On Setting Corporate Values and Brand Values

I saw a great fundamental question on LinkedIn asked by Pasi Rahikka.... and I came up with a classic answer. Somehow, LinkedIn won't allow me to post it. So I'm putting it up here.

Here is his question:

• How should the corporate values be created?
• Where do they come from?
• Can the brands a company has have their own values?
• Can these extend the corporate core values?
• Where do the brand values come from?

Here's my answer:

There are two ways to set corporate values.

The easy method is to take a lot of jargon words like Stewardship, Respect, Trust, Honor etc etc., flip a coin and chose five and write real professional sounding and complex sentences around each one...... That's the Dilbert method....

Jokes aside, there is only one foolproof way to develop corporate values. And it takes time, maybe weeks, maybe even months.

Start with closing your eyes and trying to answer the single most important question that one should ask while setting corporate values:

"What do I want people to think about when they think of my company?"

For example, when Richard Branson thinks about what people think about Virgin, he visualizes smiling people having a ball of a time with really innovative, "WOW" products and services.... Now check the Virgin website, you'll find this: "In our customers' eyes, Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge." See the point??

So obviously, there is your starting point. The more vivid your visualization of how people should react to your brand or company, the stronger the chance that that is you identity. This visualization can take a long time to develop, but it is a foolproof way to pinpoint your values.

Now, write 5 simple words that capture that visual. Forget the jargon, the marketing, the MBA vocabulary..... 5 simple adjectives that describe your visual in completeness. These are your target qualities.

Now the final step. For each target quality, write what you need to become to achieve that target quality. These are your CORE VALUES. For example, Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity would have a target quality like "Service to the Poorest of the Poor". The core value would be "Benevolence".

Its not an easy method, but if you refrain from taking shortcuts, it is indeed the most effective.


Let me now answer the other questions:

Yes, individual brands, like whole companies can have their own values. The process for finding these is basically the same... to find what people think about when they think of your brand. One word of caution, let not a single brand specific value be in conflict with even one the company values. This can ruin either the brand or company, usually both. This is the danger zone.

It is safer to extend the corporate values to the brand specific values, but it should never be forced on the brand. This can cause an identity crisis for the brand. Rather, it is better to do the above exercise for each individual brand. That way, each brand will develop its own unique identity.

On a final note, I leave you with a real example of Corporate Values. Visit this site and then ask the nearest Indian you can find about the company...... and listen carefully to what they have to say..... you'll know what I mean by the "visual" in the exercise!!!