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How to Transcend the Trust Gap

As consumer concerns over data privacy grow, tech brands must combat the “hacked and tracked” narrative by making trust central to their purpose and experience. While many companies prioritize innovation and funding, failing to address trust poses an existential risk. Positioned at the heart of people’s trust landscape—above government and media but below family and friends—tech brands now rank lower in trust than businesses overall. Once the most trusted industry in 90% of countries, Tech now holds that position in only half, signalling a critical need for brands to proactively rebuild and strengthen trust to secure long-term success.




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The key drivers of Trust in Tech

Our trust-building model offers a clear, actionable blueprint for brands, making trust tangible. Through extensive analysis of a decade of data from the FutureBrand Index, we have identified eight key drivers Tech brands use to gain a competitive edge. By taking a broad view beyond Tech, the model helps brands understand what it takes to build trust in today’s world. Companies that excel in these attributes see higher consumer loyalty, with people more willing to buy from, pay more for, and work for them. Trust isn’t abstract - it’s a strategic advantage that fuels growth.

The Four Levers for Building Trust

We’ve distilled eight trust-building attributes into four key dimensions that every tech brand should prioritize. 

  • 1

    Reckon with Responsibility


    Trusted tech brands must walk the talk, showing respect, accountability, and a clear responsibility-driven story. With innovation outpacing regulation, brands face ethical dilemmas. Consumers expect tech to prioritize safety and ethical impact, making responsibility a key driver of trust and long-term success.
  • 2

    Lead with Humanity


    A trusted tech brand prioritizes people, leading with emotion, empathy, and human insight. Tech sparks strong emotions—fear, excitement, confusion, and wonder—yet many brands focus solely on innovation. True trust comes from building emotional connections and clearly conveying the human benefits of technology.

  • 3

    Engineer Impact


    A trusted tech brand focuses on impact, not just innovation. People seek purpose-driven technology that creates positive change. With societal shifts and rising expectations, brands must demonstrate real value, inspire change, and prioritize purpose beyond profit to attract both consumers and talent.

  • 4

    Deliver Fully


    A trusted tech brand seamlessly integrates into everyday life, making technology easy to access, understand, and use. By meeting customer needs effortlessly and delivering a consistent experience, brands can build loyalty and trust in an era of rising consumer and employee expectations.

Tools & Comparisons

Fbi 2024 score your brand

Our scoring system provides a comprehensive assessment of your brand's strengths and weaknesses across various dimensions.

Score Your Brand Now
Fbi 2024 company dashboards

What makes a brand thrive?

Fbi 2024 compare the top 100

Dive into our extensive analysis of the Top 100 brands and examine each brand’s performance across critical metrics, including loyalty, experience, and market positioning.

Fbi 2024 tools and comparisons

By concentrating on these sector-specific focus areas, businesses can better align their strategies with market demands and drive meaningful growth.

FAQ

The FutureBrand Index is an annual study that reorders the top 100 global companies by market capitalisation, based on their brand perception. It assesses how well these companies balance 18 attributes across Purpose and Experience to position themselves for future success.

Unlike traditional rankings focused purely on financial performance, the FutureBrand Index delves into how brands are perceived by informed professionals. It focuses on emotional and functional attributes that show a brand’s potential for long-term success.

The FutureBrand Index uses QualiQuant® Interviews with over 3,000 informed professionals who have knowledge of at least 7 companies in the PwC Top 100. These interviews assess companies based on their ability to deliver on experience and purpose.

Absolutely! Every brand can learn from the success—and mistakes—of the world’s biggest brands. Whether you're growing a new challenger brand or refining an established name, the insights are universal.

FutureBrand helps organizations understand what drives brand perception today and how to apply these principles to ensure future success. Whether you're looking to redefine your strategy, double down on your strengths, or fix the apparently unfixable, we provide the insights and tools to guide your brand forward.

The key to becoming a future brand is balancing purpose with experience. Over the last decade, the most successful brands either adapted to market changes or doubled down on what made them great. Purpose-driven leadership, innovation, and building strong emotional connections with customers are essential for long-term growth,

Previous FutureBrand reports

FutureBrand Index 2023

FutureBrand Consumer Index 2024

FutureBrand Index 2022

Super Sustainability Report

Super-Sustainability Report

Future Brand Country Index

Country Index 2020

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