compared with 20% for men’s sport. The research surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,080 UK adults and tracked 40 different partnerships.
Among 18-34-year-olds, awareness of women’s sport sponsorship is higher than it is among the total UK adult population, reaching 63% for football partnerships compared to 46% for the overall population.
Alongside this, sponsorships are found to deliver strong impact among those who are aware of the relationship, even if these audiences are smaller.
The research also finds that Rexona’s tie-up with England and Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze was the top rated for brand affinity.
Overall positive sentiment towards brands investing in women’s sports is increasing. Three-fifths (59%) of consumers familiar with Adidas’s women’s sport partnerships feel more positively towards the brand, compared with just half (50%) in 2023.
Source: Women’s Sports Trust
Channel 4 study finds advertising fails to reflect modern masculinity
Advertising is failing to connect with young men, with just one in four (26%) saying they regularly see advertising that reflects “the man they want to become”.
The findings are part of Channel 4’s ‘Mirror on the Industry’ series, which explores diverse representation within the advertising industry.
The latest instalment, produced in partnership with National Research Group (NRG), focuses on masculinity and reveals a disconnect between how men aged 18 to 34 see themselves and how they’re portrayed on TV ads.
One in three young men say they rarely or never see men they “would like to be” in advertising. Meanwhile, over a third of men aged 18 to 34 say advertisers must do more to include men who better reflect them in advertising, rising to 50% among those aged 25 to 34.
For example, while men are visible in TV advertising, the portrayal skews significantly older. Just 17% of male characters are assumed to be aged 19 to 29, compared to 28% of female characters.
The research also highlights that the dominant portrayals of men in advertising are ‘strong’, ‘successful’, ‘intelligent’ or ‘overly masculine’. Young men say this “narrow, glossy” version of masculinity doesn’t reflect reality.
Mirror on Masculinities makes recommendations for brands and marketers, including advising them to build on what matters to young men, such as emotional depth, vulnerability and growth. It also suggests reflecting masculinities shaped by race, class, gender identity, sexuality and disability, and celebrating male friendships.
Source: Channel 4
