The value of a brand value

A few years ago, we ran a piece of research into brand values that confirmed our worst fears and our best intentions. "How many values does your organisation have?" we asked. The most common answer: four. "How many can you remember?" we continued. The most common answer: none. The next most common answer: one. Then two, and so on.

Why? We found two reasons. First, there were simply too many for people to remember (the worst case I've ever seen was one client who had identified eleven values, and then - perhaps understandably - hidden them on their intranet). Second, crucially, too few organisations had defined not only what their value(s) should be, but also how they were relevant to the strategy. I always apologise for the word, but not the imperative of "How will you operationalise your brand value?"

So there are two challenges. The first is to decide on the value. Define it as the principle behind all your decisions and actions, run it through every "which means that" possibility and scenario, then commit to it. The second is to ensure that it aligns with, supports and drives your business strategy in all possible aspects.

It's not as straightforward as it looks, but it's essential.

I worked with a financial services leadership team to test their desire to have 'honesty' as their brand value. A long and detailed discussion around the difference between "reactive honesty" and "proactive honesty" concluded that they couldn't take that forward.

A professional services firm's "commitment" underpinned their strategic and cultural shift to place people and personal relationships at the core of their transformation.

An international manufacturing business found that their "generosity" accelerated their sustainability agenda beyond all expectations.

One other advantage of taking this rigorous approach becomes clear when you see it working through the organisation. It's a brilliant opportunity to create real differentiation and preference. We suspect that one of the reasons why "zero" was the most common response to our "How many do you remember?" question was, simply, there was nothing distinctive or motivating in the range of words falling out of the values tombola.

Could you agree now on what your one core value is? If not, you're missing more than a trick.