Your brand is much more than a logo. It’s how your company looks, but also how it talks and behaves to help you build trust and create long lasting relationships with your customers.
Whether you’re setting up a new brand or rebranding your existing business, the best place to start is by setting out your brand values. These values sum up what is important to your company. From here, you can start to build a strong brand identity.
Every business will benefit from taking the time to define its brand values – from local salons, to small tech start-ups and online sellers with plans to go global. Your brand values will act as a guide for every decision you make about your brand and business growth in the future.
There are three key things to think about before creating your brand values:
1 Think about what you offer
What makes your business unique in the market? This might be location, or the personal service you offer, or the fact that you are committed to sustainability. Make a list of the things that set you apart, and don’t be afraid to stand for something. 62% of consumers want companies to stand up for the issues they are passionate about (Accenture, 2019).
of consumers want companies to stand up for the issues they are passionate about.
2 Research your customers
What do they need? What do they want? What are they worried about? Work out how your business will address these customer needs and concerns, and how you will resonate with your audience. It’s important that you can and will deliver on what you say with meaningful actions. John Lewis famously made a stand against gender stereotyping by removing ‘Boys’ and ‘Girls’ labels from its children’s clothing range.
3 Think of your brand as a person
What would their personality be? What do they believe in? What do they stand for? Assign personality traits to your brand. These could be things like: sustainable, caring, knowledgeable, welcoming, future-thinking, reassuring, independent. These personality traits can be aspirations for the future, but make sure they are relevant, realistic and achievable.
Once you have been through this process, you can take that information and select your brand values. Try not to have too many – as a small to medium business, three is a good number to aim for.
Your brand values can be single words or short statements that are unique to your brand, and its vision and purpose. These can be accompanied by a short, descriptive sentence if needed.
The John Lewis Partnership is a good example of this. It’s brand value of ‘BE YOURSELF. ALWAYS: We’re quirky, proud and at our best when we are free to be ourselves.’ is likely to have been the driving force behind its decision to make its children’s clothing range gender neutral.
Defining your brand values requires careful thought and consideration, but once you have a solid set of values in place, you can build a successful brand that resonates with customers and use them as a definitive checklist for future business decisions.
Don’t forget to educate your current employees on your new brand values, too. 65% of consumers are influenced to buy a brand, product or service by the words, actions, values and beliefs of a company’s employees, not just its bosses (Accenture, 2019).
of consumers are influenced to buy a brand, product or service by the words, actions, values and beliefs of a company's employees, not just its bosses.
What do you think of the ThoughtHub? What else could we help you with? Let us know!
Give us your views
