One of the aspects that most companies neglet while creating a marketing campaign is honesty.

Lately it has become important to reflect upon this word as never before.

In the past consumers/users were obliged to live a passive role towards the media, continuously bombed by information with no possibility of checking its truthfulness; they just had to trust it and their confidence was mostly betrayed.
The only defence possible was that of sharing their own experiences and opinions with other people close to them.

This scenario is undergoing a quick change thanks to the development of the internet: the possibility to compare yourself, your tastes and opinions with other users is rapidly growing thanks to fact that in the net there is no time - space limit as in the real world.

Thanks to the broad diffusion of consumer generated media (blog, social network, forum, newsgroup…), users can find virtual places where they can meet and communicate with each other.
Usability is the core of these aggregators, nowadays anyone can easily get in touch with other people and the audience keeps on growing.
This allows people to share their personal opinions about products and brands more easily, rapidly, and at no costs.
Therefore it has become more and more difficult for consumers to rely upon traditional media when they have to choose a product to buy there is a higher and higher need to compare with others to protect themselves from “advertising lies”.

In 2005 Yankelovich (a consulting firm specilized in finding solutions for improving marketing plans for companies) noticed that 76% of the sample taken into consideration didn’t trust in advertising announcements.
This is an aspect which shoudn’t be underestimated by companies. If they want to survive in this new scenario they should understand that the marketplace and its dynamics have changed: nowadays consumers’ opinions play a decisive role.

Consumers are less and less vulnerable and sensitive to suggestions that traditional media spread: new and alternative information sources are becoming more and more important.

For this reason, the first purpose of a company should be that of pleasing the consumer because his/her badmouth could have a great influence on the opinions and purchases of many other consumers.
Honesty should be the core point of every marketing policy and it should be followed by a continuos research of alternative ways to satisfy the needs of consumers.

Confidence has become a very strong element that could influence people’s choices, but no confidence (and faithfulness) could exist if there is no honesty by the company.

It is no more the company that tells the consumer what he/she should buy, it is now the consumer that decide the rules: the consumer is now the centre of the market world.

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