Brand Values: Why Do They Matter?
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At EnticEdge, we are healthcare and wellness business consultants dedicated to helping companies clarify and align around their competitive advantage, which we call your authentic edge! Our team brings 30+ years of healthcare expertise in strategic advising, value mapping, business consulting, client experience, team and cross-departmental alignment, and more, all tailored to helping teams achieve mission-driven growth.
Brand values have evolved from mere corporate jargon to essential guiding principles that can make or break a company's reputation. In addition to being key in any marketing strategy, brand values serve as the moral compass that defines how a business operates and connects with its audience. They are core principles that drive a company’s actions, behaviors, and identity by acting as key differentiators and by communicating what a company stands for. Brand values are a major pillar of a company’s brand which is why it is important to ensure they are clear and established.
Establishing Your Values
To understand why brand values matter, you must first understand how they are established. Your brand values should be widely advertised internally and externally to develop support from all relevant stakeholders, therefore, it is crucial that your brand values accurately reflect your organization. Not sure where to start? Here are a few steps to take to effectively identify and articulate your brand values:
Align values with mission and vision. Your values should coincide with the natural persona of your brand as well as where you hope to see your company in the future. To set strong brand values that will help guide your company toward growth and success, do so with your company goals in mind.
Engage in internal discussions. Not only do brand values need to be securely established but also engrained in company culture. Open conversations with other company leadership and employees to grasp what they believe the company stands for. Making sure your team members are aligned with your core values and know the language and messaging behind them will ensure those values are present throughout deliverables and communications. When brand values shape your work environment, it becomes second nature to represent those values for your whole team. If everyone is on the same page, you’ll be able to convey a stronger, more consistent brand.
Ensure values resonate with stakeholders and your target audience. Attracting and retaining stakeholders is one of the many reasons strong values are necessary. People will take stake in and invest time and money into your organization if it resonates with their personal values. Through research, like user interviews or surveys, you can gain a better grasp of your target audience's needs and wants; similar methods can be used to tackle understanding other relevant stakeholders of your business. Researching and understanding your audience, the type of people you wish to employ, and the kind of investors you seek will help you identify the values your business should uphold.
Benefits of Holding Strong Brand Values
Your brand values are a critical element of all parts of your company. From passing office chats, to major marketing campaigns, your brand values are at the core of it all. Rather than just taking our word for it, here are four valuable benefits of having strong brand values.
Fosters Customer Trust and Loyalty
Your brand values should bleed into your external communication and act as a tool for capturing your target audience. Customers and clients are more willing to buy into what you are offering them when your values are transparent and resonate with them. Value-driven communication that’s in line with your audience’s personal values and needs will tap into their emotions to establish a deeper level of trust in your brand and product or service. This emotional connection could also pave the way for greater customer loyalty and brand advocacy as they’ll be more likely to recommend products and services from your brand to others.
Retains Employees
Another noteworthy benefit of instituting meaningful brand values is how it will affect your internal audience. Brand values should not only resonate with your customers but also with your whole organization. A clear sense of brand identity and values fosters growth and loyalty both externally, with your clients, and internally, with your team. Building a work environment around strong values will increase employee satisfaction and retainment. Employees are more likely to stay at a company and produce quality work there if the company values align with their own. To prove our point,
46% of employees in the US and UK consider leaving their job because the company values do not adequately mirror the values they hold.
When your team members are empowered by a clear understanding of and strong compatibility with your brand values, they can match their work with the brand to promote consistency and synchronicity across the entire company.
Guides Decision-Making
Brand values also speak to how day-to-day operations can be run and managed. They serve as a framework for decision making that steers team members and other stakeholders toward a unified goal. They provide guidance for evaluating deliverables and decisions to ensure consistency in behavior and brand portrayal. For instance, if there is a company that values integrity, it may prioritize transparent marketing with customers and clients; if there is a company that values sustainability, it may prioritize adopting eco-friendly materials or methods. Brand values are a guide for how your team should perform to stay true to your company's purpose and goals, and they’re key for keeping your team aligned.
Navigates Change
We are in an era of constant technological advancement and relenting competition in all industries. To stay ahead in your market and progress toward company goals, change becomes inevitable. Changes to your strategy, operations, or your product/service are all possible. Navigating these changes becomes less complicated and burdensome when your brand values remain at the forefront of your reasoning and plans. For example, in terms of operational change, convincing your team to invest in your initiative comes much easier when there is a common understanding of how it plays into your brand values. Pinpointing the need for change, setting your vision for the outcome, and crafting your plan for it should all be motivated by your brand values.
At EnticEdge, we know no brand is complete without honest and purpose-driven values to back it up. If you are ready to perfect your brand and push your business forward, reach out to us and we can help you by facilitating a value mapping session and advising your team to achieve team alignment and intentional growth.
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