With endless options at their fingertips, consumers demand not just quality products but also brands they can trust. This trust is often the deciding factor in building long-term customer relationships.
Enter consumer PR — a critical tool for brands aiming to cultivate and maintain trust through transparency, engagement, and authenticity. In this article, we’ll explore how consumer PR contributes to brand trust, dive into key strategies to maximise its effectiveness and highlight inspiring examples from successful campaigns.
Understanding Consumer PR and Brand Trust
By understanding consumer PR and how it intersects with consumer trust, we can strategically build brand trust in a way that can stand the test of time if managed well.
What is Consumer PR?
Consumer public relations refers to the strategies and efforts a brand undertakes to communicate with and engage its target audience.
Unlike corporate PR, which focuses on stakeholders like investors or government bodies, consumer PR prioritises the public — those who buy and use the brand’s products or services.
Consumer PR agency Pitch further differentiates the PR types: “Corporate PR delivers external and internal messaging about your brand to the key stakeholders in your business, to effectively promote your company culture and values. Consumer PR on the other hand engages with the public, getting your message out through the media about your brand, services and products.”
The Intersection of PR and Trust
At its core, PR is about creating and maintaining a favourable image for a brand. This becomes particularly effective in building trust when a company is transparent, consistent in its messaging, and demonstrates a commitment to its consumers.
Here’s how PR strategies build trust:
- Transparency: Clear communication about products, policies, and values instils confidence
- Consistent messaging: A unified voice across all platforms prevents confusion and reassures consumers
- Crisis management: Effective PR responses during challenges can turn potential disasters into trust-building opportunities
- Personal engagement: By connecting with individuals on a personal level, brands demonstrate they care beyond the transaction
Types of Consumer PR
Consumer PR can generally be classified into three categories:
- Owned PR: Content fully controlled by the company, such as blogs or social media posts
- Paid PR: Sponsored content or advertisements, where partial control lies with the brand
- Earned PR: Coverage from external sources like journalists, influencers, or customers. Though tricky to secure, earned PR is the most credible and impactful because it stems from unbiased perspectives
These efforts have significant benefits, including increased brand awareness, enhanced reputation, and reduced marketing costs.
Key Strategies in Consumer PR for Building Brand Trust
Essential approaches to consumer PR include storytelling, online review systems, social media and influencers, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Authentic Storytelling
Storytelling is a cornerstone of effective consumer PR. Authentic narratives allow brands to resonate emotionally with consumers, fostering loyalty. For instance, in highly competitive industries like retail, consumers are drawn to brands with values and experiences that reflect their own. By sharing stories about real customers, employee experiences, or the company’s journey, brands create a sense of authenticity that builds trust.
The Power of Online Reviews
Today, more than 83% of consumers consult online reviews before making a purchase. These reviews are not just a tool for decision-making but also a powerful PR asset. Positive feedback on blogs or review sites often links to a brand’s website, boosting its search engine ranking and capturing consumer trust.
Notably, Google’s first page accounts for up to 92% of all web traffic. By securing positive mentions and backlinks, brands not only increase visibility but also reinforce credibility.
Leveraging Social Media and Influencers
Social media platforms are vital for engaging directly with consumers. Through platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter), brands can interact, respond to feedback, and showcase their values.
Influencers play an essential role here. Consumers are more likely to trust recommendations from relatable, neutral voices than from direct brand messaging. Influencer partnerships, when done authentically, amplify a brand’s reach and humanise its image.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Modern consumers are acutely aware of ethical and social issues. Studies show that 70% of consumers consider a company’s commitment to social causes when making purchase decisions. Brands that actively engage in CSR — whether through environmental initiatives, community outreach, or sustainable practices — demonstrate a genuine concern for societal well-being. This alignment with consumer values strengthens trust and brand loyalty.
Case Studies of Successful Consumer PR Campaigns
As we’ve seen, the best PR campaigns integrate social media, reviews, story-telling, and CSR. Here are three examples of PR campaigns that successfully integrated the latter.
Case Study 1: Dove’s “Real Beauty” Campaign
Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign revolutionised the beauty industry by prioritising authenticity and inclusivity. By featuring real women of diverse body types, ethnicities, and ages, Dove’s Real Beauty campaign embodied CSR by championing body positivity in a beauty industry often criticised for promoting unattainable standards.
Dove’s storytelling centred on real women, not models, and focused on their emotional journeys. The narratives were raw, heartfelt, and relatable, creating a powerful connection between the audience and the brand. The campaign generated immense positive feedback, with thousands of consumers expressing appreciation for Dove’s authenticity. Reviews and testimonials emphasised how the campaign helped individuals feel seen and valued.
Social media also played a crucial role in amplifying the campaign. Dove encouraged users to share their own stories of beauty through hashtags like #womengettold to create a community of empowerment and dialogue.
Dove’s revenue was shown to have increased from $2.5 billion to $4 billion in the years following the campaign.
Case Study 2: Patagonia’s Environmental Advocacy
Patagonia is a shining example of a brand that aligns its PR efforts with its values. Through its environmental advocacy campaigns, the company has consistently prioritised transparency and activism. The brand commits 1% of its sales to environmental causes and has donated over $140 million to grassroots organisations.
Its “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign encouraged consumers to buy less, highlighting the environmental cost of overconsumption—a bold move that demonstrated a genuine commitment to sustainability. Meanwhile, its “Vote the Environment” campaign on Instagram and Twitter, for instance, mobilised thousands of followers to take action.
Their storytelling weaves together tales of environmental activism and adventure. From videos documenting grassroots initiatives to blogs sharing employees’ stories, the brand positions itself as a champion of the planet — contributing to consumers’ glowing reviews of the company
In recent years, Patagonia’s revenue has been growing rapidly — likely due in part to its environmental efforts. In the past decade alone, the company has quadrupled sales.
Case Study 3: Coca-Cola’s “World Without Waste” Campaign
Coca-Cola launched its World Without Waste Campaign in 2018 with the ambitious goal of collecting and recycling every bottle it produces by 2030. The brand also committed to making all packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 and increasing the use of recycled materials.
Although the campaign was heavily focused on CSR, it also successfully incorporated other elements for building brand trust. For instance, Coca-Cola utilised social media to promote its sustainability efforts through engaging content and global partnerships. Videos showcasing recycling processes and collaborations with environmental organisations reached millions. The hashtag #WorldWithoutWaste encouraged users to share their efforts in reducing waste, generating significant online engagement.
While critics highlighted the scale of the challenge, many applauded Coca-Cola’s leadership in addressing plastic waste, enhancing its credibility in the eyes of eco-conscious consumers. Its storytelling focused on hope and action, showing how small efforts, when multiplied, can lead to significant change.
Despite problem periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Coca-Cola has managed to increase its revenue to $46 billion from a third of that number before the World Without Waste Campaign in 2018.