People are always attempting to create connections with brands: whether as a customer, supplier or an employee.
Companies need to give their community (customers, staff and partner businesses) something that they can relate to that goes beyond a logo, positioning line or a fancy website.
Advertising and marketing communications can help to build some awareness – even create consideration and affinity among your customers. However, it’s your brand values that form real engagement and lays the groundwork for lasting, powerful linkages with your customers and stakeholders.
Successful businesses all have something in common. They have a set of specific brand values which everyone knows and understands. Values are used like a compass to navigate them towards success. Regardless of how many times you get side-tracked on the journey, or take a wrong turn, your core brand values will remain fixed and steady. Moreover, everyone knows exactly where you are going.
Defining your brand values can be challenging. You’re not describing what you hope to achieve (vision), or how and why you intend to reach your goals (mission). You need to create a ‘brand promise’ that describes the way your brand undertakes to serve its marketplace. This brand promise is a promise that has to be kept!
All brands consist of two dimensions. Firstly, there is the external brand dimension. The external dimension concerns the brand’s attributes or tangible assets of a brand such as the ‘corporate brand identity’ (describing the tone-of-voice and personality), and a ‘visual identity’ (logos, corporate colours, and fonts).
These elements are both essential. They contribute to the consistent execution of a brand in the market and help create brand awareness and familiarity amongst its target audience. However, the internal dimension is the real ‘sweet spot’ of a brand. This dimension super-charges the connections a brand builds with your customers, staff and stakeholders. This internal dimension is where you find the ‘brand values’, the part of your brand that directs your purpose, personality, and proposition.
Without a clear brand value proposition, it is impossible to convincingly differentiate your brand from your competitors in the hearts and minds of your target audience. Brands that are successfully differentiated are the most memorable, and the most memorable brands are – almost without exception – the most successful.
Having core brand values helps shape a conversation and create a culture and community for your brand – it connects with your customers in a meaningful way for them.
Memorable:
Brand Values reflect the things you do and say. Customers and staff need to be able to ‘get it’ and remember your beliefs if you want them to have an impact.
Unique:
Brand Values should be a unique reflection of your culture and identity. Your core ideals represent your brand essence or DNA.
Actionable:
A Brand Value Proposition needs to guide how the business works. When describing what matters to your company, use language that is easy to convert into actions for your staff. Then explain these actions to your customers!
Meaningful:
Core Brand Values need to resonate with your customers. They need to inspire and be something they are willing to fight for.
Clear and Defined:
Make sure the principles that you stand for are easy to understand.
Timeless:
Maintain consistency. Brand values should remain consistent and robust.
A Brand Value Proposition is more than just a wish list of powerful words and phrases. The definition of your brand values needs to ‘mean something’ important to bring it to life! Just telling people that your company is caring, smart, and community-focused isn’t going to cut it.
When developing brand values, you need to think about what truly matters – not only to the company owners and customers, but to staff, shareholders, investors, and broader community and business eco-system. The best brand values work when they reflect customer needs and beliefs, but also embrace the passions of the business.
Here are the four steps for finding your brand values:
Avoid the reflex terms like ‘reliable’, ‘trustworthy’, or ‘friendly. Those words might be positive, but they won’t positively differentiate! Help tell what it is that makes your company special. Brand values will help your company stand out – leave out the overused, generic term and consider what you’re genuinely passionate about. Do you hate irresponsible brands, and want to make sure your company always has the best interests of its customers at heart? Do you really love music, and want to give something back to the arts community? Choose ideals that appeal to both your staff, and your customers, and start building a community based on them.
Consider the needs and expectations of your customers, while objectively assessing the solutions provided by your competitors (a bit of competitor analysis is required). Powerful brand values respond to existing needs in the marketplace. Find out what your customers think/feel/believe, and what they want or expect from their preferred brands.
How are current customers describing your brand regarding value? Cheapest? Best quality? Great customer service? Conduct some research to determine how your customers view your brand or company and start to grow your brand values from that. Once brand values are established, fight for them with everything you do! Innovate new ways to add value and promote your efforts.
A brand value proposition is something that should remain unchanged. The principles that you embrace need to stay strong to create brand loyalty. When defining your brand values, consider what you stand for, and how this can distil into a few key words and phrases. These values will act as ‘operating instructions’ for your business. The more your staff understand your values, the more they can ensure that you maintain a consistent company image in everything from your social media posts, to your offline events.
Most companies tend to focus on the same fundamental principles. While you want to make your brand value proposition unique to your business, the reality is that you’re going to have to focus a few specific things in your marketing mix. The three different types of brand values are product leadership, operational excellence, and customer relationships.
Brands that appeal to customers that want the very best. The company team and culture focuses entirely on quality testing and innovation. The brand should continuously be working on product or service innovations and improvements. If your brand values are focused on product and service, then you need to think about more than just price, you need to decide how you’re going to always deliver the best quality in the marketplace.
When operational excellence appears in their brand value proposition are more concerned about providing an excellent all-round customer experience and a value price. The focus is not product innovation or providing a unique experience. The emphasis is to provide customers with a consistent and reliable purchasing experience that is affordable – whatever makes life more convenient for customers.
Brands that elevate customer relationships in importance don’t rely on product or pricing but on the power of providing an intentional and unique branded experience. This relationship can be achieved by intimately knowing your customers and ensuring your business is delivering the right solutions at the right time and price. A company that positively differentiates itself by customer relationships provides much more than just excellent customer service. You’ll need to project a confident personality and look for multiple ways (and channels) to interact with your audience.
When considering a purchase, customers tend to choose more than one of these value areas on which to concentrate. While a primary value proposition might be that you offer an exceptional customer experience, your secondary value might be being the low-cost provider. The more you refine your values, the more you can set yourself apart as a unique offering in the market.
Once a ‘value direction’ has been determined you need to make sure your customers associate your brand when they look for these brand values. Connecting a brand with values in the public domain requires a brand positioning strategy and marketing communication campaign that demonstrates the ideals for which your company stands.
The Brand Value Proposition allows you to connect with your customers on a deeper level. It goes beyond things like logos and marketing communication. Instead, the Brand Value Proposition starts to tap into the way that your consumers think and feel.
Claiming core brand values allows you to start distinguishing yourself from your competitors. Creating this ‘separation’ will begin to build a community – followers feel a sense of affinity and belonging. Your customers are people who believe in you not just for what you do and sell, but for why you do it.
Understanding your brand values are essential to reading how people view your company and classify the products or services you offer. A powerful Brand Value Proposition becomes a recipe for the way you run your business, providing direction for everything you do – from the way you talk on social media, to the way you structure your workforce.
Establishing your Brand Values Definition ensures that you have a roadmap in place to guide your company through crucial decisions, and maintain the long-term loyalty of your customers.
When you can articulate what you stand for as a brand, you can attract better customers and employees that share in your beliefs. Recent global research (PwC) concludes that when staff and organisational values align customers are nine times more likely to experience exceptional customer satisfaction!
For brand values to be useful, you need to act on them. No one likes a company who says one thing and does another. You need to plan to prove them to your staff, customers and stakeholders continuously.
Find your values. Live by them.