Question

Topic: Branding

Any Practical Ideas On How To Establish A Company's Brand Values?

Posted by Anonymous on 6/1/2004 at 6:55 AM ET 250 Points
just about to embark on a branding exercise for a business to business services company. obviously the first place to start is to establish the company's brand values so I am looking for ideas to effectively do this. i have been thinking of staff focus groups, depths, workshops to tease out the values though I am struggling to come up with effective methods to do this once at the workshops, etc
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 6/1/2004 at 9:04 AM Accepted
    Just tell them what you are doing, explain what you need, and ask them about company values. No need for tricks. Just ask them.

    Good Luck!
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 6/1/2004 at 2:53 PM Accepted
    Jett gave you good advice – just ask them. I would add sometimes storytelling is an effective way to ferret out core brand values. (See the link to Band Aid’s story: https://www.bandaid.com/brand_story.shtml)

    Ask the groups to write stories, both fiction and non-fiction, about the brand. Stories that express the core values they see in the brand. These can be quick single page story accountings of events such as customer service actions or employee community involvement. If you’re lucky an archetype may emerge from the collection of stories like the caregiver archetype emerged from the Band Aid story.

    Best of luck
  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 6/2/2004 at 4:15 AM Accepted
    At the risk of being labeled a Big Dummy here, I have to say something about this Branding question because it seems to echo a lot of recent postings. 

    I simply don't get the rationale behind ASKING employees to explain/establish/uncover the company's brand values.

    My own company is young, I'm the CEO, and my biz partner frequently but gently reminds me that "It's time to speak the vision again, Shelley."  This comes up when our sales team members (or even job candidates) are overcomplicating or misrepresenting our product and business goals.

    A company's leader(s) should be articulating what its brand stands for.  Telling braggable stories.  Rewarding those who wear/talk/live the brand.

    Getting employees and customers to tell you what your brand conveys seems to be valuable ONLY to detect if your branding efforts are off course!

    Hope this response offends no one.  Posting it only with the desire to bring clarity to the discussion!

    -- Shelley
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Branding)