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Turning Brand Values Into Brand Behaviours

Why brands need to do more and say less

It is widely understood that, in today's increasingly competitive marketplace, a brand's success relies on more than just the products or services it offers. To truly connect with customers, brands must fully deliver on the promises they make in their ads – providing a lived experience that align with the values they claim to live by. After all, the true test of any brand's authenticity lies not in its stated values, but in the consistent manifestation of these values through tangible behaviours. Turning brand values into brand behaviours is something we help our clients to do. It’s not always easy, but it’s always rewarding – whatever the brand or market. Here, we share a few insights based on our experience of putting this into practice.

The essence of brand values

Brand values represent the guiding principles that a business stands for. They define its culture, purpose, and its vision. When thoughtfully crafted, brand values serve as a moral compass, shaping the business’ decisions, actions, and interactions with customers and stakeholders. They also contribute to building an emotional connection between the brand and its audience. However, these values need to be translated into actions that truly resonate with consumers on a personal level.

The challenge of alignment

In turning brand values into behaviours, one of the main hurdles to overcome is ensuring alignment throughout the organisation. For brand behaviours to be consistent, they need to be fully integrated into the company's internal culture. This requires commitment from leadership to develop inspiring and educational communication, as well as the creation of processes and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that reward people for doing the right thing. Too often, pay, recognition and rewards align to short-term commercial metrics, and not long-term customer satisfaction. 

Walking the walk, not just talking the talk. 

As with any successful organisational change programme, companies need a clear framework to follow in order to change what people do, and influence how they think long-term. 

Our five-step process is a practical protocol to follow – especially when projects drift and early momentum is met with mid-term resistance.

5 steps to success:

1. Clear articulation: Begin by clarifying your brand values. These should be specific, meaningful, and reflective of your brand's identity. Avoid vague buzzwords and focus on attributes that genuinely distinguish your brand. For instance, instead of using a broad term like ‘innovation’, describe how your brand promotes innovation in tangible ways.
2. Employee involvement: If people are to deliver these values daily, they need to feel part of the process and understand why it is important. When people at all levels of the business feel a sense of ownership, they are much more likely to champion these behaviours, particularly in the face of a challenge to do otherwise. By encouraging open dialogue about how each value can best be demonstrated in day-to-day operations, you will enable your team to devise actions that they feel comfortable delivering.
3. Training and development: You can’t expect years of ingrained behaviour to change overnight – or when you publish a new set of values. People need to know HOW to change their behaviour and WHAT to do as a result. Training is essential to equip the team with the skills necessary and, using real-life scenarios that teams come up with themselves, you can help them recognise opportunities for demonstrating these behaviours in the first place.
4. Consistency: We can’t emphasise this point enough. Brand behaviours must be consistent across all touchpoints. From customer interactions to marketing campaigns, the values should stand out. Consistency builds trust and trust is a primary brand objective.
5. Measurement and accountability: Defining KPIs that align with each value-driven behaviour is a high priority. By regularly assessing progress and holding teams accountable for upholding standards demonstrates internally that this is not a marketing fad, it is business as usual. Recognising and rewarding employees who consistently exemplify brand values benefits the business as well as the individual.

Transforming brand values into authentic behaviours is the critical bridge between intention and action but it takes time, commitment, collaboration, and a genuine desire to make values a lived reality. It’s not easy, which is why businesses benefit from working with an experienced external partner such as IvyJack. By advising on best practice and providing objective input, it not only keeps businesses on track, it helps them reach their objectives quicker. 

Now, isn’t that a journey worth taking?