Brand Values

Once you’ve unpacked your origin story and you're armed with all the information you need on your audience and your competitors, it’s time to look at your own unique qualities and decide which of those qualities you want to convey to your audience.

Brand values are a set of adjectives that describe the personality of your brand. Defining these will help you clarify what you are all about, it will focus on your points of differentiation and turn these into actionable statements. When your values are defined it will give you and your team clarity which in turn will help you tune into, and attract, your audience.

You can unpack your values by asking the following questions about your brand:

1. Who are you?
2. What do others say you are?
3. What makes you different?
4. What makes you feel proud of your work??
5. What are your favourite traits of the three people you most appreciate??
6. What do you want people to remember about you?

For example, if we look at answering question 4. What makes you feel proud of your work?

Is the thing that makes you proud the fact that your product has never existed before? So perhaps you value innovation. Or is it because you know you’ll positively impact the world? In which case it’s likely you value making a difference.

Once you’ve unpacked 3-6 values treat these as a self-contained headline and expand on what that value means in practice. You can do this by writing a short statement underneath each headline. I tend to urge founders to keep the values to a minimum, if possible, to reduce waffle and repetition but also, so they are easier for you and your team to remember. You can always add to these values if your organisation is more complex in its offering and there is justification for a longer list. The important thing here is to state the must haves, the most important terms that describe how your brand acts and behaves.?

When creating your value statements, make them as unique as your brand. Use my 3-6 framework as a jump off point then dig deep. Remember, keeping it slick and streamlined will have its advantages, it’ll be easier to remember, and you won’t need to have lengthy training programmes to get your staff aligned with your values.?

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You can learn more about building an irresistible brand by listening to my Art and Communication Podcast. You’ll find it on iTunes, Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

https://podfollow.com/art-and-communication-podcast

If you’d like to see how your brand shapes up, check out my Irresistible Brand Scorecard. It takes a few minutes to complete, and you’ll get a 12-page tailored report with tips on how to improve your brand.

It’s completely free, so simply visit:

https://irresistible-brand.scoreapp.com/