Will Butler-Adams told the audience in Brighton that his company had achieved success because it was honest with its customers.
Speaking at this morning’s "Entrepreneur’s Corner" session, Butler-Adams said: "The cool thing about the last ten to 15 years is that it’s entirely changed. You can’t really bullshit any more."
Butler-Adams used the example of a TV ad promoting a "pot of cream" with a "big green ball" and a "mumbo jumbo extra ingredient that no-one has ever heard of".
He continued: "Some customers buy into that. They buy the green ball and put it on their face. Unfortunately, they’re an ugly hag. They buy the cream and put it on and buy another pot. But after two pots of cream, they’re still an ugly hag."
That person could now go online and share the fact that the face cream had not worked, Butler-Adams said.
But this transparency could be a good thing for brands and communications, he added: "It doesn’t mean marketing is dead. I’m not that keen on the word ‘marketing’ because it imbues some dishonesty. You’re talking about communication.
"How on earth is someone going to know about this product? We don’t want to shove it down their throat but they’ve got to know about it. People are bored of all the bullshit. If you can tell an honest story with integrity, that’s what matters."
The session, chaired by Rod Connors, the owner of The Branded Sports Group, focused on how successful entrepreneurs have disrupted markets by launching start-up companies.
Diana Verde Nieto, the co-founder and chief executive of Positiveluxury.com, a company that certifies ethical luxury brands, agreed that trust was more important than ever for brands.
She said she was about to launch a "trust button" on Positiveluxury.com that consumers could use to find out more about the companies behind the products and services they buy.
Verde Nieto explained: "Trust means everything. This trust button will go at the point of sale; you can see what the company does in very simple language – no animal testing, no child labour, sustainable packaging and so on.
"It’s so we know what we’re buying into and whether that brand is reflecting the values of people."
Chantal Coady, the founder and creative director of the luxury chocolate-maker Rococo, said she was inspired by working at Harrods, where she believed chocolate was sold as if it were "aspirin or bananas".
She said: "There was no love. It was a customer abuse and it was really common.
"At that time, I just felt that there’s a kind of magic about chocolate and sweets. There’s an incredible emotional engagement and they hadn’t understood that."
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