How do you write a brand value?
Defining brand values
So, picture this. A sneaky guy who lives across the street just started a business in your neighborhood. He's cunning and a douchebag. Are you buying anything he's selling? Probably not. Why? Because he's dishonest and a cheater. Basically, he has poor values.
So what are values? For me, values are principles that prevent me from being a horrible person. For many people value means several things, but in the end, value is what you represent, what your limits and boundaries are, and values are principles that guide how we behave.
So we know what values are, let's find out the relationship between value and branding. That means discovering what it means for a brand to have values.
Being a brand means being so awesome everyone loves you for no reason. You stand for something and people see that.
Some might say being a brand means forming a deep bond with those you wish to, so much so that once they see something related to you, they remember you. Coca-Cola is a very good example
From this we can define BRAND VALUES as the guiding principles that help you connect with your audience. These are the shared beliefs you have with those buying into your brand.
Brand values are highly powerful for setting your brand apart from the rest. These values direct how you run your business and whom you run it with, it helps you draw the curtain on how far you can ethically go, and it also attracts the type of audience that is passionate about the same things.
Having Brand values defines your stand on certain matters, and makes your brand transparent and trustworthy. When people see that you stand for something, they will believe your promise and this is the building block for trust in business.
What is the purpose of brand values?
Having clear values is great, but communicating them in a way that makes your brand stand out is the main objective of having brand values.
Brand values if stated rightly can be the boost your brand needs in its marketing and results generation.
Brand values direct the way you state your offers, package your products and services, and also direct how you interact with every person involved in the running of your brand and your brand promise delivery.
To make your brand values work as a great marketing point for you, you need to come up with creative ways to make them reflect In your brand messages both offline and online. You can do this through your social media presence, brand story, brand aesthetics, and brand tone.
Brand values also help to narrow down your audience to those who share the same beliefs with your brand.
How to write brand values
Time for your brand to get some values. It's important that they align with your brand goals, the values that are important to your target audience, and your values as well(this will make sticking to your brand values easier).
These values should also be in line with your brand story, brand message, your brand purpose, and vision.
You can get inspiration from the big brands already on the market, find their brand values, and how it's in line with how they market themselves. Be sure to also check out your competitors, this will help you learn what works, and what people are looking out for.
Make your brand values clear. Clarity comes before… focus! When things are clear, everything begins to make sense and you can be more focused and make a better impact.
When you decide on your brand values, you need to be crystal clear about them, especially when presenting them to your audience this will increase clarity and make it more meaningful to them
Under each value, create small notes that communicate just what the value means to your brand and how it will help you serve your audience better.
You should also add things that your brand should not do.
110 examples of brand values:
Here is a list of 110 brand values you can use to define your core brand values.
​Authentic Accountable Accuracy Ambition Attention to detail Acceptance Adaptable Approachable Belonging Bravery Balance Capable Creative Change Clarity Charity Caring Comfort Community Commitment Confidence Communication Compassionate Collaborative Connection Consistent Credible Customer satisfaction | Daring Devoted Determination Dedicated Diligence Dignity Disciplined Diverse Dreams Driven Duty conscious Ease of use Economical Eager to serve Emphatic Empowering Entertainment Equality Excellence Expertise Exploration Elegance Enthusiastic Faith Family Freedom | Fun Fair Fearlessness Flexible Focused Friendship Genuine Guidance Goodwill Growth Generous Gratitude Honesty Hard work Honor Hope humor Harmony Humility Imagination Individuality Impact Intimacy Integrity insight inspiration Inventiveness Joy Justice Knowledge Kindness Love | Logical Longevity Loyal Mastery Moral Motivated mindful Optimistic Passionate Persistent Power Precision Reliable Respectful Service Successful Teamwork Tolerant Transparent Trustworthy Visionary Value-driven Welcoming Zealous |
Tip here: for each brand value, you pick, add a side note to define what it means to you. This will help you make sure you are using the correct word and it will help you explain to anyone working with you what you mean as the examples in this next part will show.
How to state your brand values
Let's take a look at Tesla's brand values, this will help guide you on how to craft and communicate yours.
A Clean Start. As Tesla was founded in Silicon Valley, they will use a Silicon Valley approach which means they move fast and are innovative and creative.
Committed to Electric. Tesla follows its mission to pursue sustainable energy so that Tesla offers EVs to fulfill a sustainable energy future.
Built Around the Driver. Connect the car, driver, and environment.
Sparking the Evolution. Develop unprecedented products,
accelerating the world’s transition to electric mobility, by providing affordable electric cars (Model 3)
Just in case you are wondering why you have words in the previous part of this blog post and Tesla and other brands are using sentences or phrases. It's because when you write down these words and what they mean to you, you then summarise these meanings
Why are brand values important?
Since we know that brand values are the heart and soul of a brand and that they have a huge impact on how you connect with your audience. It is super important to have them all noted down before reaching out to prospects.
Brand value is important because as a growing brand, there you will need a team eventually, and having these values will keep them in line with your brand message and goal.
For collaborative purposes too: when looking to collaborate it would be easier to reach out to other brands that share core values with you.
Brand values make decision-making easier and also effective marketing as the team already knows the target audience and what matters to them.
Difference between brand values and company values
Brand value | Company value |
How you communicate with your audience, and how they relate with you | It influences and guides the company culture and system of operation, they are decided with the company in mind, not the general audience. |
As Howard Schultz said, ‘if people believe they share values, they will stay loyal to the brand’.
Understanding Brand Values will go a long way to help you serve your audience better and make the connection more lasting. I hope you found this helpful!
