GPS Marketers was hired to do marketing for a company that sold vet-developed dog food with perfectly timed, refrigerated deliveries to customers' homes. When developing the company's marketing strategy, GPS found that the company had never missed a delivery, dogs loved the food (which was freshly prepared with human-grade meat and vegetables), and no other company offered the same customized service (customers created a pet profile that determined what was in each meal pouch). GPS built its marketing around the trust that customers had in the brand to deliver on each of these components. Why would GPS focus on trust as an important aspect for business success?

• Building trust with customers enables a company to create consistent content across all channels and in all communications.
• When a company builds trust with customers, it shields itself from any chance that an unhappy customer will take action against the company should something go wrong with a product.
• When customers trust that a company will deliver on the benefits that it promises, they will continue to buy the company's products and services.
• Customers who trust a brand are often more educated and wealthier and thus have more money to spend on extras.

An 86-year-old man was snowed in at his home during the holidays, and his family was worried that he wasn't going to have access to enough food because of an incoming blizzard. The closest grocery store that delivered was 30 miles away, and the store only delivered within a 20-mile radius. However, the store assured the family that food would be delivered, and it waswithin 60 minutes and free of charge. How could GPS use this story to build a new marketing campaign for the grocery store?

• Start advertising a new policy of a 30-mile delivery service so that the company can charge more for its services and products over time without customers noticing.
• Create displays and advertisements featuring extreme weather to portray the company as hardcore, expanding its target audience to new segments of the population.
• Build a new campaign around "caring for the customer" to demonstrate empathy and consideration and to strengthen customer relationships.
• Open an internal communication channel among employees to promote a culture of kindness.

GPS Marketers was hired to market a new brand of face cream for aging women that helped to reduce, but not eliminate, facial wrinkles. An actress/model, age 64, was featured in the advertising. One of the graphic designers touched up the actress's photo to remove the wrinkles around her eyes. The photo looked great,but the marketing director was uncomfortable with the touch-ups. What should GPS Marketers advise the team to do in order to build trust with customers?

• Give the photo a stamp of approval since it looks so good. Professional-looking images help to influence customers in their decision-making and even help change their minds about what to buy.
• Instruct the designer to remove all the touch-ups, because the image does not tell the truth about what the product can do. Being truthful in marketing will make sure that customers have an experience that meets or exceeds their expectations, which almost always ensures future purchases.
• Instruct the marketing director not to interfere with the creative process. By ensuring creatives have free reign over design rather than filtering them through a corporate lens, you can ensure that customers will be inspired and have an emotional reaction to the images.
• Approve the touch-ups on the photo. Customers tend to idealize their favorite products and will be persuaded to believe that the face cream will work as well as promised in the photo.

When developing a marketing strategy for a company that had recently acquired a group of four nursing homes, GPS Marketers met with the company owners and operators to gather information about what services families could expect when they placed a loved one in one of the homes. The decision to do so is never an easy one, and families want to trust that their loved ones will be respected and treated well, that the home has the right kind and amount of health care staff, and that the home is diligent in meeting state health and safety standards. GPS's research showed that the nursing homes provided excellent care and that all areas were designed to have a welcoming atmosphere. Additionally, the homes were built to encourage families and friends to gather to visit with the clients. The marketing team also gathered anecdotal information and recommendations from family members and doctors about the excellent facilities and care given. How canGPS design an effective campaign based on the information they have gathered?

• Focus on all the benefits of the nursing homes and the compelling reason why they are excellent, but also acknowledge the difficulties faced when placing a loved one there because being truthful and transparent builds customer trust and loyalty.
• Provide a compelling narrative in the marketing campaign that aligns with what other nursing homes have done in their marketing campaigns so that customers feel their expectations are met.
• Raise the cost of living at the nursing homes to help customers understand that it is an investment in quality of living, then use marketing to convince customers to spend beyond what they originally planned.
• Provide detailed information in a campaign that will require customers to spend extra time delving into the origins and features of the services to make an informed decision, because the informed consumer is the satisfied consumer.