5 ways to uncover your brand values
In order to create a cohesive and unique brand identity - one that represents what your business does in the most compelling way possible - it’s first important to establish a set of key principles or values which will guide what your brand stands for and how it needs to be visually communicated to your ideal audience.
When we ask a client to state their brand values we’ll often see a list that include words such as:
Honesty
Trust
Authentic
Quality
Now these are all great business values - but when it comes to creating a visual identity they are pretty much useless!
The list above simple states the principles from which you should operate a business but these values will not help to set you apart from the competition or give your audience anything to identify.
For example - is anyone really about low quality?? It’s also virtually impossible to state that you are ‘honest’ or ‘authentic’ without sounding like a scam. Let your audience decide this through the way you operate and communicate.
So the first step in designing a compelling visual identity for your brand is to ignore any of these business terms which sound nice and dig much deeper to understand and uncover your one-of-a-kind brand DNA.
We also need more than a simple list of adjectives. We need to refine a list of guiding principles which are unique to your brand and are going to set the tone for the creative direction.
As part of our Custom Made brand design process, we help our clients uncover their unique values and keywords through a series of brand building strategy sessions which then form the foundations of their creative direction and ultimately the end design results.
If you’re wondering how to do this yourself, here are 5 prompts and exercises to help you uncover your brand’s unique values which will set you apart and can lead to an exciting visual identity design…
1. Brands with benefits
Being able to clearly communicate your brand’s purpose is essential, but you’ll also need to go a step further and clarify your value proposition. Simply put this is how your customers benefit from your offerings.
Try writing it out in the following format: We create [products or services] with [features or specs] ensuring [who the customer is] enjoys [the benefit].
For example: Mum-Folk create compelling brand identities and website that help female founders stand out and feel fearless about growing their brand and achieving their business dreams.
2. Catch feels
So now we’re clear on what your brand does and how you enrich the lives of your customers, next put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think how you want them to feel when they come into contact with your brand or use your services or products?
For example: We want female founders to feel focused and fearless with a brand identity that is perfectly aligned to their purpose and vision. We aim to inspire and motivate our audience of women entrepreneurs to grow their brand through our helpful design tips and resources, uncover creative possibilities and pick up the brand strategy know-how that helps them feel confident to grow their brand and create a life they love on their own terms.
3. Get on a mission
To create a compelling narrative that your audience can really connect to, your business needs to be about more than just selling and making money. This is where your mission statement comes in.
Your mission doesn’t have to commit to ending world poverty (although that would be nice) but it should be something that you continually strive for as a brand but never actually achieve, continuously compelling and driving your brand forward.
For example: Lucy & Yak, an independent clothing brand are clear in their ethos and mission for creating clothes which are sustainable and support the wider community through their social initiatives - ‘We want to prove that everyone from production to customer can be happy. Our aim is to demonstrate that a clothing label can produce awesome unique clothing of a high quality, at the same time we want your experience and our customer service to be phenomenal every time without exception’
TIP: If defining your brand’s mission feels intimidating, think of it in local terms, what effect do you want to have on the immediate world and community around you?
4. Know your strengths
Get clear on what sets you apart from others in your industry.
What’s the one thing your brand does better than anyone else? What are you reasons you think your clients come to you or purchase your products or services? If you’re unsure ask your clients or customers for feedback either personally or ask your audience using Instagram stories.
It could be your unique background and expertise as a founder, your design or production process for example.
5. Stand for something
List out what your brand stands for (and doesn’t stand for). A great place to brain dump and get the ideas flowing, getting into the head of your brand’s DNA and personality.
For example: Mum-Folk stands for
Equality
Freedom
Rebellion/unconventional
Creativity
Doing things with ease
Optimism
All of these words play a part in defining our brand style and how we visually communicate to our audience.
next steps
After these exercises, you should start to see some common threads of what your brand stands for, which will help you determine your brand values and keywords which can lead to a creative concept and interesting visual direction.
Still have questions on honing in on your brand values for your service-based or product business? Establishing your brand values is part of our Custom Made brand identity package. We love executing this strategy work and seeing the exciting developments which lead to creative breakthroughs. If you’re interested to hear more about how we can help hone your unique look and feel, visit our contact page and set up a free 20 min discovery call today.