“Stop Lying, Mate” - Aussie Consumers Have Had Enough

A quite brutal poll — and what it means for local brands

Aarron Spinley
8 min readJun 8, 2021
Credit: BBC

So, get this. Three in four Australian consumers reckon that brands outright lie to them in marketing communications. Lie to them.

Kapow! Bam! Whacko! Smack! Boomfa!

But before we turn this into a 1960s re-run of Adam West’s Batman (look it up), let’s just all acknowledge: this is one heck of a zinger to local brands.

That headline statistic from a late 2020 customer loyalty survey commissioned by the agency, Customology, was among many that ultimately found, that the majority of Aussies lack any kind of trust in brand communications.

Ain’t that a slap in the face to all that branded virtue-signaling that’s been filling up your social feeds.

According to the survey, 82% of all consumers would actively consider another brand to the one they currently use. Now, if that isn’t an epic failing of customer engagement by Australian companies, show me what is. But there will be upside lessons for all.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

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Taking the Rubbish Out

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Aarron Spinley

Growth & brand theory from a top 10 global thought leader (Thinkers360). SPINLEY.CO