"In today's market, trust is the new marketing accelerator," said John Tedstrom, hawkeye's managing director of Strategic Planning. "When trust is present, consumers are more willing to engage in a relationship with a brand."

Putting this belief to the test, Rodney Mason, hawkeye's CMO and managing director, conducted an ad-hoc survey of 350 marketers who all agreed that trust was the marketing dominator and that brands which create, promote and nurture a total environment built exclusively on trust - inside and outside company walls - will pulverize their competition. Moreover, two-thirds of the respondents believed that trusted advisors (friends, relatives, bloggers, etc.) hold more weight than advertising and marketing campaigns when it comes to building trust in a brand.

"In this era of social media, marketers simply have to work harder, smarter and faster to build and maintain trust," Mason said.

What can beleaguered marketers do? Mason offers suggestions that are integral to building trust. Chief among them:

• Customers respond best to communication that engages them, recognizes their intelligence, is relevant to them, acknowledges their status as equals and includes them in the process.
• Know your customers' needs and wants and offer relevant solutions.
• Don't be afraid to provide comparisons of your product to competitive products, even if your product isn't always the best option.
• Facilitate formation of customer and employee networks to create a flow of open information. Don't try to stifle the conversation; encourage it.
• Recognize and acknowledge customers who have been loyal.
• Seek out your critics and provide fair and balanced responses from your company on open public forums.