Company Core Values: Why Every Brand Needs Them
What are company core values?
Company core values are a moral compass for your business, brand, employees, and audience to attach to. They anchor the most integral parts of the brand’s operations to the experience the brand wants to create.
They seem easy enough to articulate but, when brands sit down to claim their values, they often struggle with how to write their core values.
What is the meaning of core values?
Core values are a tool that a brand uses to build trust throughout the organization.
When put into practice, they can engage a highly coveted community of customers and employees who become free ambassadors for your brand.
5 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs Company Core Values:
- Core values connect your brand to an authentic audience
- They give your team and audience meaningful reasons to show up every day
- Core values keep your focus outward
- Core values keep your brand connected with the greater good
- Core values show that your brand is in business for more than profit
Your audience wants authenticity
Brands will find a loyal and engaged audience when they take the time to build trust by living their values. Current and potential customers are also audience members who hold brands accountable to follow through on the values they claim to uphold.
Still not convinced that company core values matter? ConsumerGoods.com reports that “three-quarters of shoppers reported parting ways with a brand over a conflict in values.”
Give your team reasons to love your brand
If a brand can get its team excited about its core values, there is an excellent chance that its core values will also excite its audience. Your team’s enthusiasm for your brand is an excellent indicator of how your audience will respond to your core values.
Turn your gaze outward
This one is often challenging for brands but here it is: This is not about “you”. Sure, it is “your” business that “you” created, and “your” personal story probably contributes to your brand’s story. But the most successful brands (like Patagonia) know that their core values are in place for the benefit of others.
The greater good
Brands often have to make difficult decisions. Using their core values to hold them accountable to serving the greater ensures that these decisions are thoughtful and have a greater chance of a positive outcome for everyone. This means thinking about the greater good of the business, employees, audience, and consumers.
Hold your brand to a high standard
Trust is earned. This is as true for brands as it is for people.
Consumers know and share so much about brands these days. This knowledge – and the vast number of brands to choose from (in almost every industry!) – entitle consumers to be picky.
Consumers want to connect with your brand, they want to feel a personal connection with it, and they want to trust it. Win that trust by showing them you are after more than their dollars. You can do this by ensuring that your audience knows you take your core values seriously.
Brands that do this well enjoy loads of user-generated content signaling a deep sense of brand trust and loyalty from consumers.
Core Values for Brands: Everything Your Startup Needs to Know
What are company core values?
Company core values are a moral compass for your business, brand, employees, and audience to attach to. They anchor the most integral parts of the brand’s operations to the experience the brand wants to create.
They seem easy enough to articulate but, when brands sit down to claim their values, they often struggle with how to write their core values.
What is the meaning of core values?
Core values are a brand strategy tool that is used to build trust throughout the organization.
When put into practice, they can engage a highly coveted community of customers and employees who become free ambassadors for your brand.
5 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs Company Core Values:
- Core values connect your brand to an authentic audience
- They give your team and audience meaningful reasons to show up every day
- Core values keep your focus outward
- Core values keep your brand connected with the greater good
- Core values show that your brand is in business for more than profit
Your audience wants authenticity
Brands will find a loyal and engaged audience when they take the time to build trust by living their values. Current and potential customers are also audience members who hold brands accountable to follow through on the values they claim to uphold.
Still not convinced that company core values matter? ConsumerGoods.com reports that “three-quarters of shoppers reported parting ways with a brand over a conflict in values.”
Give your team reasons to love your brand
If a brand can get its team excited about its core values, there is an excellent chance that its core values will also excite its audience. Your team’s enthusiasm for your brand is an excellent indicator of how your audience will respond to your core values.
Turn your gaze outward
This one is often challenging for brands but here it is: This is not about “you”. Sure, it is “your” business that “you” created, and “your” personal story probably contributes to your brand’s story. But the most successful brands (like Patagonia) know that their core values are in place for the benefit of others.
The greater good
Brands often have to make difficult decisions. Using their core values to hold them accountable to serving the greater ensures that these decisions are thoughtful and have a greater chance of a positive outcome for everyone. This means thinking about the greater good of the business, employees, audience, and consumers.
Hold your brand to a high standard
Trust is earned. This is as true for brands as it is for people.
Consumers know and share so much about brands these days. This knowledge – and the vast number of brands to choose from (in almost every industry!) – entitle consumers to be picky.
Consumers want to connect with your brand, they want to feel a personal connection with it, and they want to trust it. Win that trust by showing them you are after more than their dollars. You can do this by ensuring that your audience knows you take your core values seriously.
Brands that do this well enjoy loads of user-generated content signaling a deep sense of brand trust and loyalty from consumers.
Some guidelines:
- Responses should be clear, concrete, and factual
- Avoid granularity and avoid assumptions
- If a reply does not feel truly true and genuinely achievable, then go spend some time fleshing out that idea.
- Be humble in this process
- Don’t shoot for a trendy value, think about ways your brand can create goodness in the world – above and beyond its product and profit
7 Questions to Ask Your Brand When Writing Core Values:
- Who is the community our brand wants to serve?
- Where do we connect with our community?
- What will our brand always do? Why?
- What will our brand never do? Why?
- Why does this matter to our community and consumers?
- How do our values impact our company culture?
- How do we ensure the team understands and practices our values?
Who is the community our brand wants to serve?
The answer should point to people who share your values. Let’s say you are a local flower shop and one of your values is protecting pollinators.
There are segments of the population that share your passion, some that are neutral on the subject, and others whose lifestyle and choices do not align with this value. Focus on the people who share your passion and your brand will find an easy community to connect with.
Where do we connect with our community?
Here’s a little-known fact: Every brand does not have to be present on every social media channel. In fact, brands should be very selective about where they show up.
Brands should focus exclusively on social media platforms that they have the capacity to support and have the highest likelihood of connecting with their most engaged community.
What will our brand always / never do?
When writing your brand’s core values, it’s important to establish your “always” and “nevers”. These are the values your brand will not compromise on. Take Lingua Franca, for example, “a line of sustainably-sourced, fair trade luxury cashmere sweaters, all hand-stitched by women in NYC.” You can rest assured that these values are at the core of the brand and the brand would not exist without them.
These brand attributes should be considered carefully and written out in detail so they can act as the filter through which all decisions pass.
Why does this matter to our community and consumers?
The trickiest part about writing is that it forces you to look at a situation from someone else’s perspective and imagine how you can evoke their senses to draw them to action. Every one of your brand’s core values has to have meaning for someone else.
When a brand thinks about why its consumers should care about its values, writing about them becomes much easier. Your brand will have a distinct marketing advantage when it uses its values to fortify its content.
Acura is a car brand known for sporty speed and luxury. When they announced their Precision EV Concept vehicle, the graphics and sounds of their Instagram Reel leave no doubt that this is the EV for a driver that wants a modern, luxury sports car. The brand is assuring its community this car delivers what Acura is known for and its commitment to “Precision Crafted Performance” is unwavering.
How do core values impact our company culture?
Your brand’s core values should dictate your company culture. That’s why it’s so important to have them in place from the beginning. Spend time writing out the kind of culture you think your product can thrive in. Will your product perform best in a super professional culture where suits and ties are the dress code? Or, will your brand excel in an environment that fosters collaboration and creativity and encourages a relaxed dress code?
How do we ensure the team understands and practices our values?
This question leads us right back to the topic at hand: writing your brand’s core values.
In order for your team to live your brand’s values, they must understand each values’ relevance to:
- the product
- how it is made
- how it is sold
- where it is sold
- how it is shipped
All of these answers should be part of your brand discovery process.
Good core values are:
- Authentic – values are evident in every aspect of the brand
- Thoughtful – carefully considered
- Impactful – they aim to make a difference in people’s lives
- Realistic – the brand is ready, willing, and able to take action on each value
What are good core values examples?
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s Gold Standards
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is famous for its Gold Standards and how they shape the culture of the organization and the experience of its guests. The entire company recites these standards at their morning meetings. This positions the values as a mantra and the ultimate bar that each employee must reach.
In order to achieve – and hold – its title as the ultimate luxury hotel, the brand must have control over how it is perceived at over 100 hotels in 30 different countries. The Ritz-Carlton intentionally decided to permeate the brand with its Gold Standards and use them as the key element that ties the global brand to the core of its meaning.
Additionally, The Ritz-Carlton ensures that its Gold Standards accommodate the needs and customs of its global clientele.
Nike’s Mantras
Nike…ahhh Nike, the brand of brands. Their core values permeate the brand so thoroughly that they seem effortless. No need to pronounce them on a values page, or even call them values. They call it their “impact” and claim their purpose: “to move the world forward” and they “take action by building community, protecting our planet, and increasing access to sport”.
Then, they offer up their impact report that shows how they are making progress in moving the world forward.
Patagonia Perfection
It would be challenging to find a company that embodies its core values like Patagonia does. Their values are intentionally simple but practiced with great commitment. Their company’s values page states: “Our values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers and the minimalist style they promoted.”
Pategonia’s commitment to their values runs to deep that they recently transferred majority ownership of the company funds that protect the planet.
Work with a Brand Consultant for Startups
Creating core values early on is essential for the longevity of your business. Understanding your brand and what you represent helps to build a loyal audience and recruit a staff that loves to work for you.
Learn more about how SI Brands can help your startup form core values and your brand strategy, contact Susie.
