Communicate brand values effectively to connect with your audience and build a loyal customer base. In today’s market, consumers are increasingly looking for brands that align with their own values and beliefs.
As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, one of the things I consistently discuss with clients is brand values. Many businesses aim to attract a larger and more diverse customer base, but this goal is unachievable if they don’t practice what they preach. Brand values are now a crucial part of consumers’ purchase decisions.
In fact, a recent consumer trends report found that 82% of consumers want to engage with and buy from brands that share their values. Personally, I find myself using my credit card as a form of activism, intentionally supporting brands whose values resonate with mine.
Despite its importance, most brands don’t do a great job of showcasing their values. However, those that excel in this area do it exceptionally well. Let’s explore some high-quality examples of brands that communicate brand values effectively.
How Smart Brands Demonstrate Their Values to Consumers
Brand values are typically developed when leaders are building a brand and defining its mission, vision, and purpose. When working with clients, I often revisit and revise their mission, vision, and brand values to make them more inclusive.
Consumers care deeply about brand values as they signal whether a brand shares their concerns. A recent study found that three-quarters of shoppers stopped buying from a brand due to a conflict of values.
Given its importance, how can brands make their values clear and speak to customers who share their beliefs?
My top tip is to show, not just tell. Consumers can read your mission statement, but those words are meaningless if you don’t demonstrate how those values are lived. Focus on highlighting how your brand practices its values through content on your website and social media channels.
1. Ben & Jerry’s Lives Values Through Activism
Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s makes it clear from the outset that it cares about more than just selling ice cream. The brand leans heavily into activism, considering it core to achieving its mission of linked prosperity.
From its hero image to the ‘Activism’ highlight on its Instagram profile and playlist on TikTok, the brand makes it clear that it is deeply involved in the causes it cares about. It also encourages its customers to support these causes.
Ben & Jerry’s values: human rights & dignity, social and economic justice for historically marginalized communities, and environmental protection, restoration, and regeneration.
2. Patagonia Lives Values Through Large Scale Donations
Since 1985, Patagonia has pledged to donate 1% of sales. This supports the preservation and restoration of the natural environment.
In 2022, founder Yvon Chouinard donated his majority stake. He gave it to an environmental charity. Patagonia holds true to its values. It claims Planet Earth as its only shareholder.
The website features an “Activism” section. This highlights how it achieves its mission. The mission is to “Save our home planet.”
Patagonia’s core values are: quality, integrity, environmentalism, justice, and not bound by convention.
3. Seer Interactive Lets Consumers Know They Are a B Corp
A B Corporation Certification signifies a brand upholds high standards of social and economic performance, accountability, and transparency on important factors related to a company’s social and environmental impact.
Seer Interactive is a marketing agency that leads with messaging around its B Corp status right in the description in search engine results.
The brand goes deeper by sharing its B Corp status with a page clearly visible in the main navigation of its “About Us” page.
The brand also highlights some of the charitable work they do as part of its values on its social channels.
Seer Interactive’s values: uplift others, pursue truth, and strive to be better than yesterday.
4. The Home Depot and Tory Burch Highlight Their Support of Communities
Supporting the communities of the customers they serve is important to many brands.
The Home Depot has a long history of investing in the Black community as part of its work to live its values. For example, its Retool Your School Program has provided grants to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for the past 15 years.
The program is featured prominently on its brand’s website and with content on its YouTube channel.
The Home Depot’s values: creating shareholder value, entrepreneurial spirit, taking care of our people, respect for all people, doing the right thing, build strong relationships, giving back, and excellent customer service.
Fashion brand Tory Burch focuses on community and support through the Tory Burch Foundation, which has numerous programs designed to empower women entrepreneurs, including a fellows program, providing access to capital, education, and other online resources.
On its Instagram account, you’ll find a direct link in the description to the Tory Burch Foundation account, where you’ll find lots of details about all the work the brand does.
Tory Burch’s values: empower women (expressed as the company’s purpose).
5. Warby Parker Has Baked Its Value of Giving Back Into Its Business Model
If you buy a pair of glasses from Warby Parker, a pair of glasses is distributed to someone in need. Because this aspect is core to its business model, it’s something the brand doesn’t hesitate to communicate, hence why it’s featured on its homepage.
It also clearly highlights this in its social media profiles, especially on Instagram.
Warby Parker’s values: inject fun and quirkiness into everything we do, treat others the way you want to be treated, pursue new and creative ideas, do good, take action, presume positive intent, lead with integrity, and learn, grow, and repeat.
6. Michael Graves Design Has Baked Accessibility and Inclusion Into Its Product Offerings
Michael Graves Design is known as the most accessible design brand, with its focus on designing for all and enhancing lives, regardless of age or physical ability.
Thus, the mission and purpose of the brand is fulfilled with the actual product the brand produces. As such, with every product launch, collaboration, and promotion, it showcases how it is living its values and purpose because they are intertwined.
The brand itself doesn’t necessarily talk a lot about inclusion on its website and social channels, because consumers know it because it is baked into the product. For many, that’s what attracted them to the brand in the first place.
Michael Graves Design’s values: delightful, purposeful, pioneering, and extraordinary.
Tell Your Customers How You Live Your Brand’s Values
Customers won’t know what you stand for or the good you do if you don’t tell them. It isn’t about being performative. Rather, it’s about highlighting the positive impact you are making in a way that inspires others and helps the customers who share your values find you.
For more insights on how to communicate your brand values effectively, visit our blog or contact us via email at info@07hm.co.uk or telephone at 01702 410663.
