19 insights on trust from Nudgestock to fire up your brand communications
Fireworks in a fireworks factory…speakers standing, sitting, walking around the Circle of Trust….the fast-paced back-and-forth MCing from hosts Dan Bennett and Mike Hughes. I loved the energy of Nudgestock 2026, the behavioural science conference from Ogilvy Consulting.
Rory Sutherland, President Emeritus of Ogilvy and founder of its Behavioural Science capability, was a central figure, leading the conversation and drawing out insights from Louis Theroux and the finest thinkers in behaviour change, brand and communications.
The theme for the day was TRUST. So many exceptional speakers coming at it from so many different angles!
And I scribbled down so many notes throughout the day. Here are the moments of brilliance that leapt out to me (any square brackets show where I may not have the exact wording).
Louis Theroux speaking at Nudgestock 2026
1. “If a piece of misinformation is out there, the best thing is to not directly respond – then you’re just amplifying their voice. Flood the same place with overwhelming counter narrative.”
Matt Hancock, reflecting on his time as Secretary of State for Health during the Covid era. He shared what he observed about behaviour change and how social proof was the most persuasive factor. There’s nothing like seeing the Queen getting vaccinated to encourage people to follow suit!
2. “The feet are the most truthful part of the body. They’re pointing where you want to go.”
Body language expert Adrianne Carter in her talk Trust Speaks Before you Do.
3. “HAALT. Don’t listen to your gut when you are Hungry, Angry, Anxious, Lonely or Tired.”
Katherine Templar-Lewis, creative neuroscientist.
4. “Vulnerability can be a power move. Admission of failure can be a powerful [piece of] communication.”
5. “As you get close to the point of purchase, admit a negative.”
Rory Sutherland (above), recalling a tip from persuasion expert Robert Cialdini. Stella Artois saying they’re “Reassuringly expensive” or car rental company Avis stating “We’re no.2, so we try harder” actually establishes trust because they’ve admitted a weakness.
6. “The most dangerous thing that could happen with AI is if it gets a sense of humour.”
Louis Theroux, recalling his interviews with psychopaths, murderers and generally evil people, and how so often they seem so normal…leading into how Donald Trump’s use of jokes and muttered asides make people trust him…an effective persuasive technique.
7. “The shortest distance between two people is a joke.”
Lous Theroux, quoting comedian Jimmy Carr. So true!
8. “People will put lives at risk to avoid social embarrassment.”
Mark Farquhar, Chief Training Captain at easyJet, on why leadership hierarchy in the cockpit can lead to junior pilots not raising safety concerns, and how they’ve brought in a new CRM (Crew Resource Management) to create a culture of trust.
9. “Companies are having the tools and technology conversation….not so many are having the people conversations.”
10. “We need to think about ‘The Unsaid’ – these are the drivers of AI transformation; when it works, and when it stinks...FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is the accelerator. FOMU (Fear of Messing Up) is the brake.”
Google researchers Pablo Perez and Maxwell Minckler, directly echoing what I learned at the Deloitte presentation at Cambridge Tech Week the evening before, about Gen-AI in the Workplace.
11. “The IKEA effect: What is effortless is meaningless. What is effortful is meaningful.”
12. Pablo and Maxwell continued to explain...If we’re just bystanders in the process, we don’t value what we’re producing. It’s important to, “Maintain meaningful friction in AI” so teams take ownership of what they’re working on.
13. “Create a product that people want – then remove friction so they can take it.”
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, CMO Octopus Energy (above), who went onto explain how they’ve deliberately built trust into customer service by using real-life people, not robots – and how this is appreciated by customers.
14. “When we see erosion of trust – [in universities, in science…] – our job is to stand up to the bullies. We have to challenge and counter misinformation.
Claudia Nicholls-Magielsen, CMO Cancer Research UK.
15. “Emotion drives the majority of decision making.”
Eva Augustyn, Ogilvy UK, hosting the panel Building Brands People Believe In.
16. “There’s a renewal of trust in real-life moments. Safe, trusted spaces where you can feel present…it’s the era of the cosy internet; very curated, closed, with trust at the heart.
Dr Eliza Filby, global generational historian, explaining how Gen Z have retreated from institutional trust and are seeking out human connection.
17. “Nike put shoes on trusted feet.”
Professor Michael Muthukrishna, cultural evolution expert. I thought about how Nike has moved to working with influencers – the SKIMS collaboration with Kim Kardashian, featuring workout gear it’s impossible to workout in; Dylan Mulvaney prancing about making a mockery of women who care about fitness – and seen their share price drop by 78% since 2021. These are not trusted feet!
18. “Lack of trust is a massive friction.”
19. “There are certain decisions you can only make if you look people in the eye.”
Rory Sutherland on the asymmetrical perceptions around trust. I also loved his comment about how nowadays you order from a screen in MacDonalds, there’s no staff. “But it’s not a MacDonalds.” Same with railway stations with screens, not staff. “It’s not a railway station.”
And finally, from host Mike Hughes: “Coming up later, we have Pablo Perez and Maxwell Minckler from Google. And if you don’t know who Google are, Google it.” Not a behavioural science insight – it just made me laugh.
A big thank you to Ogilvy Consulting for putting on such a great event. The first of many Nudgestocks I hope! I picked up so many learning points that will be woven into Sookio’s communication consultancy.
Talk to us now about strategic communications driven by the latest behaviour change techniques.
