What do you do when no one trusts your profession?

Ipsos asked 1,000 British adults about a bunch of professions. 

For each one, they simply asked, “tell me if you generally trust them to tell the truth or not.”

Medical professionals win! 92% of people trust them. Engineers were close behind at 89%.

At the very bottom? Advertising Executives. 

Only 13% of people — fewer than 1 in 7 — trust them to tell the truth.

Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

Is it fair? Maybemaybenot. At least half of what comes out of ad agencies is because of what brands ask them to do/say/lie about  .

But the question remains: what do you do when the world thinks you’re a shyster, a huckster, a snake-oil salesman? 

One powerful idea: tell the truth. Humorously. Entertainingly. Interestingly. But honestly.

Any agency, or brand, or executive, who can muster the courage to be even self-deprecatingly honest will have a huuuuge advantage. 

Consider it the Buckley’s Cough Syrup Strategy.

”It tastes awful. And it works.”

#BrandScience #Advertising