The Value of Values Part One: Laying the Foundations

Brand values. Everyone has them. Some pay lip service to them. A few live and breathe them. And an even smaller group bring genuinely differentiating brand values to life.

At Brand Vista, we often speak with our clients about the importance of defining, and delivering, strong, unique brand values. We implore them to look beyond the functional, and instead think about the emotional and experiential – how will your brand values guide your behaviours and actions? At their best ‘stand-out’ or ‘differentiating’ brand values are brilliant; the transformation that one unmistakeable value made at one of our clients, Warwick Castle, is testament to that.

On a recent business trip to Russia, however, I was reminded of the importance of establishing ‘foundation’ values before setting out on a path towards differentiation. Staying in a supposedly 4* hotel, I expected a certain level of service and breadth of facilities; ‘Customer First’ and ’24 hour comfort’ could have been two of the foundation values I was looking for. I nearly laughed off the lack of basics such as room service and non-smoking areas until I was woken at 2am in a sauna-like environment. The heating in my 4* palace apparently had two settings: hot and silent (window closed) or cold and noisy (window open). Needless to say, I tried everything to achieve that ‘warm and quiet balance I was looking for, but eventually abandoned my amateur plumbing, and also gave up on a good night’s sleep.

The fundamental requirement of a hotel to deliver a good night’s sleep to its guests had not been achieved, so the hotel’s stand-out feature - a stunning panorama over Moscow – was entirely lost on me.

The whole experience emphasised the importance of brand values being developed in alignment with the entire business, not only the marketing department. Until operations and finance (for example) have ensured that the foundations of the sector are in place and working efficiently, there is no sense in wasting time and money dreaming up differentiation.

In sectors such as hotels, where the foundation values are regularly undermined, it’s interesting how someone like Premier Inn can take one such foundation value, and a fundamental truth – a good night’s sleep – and turn it into a point of differentiation, in the same way that all of the major banks are attempting to own that greatest foundation value in finance: trust.

In more functionally reliable sectors, it’s staggering to see how many businesses aim to compete on the functions and foundations of the market, such as price or speed, rather than creating brand values that can drive a unique service and product offer, and in turn genuine differentiation.

There’s nothing better than crafting a brand value that you know will drive improvement in an organisation, but only once you’re assured that the foundations are firmly in place.