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Do I Really Need to Trust My Banana? What Most Marketers Get Wrong About “Trust”
Marketers love talking about trust.
We toss around phrases like “authenticity,” “emotional resonance,” and “earning customer loyalty” as if every purchase is a sacred relationship between buyer and brand.
But here’s the truth: I don’t trust most of the things I buy. I just buy them.
I don’t trust my gas station (I probably don’t even notice the brand). I don’t have a meaningful relationship with the person who stocked the bananas. I don’t need my new ladder to make me feel something.
It’s time to fill the tank with gas. I want a banana. I need a ladder. And then I want to be left alone. I don’t want branded content, net promoter surveys, or a brand community.
So what gives? Is all this “trust marketing” talk a bunch of fluff?
Not exactly.
But let’s stop pretending that every product, brand, or moment requires emotional depth. Because marketing isn’t a single tool. It’s a spectrum of strategies, and trust is just one part of the picture.
The Two Faces of Marketing
At its core, marketing is about creating customers. But there are two fundamentally different ways we do that:
