Nestled in on an early morning train, heading to the Smithsonian Institute's Craft Show in Washington, D.C., with Sunday morning necessities — coffee, bagel, and the New York Times — the front page has me perplexed.
One of the lead stories is about Goldman Sachs' "'serious'" profiteering, betting that the housing market would collapse.
At the bottom of the same page, Citi touts the "new" Citi. That would be the Citi that "promises to serve the needs of customers above all else." What was the old Citi doing?
If you have to place an ad to announce that now you're trustworthy, that's a problem. Sends red flares to me.
The double trouble with placing an ad like that is you never know what news story might undermine credibility, creating cognitive dissonance and thus distrust, exactly the opposite of what you're shooting for.
Trust is earned not broadcasted. It's not assumed because you placed an ad.
Consider the medium when you want to cultivate people's trust. Investing in sponsorship, a medium that actually allows you to demonstrate trustworthiness, at least briefly, might be a better way to go.
