It is true that some businesses are indeed having huge differentiation than others. You might have noticed that you love some special brands that you perceive are unique, and you always love to purchase them or want to purchase them or try to purchase them. It happens because you have connected with that brand emotionally and you feel the way they build their brand.
Do you think it is a coincidence?
No, it is not actually!
It is not a coincidence. It is because of the brand values that brands have set for them. And that is why you love and feel unique about them.
Brand values are indispensable to have if you want to attract and connect with your specific target customers.
Let's move deep into this section.
What the heck are brand values and why do they matter the most?
Brand values are the key values of your brand or business that you stand for. They represent the way you think and the way you want your customers to feel about your brand. They serve as a leader while others are subordinated to them. You can consider that they are the main key components in which you want to build your business. They are the reason that your audience always remembers you. If you do not have brand values (the most important things) then chances are high that your business may not appear unique to your audience and they will not remember you anymore.
Every area of business is having a combination of science and arts. Science is the main fundamental concept of any subject that you need to apply and the Art is how you implement these concepts with "Your" Unique twist.
Yes, AD! this is what I know. Then??
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You can consider brand values as the science of your business or brand. You can not change the concepts (Unless they have faults) and they are the fundamentals in which you have to build your brand. So, you have to go deep down and think that what are the key values that you want to build your brand on.
Brand values can not change over time. You have to use them timelessly. Your whole marketing campaign and brand strategy will be executed according to the brand values that you have set.
Make sure once you have decided the brand values for your business, you communicate with your audience according to them. It will be then easy for your audience to remember your brand, and build a connection with it.
So, now let's understand the importance of having brand values. You can understand it by these points.
There are basically 2 external factors that impact the brand identity. Visual identity - It consists of the logo, the types of imagery, design, the typography, colors, product packaging, website, the other designs, etc. The brand voice - It consists of the message that you deliver to communicate with your audience via marketing campaigns, social media posts, blogs, and even the language you use. But these external factors are of no use if you have not built an internal connection with your audience. They will only listen to your brand voice when they will connect with you deep internally. Brand values are the internal factor that resonates with your audience and helps to make you (or your brand) bond with them. And not only with the audience, but you can also build a deep relationship with your employees as well.
- Differentiation in the marketplace. Brand values will help you to create a unique identity in the marketplace and differentiate you from your competitors. Steve Jobs once said that "Marketing is about values. It's a complicated and noisy world, and we're not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know about us."
This is why Apple is so different from the other brands as their values are different. And this is why Apple is the most successful brand. Right?
- Encounter adverse situations. You can not predict an ideal situation for yourself. The problems love to come in that person's way primarily, who love to do something amazing. So, in such adverse conditions, where you have to take the right decision that can impact your brand or business seriously, brand values are the things that are going to help you make the right decision.
- Clear information about your thoughts. Brand values provide clear information about your brand. They let the audience know the key values in which you want your brand or business to stand. They reflect on you and your business to them, so it becomes easy for them to set an opinion on your brand.
- Human touch. We love to connect with the people on a deeper level and not with the brands. Brand values are the emotions that let your audience know that they are communicating to a person rather than a brand.
- Long-term customer relationships. No business can sustain itself with a single customer purchase. Customer retention is really important to have a thriving and long-term business. For that, you have to connect your audience to a deeper emotional level. And here comes another superpower of brand values. They are essential to build a strong bond with the target audience and to keep the audience coming back again for the purchase.
- Embody feelings in the brand. People purchase several products in the market and then forget what they consumed (Remember! I know it happened with you as well). They do not remember the experience of the product they consume, what they remember is the feeling embodied with that brand. And, that is how you create a memorable brand.
You can propagate a similar message everywhere. You can design your message to communicate with your audience according to the brand's values. It can help you propagate a similar message that will help you to make a bond with them.
Great! A lot of benefits are there of having brand values. But how to find the perfect brand values that will work for me?
So, now let's move on to the steps that are essential to finding the brand values for your brand.
3-Steps to come up with killer brand values:
Now, you know the importance of having brand values. Brand values are not only for you or your audience. They help you to build great relationships with the employees, shareholders, and investors. Here are the 4 steps to come up with brand values:
- Brainstorming: You need to do a brainstorming session with your team members about what are the principles that you are going to work on and craft your brand. You need to think so deeply and figure out the thing that motivated you to start the business and the values that you wanted to add to society by your idea. There are a lot of preset words available to add as brand values. But these preset brand values are going to add no value to your brand. Most people use these brand values like "honest," "Trustworthiness," "Accountability," etc. There is nothing wrong with these brand values. But to be different in the marketplace, you need to come up with clear brand values (No vagueness). So, you need to come up with your unique brand values to build a unique brand.
- Analyzing competitors: You have to analyze the competitors who you think are the best. Just for the sake of an idea that how they are communicating with their audience through their brand values and what makes them different from other brands, you should analyze them. The most powerful brand values are those that respond to an existing need in the marketplace.
- Customer perspective: Find out what the audience wants to have from a brand. Find out the negative points that people are facing with the existing brands and then come up with the brand value that promises to solve that problem. You can ask yourself and your teammates that how do you (or they) want your customer to describe you to someone else when they will ask about you? It can be anything like "You want them to talk about your product quality or you want them to talk about your best price model" etc. It depends on you, you are the only decision-maker.
And, you will come up with killer brand values that will resonate with your brand to your audience. Once you defined your brand values and the way you want your audience to think about you, you will be able to start creating a brand strategy and marketing campaign according to that.
You should always remain consistent with what you're going to deliver to your audience or what message you are going to use to communicate with your audience. This will always remind them of you and you will be able to create a strong bond with them and eventually, build a strong brand.
You should define your brand values as clear as possible. Keep your brand values as short as possible, as short key phrases are the easiest to remember. Any vagueness will not give them clarity about your brand and they may forget your brand. Give them the feel to remember you and they will surely remember you.
Remember:
The real you will be to find your brand values, the real connection you will make with your audience. People love to connect with loyal and trustworthy people. But firstly you should show trustworthiness to yourself to find the brand values.
Do not just come up with random ideas and start propagating them or do not do the things likewise to your competitors.
Brand values are the soul of the business of the brand and everything functions properly if they exist.
Your guide to brand liberation-
Ankit Devrani