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Brand Values are sometimes underestimated. The reason is that they often sound like very generic principles that every company could claim. But if they are expressed well, they can become a fundamental element of your brand strategy and be really meaningful for the people who work with or within your company, inspiring them in their daily activity. Here are some advices to choose the right words, step up and make your company values really valuable.
Start with a verb
Let’s take for example a very well known value — “innovation”. The word “innovation” as such is very generic and passive, which is the contrary of what an innovating company should say. If instead you write “be innovative“, you will make the value active and will invite people to do something about that. Your Research and Development department, for example, will be inspired by this value to create new products.
Be specific and relevant to your business segment
If you are an interior design company, claiming to “be innovative“ might not sound tangible enough. Hence you should not hesitate to complement this value with one or two lines of explanation. What does being innovative mean for your brand? It might finding new designers, new inspirations, always being aware of what is done here and there, being able to propose new solutions to your clients… No need to be long, just write down what makes sense in your specific segment so that people can have a clear idea of what your company is about.
Ideally, write no less than 3 and no more than 5 values
Less than 3 values makes your brand poor, more than 5 makes it too complicated to catch. You should be aware that you will never be able to encompass all the different aspects of your brand, especially if your scope of activities is very extended, but at the same time, not writing enough values will make your brand sound not specific enough. If your company produces a wide range of products, from car components to food blenders, try to focus on what drives every sector every morning when they go to work — e.g. “being innovative”, “being loyal”, etc.
Be catchy
Sometimes brand values are overly philosophical. True, values should be inspiring, but to achieve that goal they need to be easy to remember, they need to be something people can rely to in their daily work, something to be lived and experienced, not just an accessory. One of IKEA’s brand values just reads: “Daring to be different. We question old solutions and, if we have a better idea, we are willing to change.” Can it be ever simpler than that?
About Nadalex
Nadalex is a copywriting agency entirely dedicated to your verbal strategy. We are based in Belgrade, Serbia, and Lausanne, Switzerland, and work for clients all across Europe.
Nadalex is an agency entirely dedicated to your verbal strategy. Our job is to find the right words to communicate your ideas — whatever the media.
