Data Suspicion and Brand Loyalty

Not long ago, when Iwas running my startup, BeMarketed, Iremember pitching to alocal Peshawar-based businessthat was hesitant about socialmedia campaigns. “Why do youwant our Facebook login?” theowner asked me. “What will youdo with all that customer data?”At the time, I thought it wassimply unfamiliarity at play. Now,I realise it was foresight. He wasnot resisting digital marketing; hewas trying to understand wherehis customers’ privacy stoodin the equation. That questionstayed with me, and then in 2025I realised it had become centralto the way consumers relate tobrands online.

Today, consumers no longerview privacy as an abstract right.It is personal. It is political. It ispower. From Meta’s frequentheadlines to the creeping uneasearound TikTok and third-partycookies, consumers have wokenup to how often they are beingwatched, profiled and targeted – not just by governments, butby brands too. Nowhere is thisawakening more visible than inthe world of digital marketing.

Having worked in both theUS and Pakistani businessenvironments – whether atParadigm Business Brokers inDallas or covering commercetrends as part of my editorial roleat Sunrise Today – I have noticedthat the one universal element istrust – and that digital trust is nolonger easily earned. Brands mayhave fancy analytics dashboards,but consumers have learnt thecost of convenience – their datatrails are more valuable than theproducts they buy.

These concerns did not happenovernight. In Pakistan, the earlydigital campaigns of the 2010soften involved mass SMS orpoorly targeted Facebook ads.There was limited understandingof segmentation or data privacy.However, things changed quickly.With the explosion of e-commerceplatforms like Daraz and socialsellers across Instagram andWhatsApp, users began to noticehow eerily accurate productsuggestions became. The ‘I justmentioned it and it popped up’effect was no longer funny. Itfelt invasive, and people startedasking: “How did they know Iwanted that?”

At FF Steel, where I was involvedin internal research and strategicmarketing, even B2B players beganto discuss data protection as partof the overall brand value. Vendors,partners and institutional buyersbegan asking which platforms weused, where their purchase historieswere stored and how we handled thedata. Privacy had gone from being atech issue to a marketing one.

Globally, the writing was alreadyon the wall. The turning pointwas the 2018 European GeneralData Protection Regulation thatforced even Pakistani businessesoperating overseas to reconsiderthe way they handled customerinformation. In Pakistan, we sawthe emergence of the PersonalData Protection Bill (still inlegislative limbo), but its verypresence has signalled change.Brands that used to think in termsof ‘reach’ now have to think about‘rights’ and marketers can nolonger hide behind third-partytools. If you know your customeris a woman in her thirties living inLahore with an interest in skincare,you have to justify how youobtained that information – andwhy you are using it.

When I was working atIMSciences as an intern inthe publications and mediadepartment, I saw howeducational branding began toshift. Admissions campaignswent from simple poster drivesto digital funnels, complete withremarketing, cookies and dataforms. Yet, although all this waseffective, students began toask, “Where is this data going?”Universities, once seen astrustworthy, began to receive thesame scepticism afforded to banksor online stores.

Here is the paradox.Personalisation works. It increasesconversion, and it feels relevant.Having helped craft campaignsfor diverse clients through mystart-up, I understand why brandschase personalisation. However,the tension arises from the fact thatpersonalisation and privacy sit onopposite ends of the spectrum. Themore you know, the better you sell – but the more uncomfortable yourcustomer may feel about beingknown. To fix this, marketers mustpivot from covert data extraction totransparent value exchange.Let the customer know whatit is you are collecting and why,and what they will get in return.If you are offering a discountfor signup data, say so clearly.If you are tracking preferencesin order to improve their userexperience, spell it out. The age ofmanipulative fine print is over.

Another concern is the overuseof third-party platforms. Toomany Pakistani brands rely oninternational ad tech withoutunderstanding how the data isstored or shared. When I workedwith clients in Dallas, we spentweeks vetting CRMs and emailtools. However, in Pakistan,privacy audits are rare, and thisneeds to change. Local solutions – or at least localised standards –must emerge if we are to win backconsumer trust.

Younger audiences, inparticular, are hyper-aware ofdigital manipulation. Gen Z arenot only ‘tech savvy’; they areprivacy conscious, sceptical andvocal. They use ad blockers. Theyread privacy policies. They usetemporary email addresses andVPNs. Marketing to them requireshonesty, not tricks. If you try toreach Gen Z with fake urgency ortracking pixels, they will ghost you – and probably post about it on X.

A way forward is for companiesto appoint a dedicated privacyofficer within their marketingdepartments. This is not justa legal function; it is a brandfunction. A privacy officer canserve as a bridge betweencustomer expectations andmarketing practices and ensurethat every campaign and adfunnel respects consent and databoundaries. By embedding thisrole in their marketing strategies,brands can proactively avoidmissteps rather than reactivelyapologise for them.

Another important solution liesin education. Brands should investin transparency, not only throughtheir policies but also through theirstorytelling as well. They shouldexplain how they use data in plainlanguage – even through shortvideos or infographics. Show usersthe journey of their data, fromcollection to deletion. The morepeople understand, the more likelythey are to participate willingly.Ignorance breeds mistrust; clarity,on the other hand, can become acompetitive advantage.

Ultimately, rebuilding digital trust isnot just about compliance; it is aboutculture. Companies need to embedprivacy in their brand identity,not only in their policy pages.This requires marketing teams tocollaborate with their legal, techand customer service departmentsand make consent a feature, not aformality. It also means shifting theconversation from “What can we getaway with?” to “What would we wantif we were the customer?”

As someone who has worn manyhats – business broker, marketer,journalist and start-up founder – Ihave come to the conclusion thattrust is the only currency in digitalmarketing. Algorithms change,platforms come and go and trendsfade. However, if your customersbelieve you respect their privacy, theywill stay loyal long after the campaignends. In a world where everything istrackable, traceable and transactional,this kind of loyalty is priceless.

Zeeshan Wasim is Editor, SunriseToday. zeeshanwasim@yahoo.com