To define your brand values, start from what the business has already proved, not from what it would like to display: its sources of pride, the things it refuses to do, the things about its trade that make it angry. In five steps, you go from a list of hollow words to three to five values that actually settle decisions.
Why most values are useless
“Innovation”, “Integrity”, “Excellence”: on a meeting room wall, these words sound good and decide nothing. They’re picked from a catalogue, they suit every company, so they set none apart.
You can tell a real value by what it costs. It makes you turn down a client, give up a margin, hire one person rather than another. That’s what makes it useful: it acts as a compass when two options look equally good, and it’s what turns customers into ambassadors.
Step 1: dig into the origins
A brand, especially in its early days, looks like the people who founded it. Before talking about the business, take an hour and a notebook, and answer these questions without reaching for a polished phrase:
- The trigger: what pushed you to start this project? Not the investor version, the real one: a frustration, an injustice, a passion.
- The proud moments: which moment in your journey makes you proud, and what quality did you show that day?
- The anger: what outrages you about your industry? Broken promises, jargon, opaque pricing? Your biggest frustrations often hide your biggest values.
- The red lines: what will you never sacrifice, even to earn more?
Don’t look for words, look for stories. These anecdotes are the raw material of your values. A cosmetics founder fed up with unreadable ingredient lists, for example, has probably found her value: transparency, taken all the way.
Step 2: group the stories into themes
Then widen the circle: your team is the inner circle of your community. Ask them the same questions in a workshop. This is how we do it at BLACKT:
- Five words each: every participant writes five words on Post-it notes that describe the brand as they see it;
- Grouping: everything goes on the wall, and the notes are grouped into themes;
- Debate: for each theme, a single question: what does it really mean for us?
The goal isn’t consensus but convergence: some words keep coming back, some ideas resonate more strongly than others.
Cross-check these themes with your own notes. Do several stories talk about pushing limits? Simplicity? Bringing people together? Give each group a working name. At this stage, fifteen or twenty concepts is normal.
Be precise with the names. “Creativity” says nothing: is it bold, in-your-face creativity, or delicate, poetic creativity? The right word is one a competitor couldn’t simply lift as it is.
Step 3: put each value to the reality test
This is the most important step. A value only exists if it translates into behaviour you can observe. For each concept, ask the killer question: how would it show up in the business tomorrow morning?
If your value is simplicity:
- our contracts fit on one page, in plain language;
- every email gets straight to the point;
- our prices are displayed, with no asterisks.
If your value is joy:
- our replies to customers have a touch of humour;
- our packaging surprises people;
- we celebrate our wins publicly, big and small.
If you can’t find at least three concrete actions for a value, it isn’t a value: it’s wishful thinking. Set it aside.
Step 4: choose, less is more
Time to cut. A brand with ten values has none: keep three to five. For each one, ask four questions:
- Do we really believe in it? Would we be prepared to lose money to stay true to it?
- Does it set us apart? If all your competitors champion innovation, it doesn’t belong to you.
- Does it settle things? Faced with a difficult decision, does it point to one option?
- Do our customers recognise it? A value nobody perceives from the outside is still just an intention.
Then ask one last question: if only one could remain, which would it be? The one that best sums up your reason for being deserves to go at the top of the list. This sorting is hard: it forces you to give up good ideas and keep only the excellent ones, and that’s what makes the remaining values powerful.
At BLACKT, we go further: we bring out a single core value, the headvalue. Three to five values get negotiated, contradict each other and end up on a poster; one lead value settles things. It’s the one that decides when two options look equally good, and that drives the tone, the storytelling, the manifesto and even the visual identity choices. The other values become its expressions. If you could keep only one word for your brand, that’s the one to find: it’s what our support to define your brand’s headvalue is all about.
Step 5: define, then embody
“Freedom”, “high standards”, “transparency”: for each value you keep, write one sentence that says what it means in your business, and what it rules out. That sentence is what makes the value usable by someone who wasn’t in the room.
At BLACKT, the core value is freedom. In practice, it’s the reason our clients keep full administrator access to their website: an agency that locks its clients in would be going against what it stands for.
Then put it to work everywhere:
- recruitment: hire people who share these values, not just skills;
- product: the offer itself must be the proof;
- communication: the tone, the storytelling and the manifesto all flow from them;
- management: internal decisions are measured against them, starting with the most uncomfortable ones.
Your values aren’t what you say. They’re what you do, especially when nobody is watching.
Frequently asked questions about brand values
How many values should a brand have?
Three to five. Any more and nobody remembers them, and a list nobody remembers guides no decision.
What is the difference between mission, vision and values?
The vision is the destination: the world you want to see come about. The mission is the vehicle: what you do, and for whom. The values are the code of conduct: how you behave along the way, including when it costs you.
Should you involve your team?
Yes: values built with the team are carried by everyone. Aim for convergence rather than consensus: keep what keeps coming up, not what everyone can agree on.
Should you display your values on your website?
Yes, but by showing them rather than listing them: a decision made because of them, a client turned down, a commitment kept. A list of words in capital letters convinces nobody.
Can a brand’s values change over time?
Yes, as the business changes: reread them every two or three years to check they still guide your decisions. The core, however, usually stays stable.
How do you know if your values are the right ones?
Faced with a real dilemma, they point to one option without any debate. If they’re compatible with everything, they’re generic words, not values.
Building on solid ground
Defining your values isn’t a communication exercise: it’s a founding act, the first stone of your brand platform. It’s our starting point for every brand strategy project. If you’d like to do it with us, let’s talk.
Going further
- the headvalue: the lead value that drives all the others.
- mission, vision, values: how the three fit together.
- brand building: the decisions to make, and in what order.
- brand image for a law firm: the case of professions where everyone seems the same.
