The current financial meltdown has led consumers to be more disgusted than ever (if that’s even possible) with greedy corporate execs who just don’t care. Many in the corporate world are so far removed from what is now an immensely better informed, more opinionated consumer arena, that their (non-)communications, their (inter-)actions, their entire behavior is deeply out of tune with what consumers want and expect in the years to come.

This didn’t happen overnight of course. The financial crisis was just the straw that broke the camel’s back: consumers’ negative and raw emotions stem from too many brands who decided to stop caring a long time ago. In most cases, this starts at the top, with share-price-obsessed execs not generous to (or caring for) their employees, who in turn stop giving a damn about actual customers*.

Some fun (US) stats from Reputation Garage:

• As few as 13% of all Americans place their trust in big business (and it’s not much higher for other mature consumer societies!).
• Only 39% of employees in a Watson Wyatt survey said they trusted senior leadership.
• Some three-quarters of US consumers feel that companies don’t tell the truth in advertising.
• Three-quarters of employees in big companies observed violations of the law or company standards in a 12-month period.

source: trendwatching