Brand Values: Build Them, Be Them, Live Them

As a brand strategist and designer, I give small businesses a digital voice via strategy and branding services. This strategy is showcased via a brand identity, brand assets, marketing collateral, and a website. But there's one thing in the brand guidelines book that only my clients can come up with, and I just help amplify it—brand values.

It is important to have brand values that connect authentically to not only yourself but the target audience. For my business brand, one of my values is diversity. As a woman of colour, I know what it's like to be on the sidelines and not feel seen or heard. Not having a voice, or the courage to express an opinion can impact your mental health in the long run. With diversity being one of my strong brand values, I strive to make my work as diverse as possible, and ensure the websites I create are accessible to all.

Building your brand around core values that matter to you makes your brand come off as authentic. Brand loyalty is established not just from great service or an amazing process of buying from your brand, it's partly built from an audience that shares in your values. When they see you live up to certain values, they're more likely to stick with your brand than a competitor's. Harvard Business Review found that 64% of consumers cite shared values as the reason they have a relationship with a brand.

Take the outdoor clothing and gear brand, Patagonia. The company's mission is "We're in the business to save our home planet". How do they fulfill this mission? Through their brand values. One of the four brand's core values is the following:

In keeping with this, Patagonia encourages their customers to send in their damaged gear for repair (in some cases, they may teach you how to repair it as well). If it can't be repaired, the company repurposes or recycles the product. Expressing and executing this value helps in customer retention of people who are conscious of their consumption. In simplest of words, Patagonia lives up to its brand values through its business operations.

The Importance of Brand Values

Brand values are a set of principles that complement the brand's mission, and are reflected in what the company stands for and does on an ongoing basis. Brand values are the heart of what your brand does. They infuse purpose into your brand strategy, brand's identity, and other brand elements.

Ensure your brand values are felt in the interactions that your target audience has with your brand. For instance, my brand speaks about marketing to the human experience, inclusive of a mental health aspect. My weekly newsletter touches upon marketing and mental health tips. When I work on client projects, I make room for my own mental health as well as theirs, and I mention this before I start each project by outlining respecting boundaries in the client welcome packet. In other words, my clients see me live up to my brand values.

Ever met someone new and felt like you could vibe well with them right off the bat? That's how new clients feel when they come across a brand whose values they share. Remember, tying brand values into your brand marketing is not about being everyone's friend, it's about showcasing your core brand values, and living them out in ways that attract customers who share those same values. You should want to stand by your values more than your annual revenue, think of when football quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the U.S. National Anthem. No team wanted to sign him up after that, and neither did he bend his values to get signed on.

Here are some pointers on brand values that do more than exist as a mission statement on your website:

What does your company stand for?

Having a set of vague brand values, or a collection of positive words like "integrity" and "teamwork" thrown into the brand voice every now and then isn't going to work.

Building your brand values can't be assigned to a brand consultant, branding agency, or outsourced to a project management team. It can only come from you, your co-founders along with your internal stakeholders, and be supported by your employees.

That's why I don't 'come up' with brand values for my clients, I may help them discover it along the way of mapping out their brand strategy.

Arriving at your brand values is not like building a brand marketing strategy—it doesn't have to be unique. You don't have to put yourself under pressure to come up with values that no other company has. It's about finding out what your company truly stands for beyond a product or service. Round up your internal stakeholders for this discussion. Your brand values may already exist in the way your company operatse, you just have to discover what they are and pin them down as your defining values.

What resonates with your buyer persona?

Using market research, you can find the intersections of where your values meet your target audience's. What matters to them that your business fulfills or reflects? How can you live out your brand values in ways that give you a competitive advantage? Make sure the customer experience has touches of your brand's values.

In the current age where issues are getting heatedly political, you may wonder if it's worth it going to the lengths of putting your brand behind issues that mean picking a side. There may be some fallout of choosing to support a cause.

But just remember, if it matters to your target customers and employees, it matters to your brand.

What doesn't align with your values?

Sticking by your own brand values may mean having to call out your own practices. For instance, another one of Patagonia's brand values is "Cause no unnecessary harm", and they acknowledge that parts of their business decisions, like dyeing shirts, is part of the problem and doesn't save the planet. They mention that they try to incorporate the best business practices while they "seek not only to do less harm, but more good."

Acknowledge your shortcomings between your brand core values and operations, if any. Talk about how you are working to make things right or balance out the scale. Your target audience will like and appreciate honesty.

Walk your talk

Showcasing your core brand values shouldn't start and stop with tacking on a couple of relevant hashtags on your social media channels when everyone else is doing the same. You don't have to broadcast your brand values through a tailor-made marketing strategy or any full-blown social media marketing campaign, you have to live them.

The values need to be felt throughout the company. They say opposites attract, but in the case of the brand's core values, it can attract like-minded people. Use your values to build your company, and guide business decisions. Take Airbnb for example. They hired their first employee after combing through applications to find someone who'd reflect their core brand values. Similarly, over the years, the company has turned to their brand values whenever they'd had to make tough business calls.

Sometimes, values can set the tone for the work culture of the company, and this immediately resonates in the brand identity and the experience customers get from interacting with your employees.

Whether you're a small business owner, or running a couple of large companies, your values should always remain in sight and on track. Even if you undergo a brand refresh, your values should remain steadfast.

Have a consistent track record

Clients, ranging from loyal to new, will patronize a brand that is an extension of their own beliefs. But for them to do so, you need to show up consistently for your values.

Don't support a cause only when it's sensational. Take Ben and Jerry's for example. They have been getting behind social issues for over 30 years by effectively communicating their stances though the packaging design and operations. From the Peace Pop of 1988 (redirecting one percent of defence funds to peace-promoting initiatives) to the "I Dough, I Dough" ice cream (celebrating marriage equality), Ben and Jerry have been consistent in their support regardless of currently being owned by a large conglomerate. When Ben and Jerry show support for a social cause, you know they mean it, and it's not a leap on the 'brandwagon' of "woke" brands.

You should have consistent themes and show up frequently for what matters to your customers and employees.

Similar to working on your brand strategy, living out your values should keep you on your toes. To find out where you're at with your brand values, whether they're more than just words on a page, take this quiz.