Connecting with your consumers helps when you have shared values. Discover the importance of brand values and how you can create them to elevate your business.

In today’s market, short-form videos, relatable social media posts, and high-quality content marketing campaigns remain at the centre stage of great marketing strategies, while influencers also hold the mic when it comes to developing content that consumers trust.

You probably already know all this and perhaps even utilise these trends. But if you are not showcasing your brand values alongside, you might be missing a trick.

Because with 77% of consumers choosing to buy from companies who share their values, brand values don't just showcase your company in a better light. They can mean big business too.  

Today, we explain everything you need to know about brand values, with examples and tips for implementing them into your content marketing strategy.

Let’s explore.

What are brand values?

Brand values are ideals or beliefs that companies choose to represent what matters most to them. Sometimes referred to as core values, these beliefs underpin the morality and mission of a company and its employees.

Therefore, brand values can help transform company culture and may guide business decisions. But despite also attempting to align with target audience interests, brand values can differ between competitors while operating in the same market.

For example, your brand may value sustainable processes and collaboration while your competitor values innovation and experimentation. Depending on what matters more to your consumer, they may choose the brand their values align with most.

Why are brand values important?

In our post-pandemic world, consumers’ mindsets have shifted, with businesses more focused on branding for humans rather than consumers. Messaging is more personal and less transactional in trying to engage the person behind the purchase.

And seeing how 82% of consumers avoid brands whose values conflict with their own, it’s little surprise.  

So, what we’re seeing nowadays are consumers wanting brands with shared values. Like any relationship, the strongest are sustained on shared core beliefs.

It seems issues like climate change, sustainability, and other moral matters have made the modern-day consumer more conscious of the bigger picture and what they can positively or negatively influence with their purchases and investments.

Plus, brand values can provide your business with identity, integrity, and substance.

In aligning these values, brands can connect with their target audience on deeper, emotional and moral levels than simply providing a service or product that ticks the boxes.

And by connecting on a more human and emotional level, you instantly establish a powerful marketing tool that cuts through the static.    

3 examples of brand values in practice:

Now we understand brand values and their importance, let’s look at some examples from other businesses:

1. Innocent Drinks

Innocent is a prime example of a company that knows its consumers’ values and puts them into practice. Its values include “natural”, “entrepreneurial”, “responsible”, “commercial” and “generous”.

In aligning its consumers’ commitment to sustainability, Innocent has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2030. And with an employer branding focus on the workplace, they also have a website page dedicated to practising these values at work, creating a personable and appealing atmosphere for anyone who visits the site.

2. Self Agency

This wonderful organisation is another example of why brand values are crucial through its dedication to neurodiversity and empowering neurodiverse individuals to prosper within workplaces and organisations.

Their values (equality, diversity, and inclusion) align perfectly with their mission and target audience, solidifying their brand identity on all levels.

With a personal approach, Self Agency aims to strengthen inclusivity in all environments by sharing its expertise and helping companies endorse the benefits that neurodiversity and inclusion provide.

3. Apple

Apple successfully adapts its brand values to appeal to changing consumer demands. One of their brand values is privacy, and they proved this by implementing new IOS privacy controls following the cookies and data-harvesting controversy of 2021.

Accessibility is another Apple value and ties in with its sleek, easy-to-use product design, consolidating its identity as a universal, future-centric brand.

How to create brand values:

With a taste of what brand values look like, what are your brand values? And how will they be communicated?

We live in an age of authenticity.

88% of consumers believe authenticity is crucial when deciding what brands they support. And often, what makes a brand authentic are the values it holds dear.

Avoid establishing half-hearted core values because audiences tend to know if you’re not being authentic. Your business should truly support what you stand for and use your brand values to convey your purpose, your ‘Why’.

If you’re not sure how to communicate your brand values authentically and want to stand out from competitors, consider hiring a local copywriter to help you put your thoughts onto paper (and screens!).

Because despite being experts at what you do and know, it's not always easy to effectively communicate it to your consumer.

Consumers want brands with values.

Consumers are far more likely to trust in a brand that shares their outlook on the big things in life.

Therefore, it’s critical to research your audience. Find out what makes them tick, what motivates them, and what they believe in.

Do this and utilise your knowledge to appeal to the deeper issues that mean something. Be it ethics or efficiency. Your content must resonate and reflect your consumers’ priorities.

Sustainability is the only way forward.  

A whopping 34% of today’s consumers are choosing brands with strong stances on sustainability over ones that don’t. So, if you’re not doing your bit for the planet, you could lose over a third of the UK consumer business.

So, whether you source your products responsibly or pledge to reduce your carbon footprint, your audience needs to hear it and see it in your content.

Brand values: The final verdict

From sustainability to security, accessibility to adaptability, whatever your brand values may be, you can use them to strengthen your brand identity, connect with consumers, and differentiate your company from competitors.

Plus, brand values don’t just appeal to consumers. They also attract loyal employees and strengthen your company’s work ethic.

Just as Innocent Drinks focuses on applying its values to the workplace. It’s no coincidence they are recognised as one of the top 100 UK employers and consistently get praised by employees for their commitment to wellbeing.

Your brand values are essential. Make them count.

At Content Chef, we appreciate only quality ingredients can make your content most appetising. With our content marketing and copywriting expertise, we can help you utilise the potential of your brand values with high-quality content that gets your consumers coming back for more.

So, what are you waiting for? Reach out and start your journey today.

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Written by Eirian Williams