Among the market trends to keep an eye on for 2021 there would be the great re-discovery of the link between ethics, integrity, and brand loyalty. Seeing is believing!
Every year in January, and especially during these first days of 2021, the editorial staff’s emails are crowded with press releases and articles that predict the trends of the year that has just begun. Often they are projections on the themes of technology, consumer behaviour, market trends, etc. This year the most popular themes are (obviously) the paradigm shift in the world of work – the “permanent” desk is turning into a meeting room connected with colleagues and clients – and the Cloud and connectivity in general, from all points of view: from the professional point of view of corporate networks and data protection (a topic that has returned to the forefrony after various hacking episodes of servers in medical companies working on Covid vaccines), to work or “smart” study, to the consumer and entertainment, which sees us download hundreds of Mbites to watch our favourite series or chase our gamer vocations.
In the article by Manhattan Associates * we read instead of a “new” trend for 2021: the link between trust and ethics in everyday work, but especially as the basis of the commercial link between customers and the brand; that is: customer trust is directly proportional to the integrity demonstrated by the company and its employees. According to Manhattan Associates, in fact, during the lockdown consumers would have become more aware of environmental and corporate behaviours: they are more attentive to how brands behave in terms of the environment and social obligations towards customers and employees.
Certainly not a real novelty, but it can become so when you decide to rediscover the profound value of this assumption, which goes from green production choices and ethical choices in procurement and in the choice of suppliers, up to the relationship of trust with sales representatives, able to advise customers in the best possible way. An element that has, among other things, the great advantage of thus preserving the relationship over the long term, ensuring brand loyalty. Seeing is believing.
* Manhattan Associates is a California-based software house specializing in warehouse management solutions.
