Trust takes a lifetime to build, but only seconds to destroy.
It demands consistency, repetition, commitment, and dedication.
It’s not easy to earn and even harder to maintain.

I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves staring at that little badge that suddenly “invaded” the packaging of the product we were thinking of buying. And they come in all shapes and messages.
They’re seals, medals, and awards trying to convince us that this product is far superior to all the rest.
The names couldn’t sound better: “Product of the Year”, “Gold Medal”, “International Award” — and the list goes on.
Their goal is clear: to help consumers decide in a highly competitive market.
But their final effect can be quite the opposite.
When we rely on third parties to validate our choices, we’re also handing over the trust that should be built directly between the consumer and the brand.
It’s like asking your mother-in-law to vouch for her own son… she’s not exactly neutral!

A large part of these awards exist because they are tied to business models.
They sell books, appearances at trade fairs, and even recommendations.
In many cases, all it takes is paying a simple entry fee to receive one.
In others, the methodology behind them is far from solid.
But the end result is always the same: the weakening of the relationship between the brand and the consumer — because we replace direct trust with a form of social validation, based on what others think is best for us.

This trend reaches areas like advertising, where awards have also become an obsession.
We’ve just come out of “Cannes Lions season” — the annual award-hunting frenzy.
But the pressure to win prizes has created well-known distortions: campaigns made specifically to be entered in festivals — even if they technically meet all media placement requirements; case studies carefully crafted to impress juries; and ideas that were born without any brief at all. These are just a few perfect examples.
So-called ghost works are nothing more than a label — cleverly disguised as creativity — used to legitimise an agency’s talent without any real validation from the market.
Here too, we’re trying to be chosen not for what we’ve truly done, but because someone else said we did it well (often based on a single, invisible piece of work).

At the core, it all follows the same logic: trusting more in the seal of approval and what others say than in our own criteria and values.
Trusting the award more than the relationship or performance.
Believing in a label more than in the substance of things.

But this doesn’t mean I think awards are useless. On the contrary, they do have value.
When they serve to recognize, distinguish, and inspire based on objective and transparent criteria, they have an irreplaceable relevance and provide a valuable service.
And those should be truly acknowledged and applauded.

Trust takes a lifetime to build and can be destroyed in seconds.
It demands consistency, repetition, commitment, and dedication.
It’s not easy to earn and even harder to reinforce.
An award can help strengthen that trust, but it should never replace it.
And if today we have brands and agencies that seem more concerned with collecting medals and labels than creating real impact, maybe it’s time to go back to basics: creating value for those we are meant to serve.
No labels, no ghosts, no false illusions.