Uncover a Brand's Core Values
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Uncover a Brand’s Core Values
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A brand's Core Values are the principles that guide the company's decision-making, personality and customer interaction. Core Values are the foundation of the brand's visual identity and what sets it apart from its competitors.
Introduction to Core Values
Brand strategy is the process of uncovering the organization’s core values and aligning the team through brand personality, positioning, and the mission statement.
How a brand communicates, starts with its core values. The purpose of brand strategy is to uncover core values and build the visual identity design brief.
People want to know you care. Companies need to be value-driven, focussed, have a set of values you passionately care about and you are clear about what those values are, and you build a track record over time.
— Sundar Pichai, CEO Google
Benefits of Purpose-Driven Brands
There are three core benefits of focusing on building a purpose-led brand over one that’s purely profit-driven. Interestingly, it is the purpose-led brands that grow faster and generate greater returns.
Employee Engagement
Purpose motivates talent and catalyses productivity
When employees believe in their company's purpose, they are more likely to be passionate about their work and to be committed to the company's success. This leads to increased productivity, innovation, and customer satisfaction.
Customer Loyalty
Today’s customers are more likely to engage with marketing that aligns to their values
Customers are increasingly looking for brands that share their values. They want to support businesses that are doing good in the world, and they want to feel good about the brands they choose to buy from.
Profit & Growth
Purpose-led companies grow 3x faster than the competition
Studies show that ultimately purpose-led companies are more profitable and grow faster than their competitors by attracting top talent, increasing customer loyalty and driving innovation.
We talk a lot more about this in our own client-facing agency’s Approach page.
Core Value Tools
Helping your team or client reach their chosen brand values is often a difficult process, full of opinion, ego, and subjectivity. One of the tools we’ve developed that help to align the team in the process, is the core value explorer tool.
Core Value Wheel from our Brand Strategy Templates
Core Value List from our Brand Strategy Templates
We developed this brand strategy tool, specifically for use in our client-facing brand strategy workshops. We’ve consolidated 180 core values into categories of Form, Success, Wisdom, Expertise, Connection, Virtue, Courage, Emotion, and Love.
This is the starting list, of course, there are hundreds more possible brand values, but these get us moving!
Core Value Map from our Brand Strategy Templates
Through discussion, aim to filter your value brainstorm into 6 core values with a Core Value Map. Ideally we want values that work within the value map that overlap and resonate with each other.
Core Value List from our Brand Strategy Templates
We can then place these values into our Core Value Pyramid, within categories of foundation, differentiator and driving values.
Foundation value — This is commonly a human and emotional attribute that we can build upwards from. It should give the brand somewhere to fight. This value should illustrate the driving force behind us. Examples of foundation values might be ‘to be responsible’, ‘to be trusted’, or ‘to empathize’.
Differentiator value — The differentiator value will be extruded from the foundation value, building onto it, into something more literal, less abstract and more real-life. This value should ideally be something that sets us apart. Examples might be ‘family-owned’ and ‘traditional’ and ‘innovative’.
Driving value — The final and top value will be the most real, least abstract, and most actionable. Examples to consider, are ‘to revolutionize’, ‘to inspire’, and ‘to educate’.
Conclusion
Reaching three Core Values for a brand is not an easy task! We found this to be one of the hardest parts of brand strategy process. As strategists we must be the critical voice in the room, challenging the thoughts and helping to guide the client towards three values that are honest and compelling to the brand, whilst also being connected, and actionable for the personality, mission statement and ultimately it’s visual identity.
Other Posts in Brand Strategy 101, from Our Framework Deep-Dive —
How to Conduct a Brand Audit →
Learn to Use Brand Archetypes →
About the author, Adam —
Adam is the founder of BrandCraft, a branding and design agency.
On top of our client-facing projects, our small team developed BrandWerks where we create brand strategy tools and templates to help you master brand strategy and the business of design.
Our actionable tools are fully editable and founded in a commercial approach that guides your clients through the brand strategy process.
Learn more —
BrandCraft ➝
Brand Strategy Tools & Templates ➝