More Than Just Words- The Utilisation of Values in Marketing
“Twenty minutes, everyone. In your groups, identify your top four values. They must be aspirational, representative of the organisation, and those which you are confident you can embody every day. OK…3, 2, 1, go!”
Sound familiar? You’ve been in this workshop, we all have. Scribbling down values like ‘courage’, ‘excellence’, ‘respect’, and ‘communication’. Almost every organisation will run this exercise, but it is one thing to declare them and quite another to live and breathe them. How often have you seen these values genuinely mirrored in a company’s actions? We all want to exemplify courage, we want to deliver excellence, we want to be respectful to others, and providing outstanding communication is central to relationship success. Yet, they often become mere words on a website or a forgotten poster on an office wall. Unfortunately, a true commitment to these values, particularly in how a company markets itself, is rare. This is a crucial error, as this is precisely where they need to be at their most prominent.
Value Infused Marketing
You must remember that marketing isn’t just about selling a gadget or a barrel of whiskey (as I seem to be getting regular calls about), it’s an opportunity to showcase how your values align with those of your consumers. More so, can you create enough of an ‘argument’ so that you can convince the consumer that you are in effect, one in the same person? A step further, can you overlap your self-concepts enough for the consumer to want to expand their identity through purchasing with your business? These are the goals, but how you reach these points will depend on how you present your values.
Imagine shouting from the rooftops, ‘I VALUE GREATNESS, JOIN ME IN THE GREAT CLUB, SO WE CAN ALL BE GREAT!’. Do you think people will stop and form a queue, buzzing with excitement? I doubt it, there must be more substance. People seek meaningful connections, not empty proclamations.
I saw a clear example of this (or rather lack of it) yesterday in an email I received from a prominent outdoor clothing company. The issue was that there was nothing contained in the copy that stated or alluded to the company’s values; despite there being a logo infused with individuality. The email just focused on product features. No explanation or reference to their unique logo, and no sense of their brand identity. It wasn’t evident from their copy that they were clear on the key drivers that fuel purchasing decisions.
Driving Decisions
If a consumer has a choice of 3 different types of items, what are the influential factors that are going through the prospect’s mind? I’ll tell you the ones which will make them move towards the checkout:
Survival, Safety and Security
Belonging
Self-esteem and ego
Self-actualisation
Emotional resonance
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
Convenience and efficiency
Top brands understand this. More so, those who sit at the 1%, are the global giants who weave these psychological drivers with their values, creating a compelling and magnetic pull. Apple’s ‘Think Different’, appeals to the technological disrupters, aligning with their audience’s values of innovation and reliability. From an identity point of view, the audience Apple is targeting are those with a strong will for individualisation. Similarly, Nike’s ‘Just Do It’, hypes up their market audience’s self-esteem, spurring up emotions of self-improvement and achievement. Every ad, poster and athlete wearing Nike taps into the sense of belonging innate to all sports teams. Both brands create strong emotional resonance with their products. Their consumers feel like they belong to a community. They know through reputation the quality of the products. Their egos inflate when they see celebrities and athletes wearing/using the same items they are. Whilst these major players are masters in catchy slogans that tap into all that’s been mentioned, let’s jump into a more specific example.
Patagonia – Exemplifying Value Integration
Let’s contrast our earlier outdoors company with Patagonia. Their tagline provides a clear statement of their values: ‘The Cleanest Line’. Ok, environmental sustainability and ethical production aren’t exactly unique, especially today. Alone they won’t provide that pull to your brand. But what makes Patagonia’s message so impactful is the commitment to living out these values in every aspect of their operation:
Patagonia Stories. Engaging stories exploring topics that include sports, adventure, culture and planet.
Patagonia Action Works. A feature that connects consumers to local events, environmental groups, volunteering opportunities and petitions.
Patagonia Campaigns. Linked to the above, a wide range of actions backed by Patagonia and their partners.
Product descriptions and innovations. Recycled materials feature in all their products, the descriptions reflect that reality.
The question now is, how can you follow the path set out by Patagonia? It’s quite simple.
Embedding Your Values
So, how do you go about placing your values throughout your business, especially in your marketing?
You follow 6 key steps:
Regular Micro Value Assessments (MVAs). Continuously evaluate how well your current messaging and practices reflect your core brand values, your identity, your purpose, your offer and your voice. Have you positioned this product in a way that best demonstrates who you are? Are you providing enough variety in your engagements that address our values in multiple ways?
Consumer Micro Value Assessments (CMVAs). Like the above, explore the values of your target market. What are they? Go into their mindsets, how might they spend their day? What shops do they frequent? What activities do they do? Where do they travel? Creating a strong target avatar will help with this significantly.
Exemplify alignment. Ensure your current campaigns, events, blogs, and messaging genuinely reflect your shared values. Find the commonalities and ensure your writing makes them subtly clear.
Subtle messaging. Don’t just state your values. Weave them into your narrative. Don’t say, ‘Take this jacket on an adventure’. Do say, ‘Embark into the wilderness to stand strong against the tides of nature.’ One states the value directly, whilst the other appeals to the emotional centre of the value that lies at the core of the brand; without saying so directly. Alongside this, keep in mind the key psychological drivers of buyer decision-making. This will help you craft your copy with stronger effect.
Create new engagement opportunities. Looking to the future, with this new knowledge, what can you now create that will offer consumers new ways to participate and connect?
Value-based OODA Loops. Run one through to six again in a loop. Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. Review whether you have infused your messaging with the values you and your consumer both share. Have you spoken to the key psychological drivers? Invite feedback. Make changes. Act again.
People are tired of hollow slogans and snake oil labels promising the world and all its riches without delivering. What consumers want, and need are businesses that provide the ways and means for them to expand and grow over time. To implement their values into the world in exciting and new ways. To provide the means for them to become who they want to be.
Make a real impact on your business, the lives of your consumers and your industry by living out the values you claim to hold.
Stop creating empty statements, start crafting realities.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
As always, your constructive feedback is appreciated so do reply to this to let me know if you found this useful, if you didn’t and who else you would want to see in this series.
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Until next time,
Chris
