Our Brand Values.
In redefining our Brand Promise, it became clear we needed to realign our values to match. Shifting our focus from “Simplify + Elevate” to “We create authentic, iconic, and memorable brands ” means our own DNA needs to shift. In order to deliver on the new promise, we needed to refresh our own fundamental language.
With this in mind, we arrived at three brand values, or guiding principles of behavior: Strategy-first approach, Creative Collaboration, and Trailblazing Leadership.
Strategy-First Approach
- Behind every great creative and marketing solution lies a strategy grounded in our clients’ business problems and needs.
- It’s why we take a strategy-first approach to every engagement.
Creative Collaboration
- Partnership is at the core of our branding process. We take time to understand our clients, uncover the nuances of their businesses, and work intimately with them every step of the way.
- We believe in vigorous debates, welcome contrasting opinions and ideas as we work together on the path to creating branding magic.
Trailblazing Leadership
- Disruptive branding requires challenging deeply held “truths” combined with the foresight
and courage to uncover new opportunities in a whole new light.
The big brands do it too.
Getting clarity on your Brand’s Values isn’t just a fun exercise in its own right. Almost all of the biggest brands in the world focus on them, as they truly are the moral, inspirational and functional guidepost of a company.
See for yourself (please note that some Brand Values have been condensed down for spacing purposes).
IKEA
Togetherness
- Togetherness is at the heart of the IKEA culture. We are strong when we trust each other, pull in the same direction and have fun together.
Renew and improve
- We are constantly looking for new and better ways forward. Whatever we are doing today, we can do better tomorrow.
Simplicity
- A simple, straightforward and down-to-earth way of being is part of our Salad heritage. It is about being ourselves and staying close to reality. We are informal, pragmatic and see bureaucracy as our biggest enemy.
Netflix
Judgment
- You identify root causes and get beyond treating symptoms
- You think strategically, and can articulate what you are, and are not, trying to do
- You are good at using data to inform your intuition
- You make decisions based on the long term, not near term
Curiosity
- You contribute effectively outside of your specialty
- You make connections that others miss
- You seek to understand our members around the world, and how we entertain them
- You seek alternate perspectives
Innovation
- You create new ideas that prove useful
- You re-conceptualize issues to discover solutions to hard problems
- You challenge prevailing assumptions, and suggest better approaches
- You thrive on change
Takeaway.
Brand Values are an ever-changing and evolving aspect of your business. As your company changes, so too will your Brand Values. Big brands do it all the time. We just did it, and if you believe that the Brand Values you operate your company on (if you have them) no longer feel current or relevant to where you want your business to go — we recommend you do it as well.
If you don’t have Brand Values guiding your internal culture and the brand experience for your clients or customers, it might be time to get clear on them. Of course, if you need help uncovering your Brand Values, schedule a call with our team today to explore how we can help.
