What do values have to do with brand? Everything.

The short answer is everything.

This week I am picking up from last week’s blog on values.

A number of years ago I wrote an article with the same title as this blog, and I must admit that not much in my thinking has changed on this point. If your core values and your brand don’t align, then you haven’t got much chance of building a brand that can go the distance, much less one that has any chance of resonating in the marketplace.

You can read the original article here.

But here are the highlights:

• The relationship between them couldn’t be more simple: your brand is a reflection of the actions and beliefs of the people in the organisation. Those actions and beliefs are shaped and directed by the core values they hold, so your brand is shaped by your values.
• Like values, brand can’t be created. They must both be authentically held – if they aren’t, the cost is credibility both inside the organisation and out in the marketplace.
• Brand and values are both delivered by the employees of the company (or not). Got a perception issue? Take a look at what you are promising versus what is being provided, there will almost certainly be a gap.
• There are any number of big companies that do a good job of aligning their values with their brands: Apple, Patagonia, Volo, 3M. For example, this explains why Apple makes killer innovative products and has passable customer service – service isn’t one of their core values; design and innovation are!

There are many times when more smaller companies who also take a values-based approach to their businesses and to their brands. Are you one of them?

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.