Customers claim they make purchasing decisions in line with the values of a company.  In 5WPR’s 2020 Consumer Culture Report, 83% of 18-34 year olds, and 73% of 35-54 year olds agreed that, “It is important to me that companies I buy from align with my values.”  And 76% of 18-34 year olds, and 66% of 35-53 year olds want CEOs to speak out on issues they care about.

If your client’s values are just a list of generic words on a career page (let me guess - collaborative, innovative, integrity and customer-centric?),  then it might be time to consider a rewrite.

So how can you help them?

HOW TO WRITE COMPANY VALUES

Well, there are three ways companies tend to write their values:

 

Option 1 is most common, and easiest to remember for employees. But a list of attributes hardly gets your heart racing, and it’s difficult to choose ones that are distinctive.  

For example:

Typically, companies don’t pick more than 6 or 7 attributes, but Netflix has 10 – and breaks each one down into at least 5 bullet points.

Here's an example of one of them:

 

Option 2 is more is more directive, using commands.

For example, Facebook ask their employees to:

Be Bold, Focus on Impact, Move Fast, Be Open and Build Social Value. 

Under each one they break down what they mean.

For example, in directing employees to 'Focus on Impact', they explain,

 ‘To have the biggest impact, we need to focus on solving the most important problems. It sounds simple, but most companies do this poorly and waste a lot of time. We expect everyone at Facebook to be good at finding the biggest problems to work on.’

CISCO too, takes the command to control approach, asking their employees to Change the World, Focus Intensely on Customers, Make Innovation Happen, Win Together, Respect and Care for Each Other and Always Do the Right Thing.

And like the others, they list out the supporting behaviours under each. 

The third option is to express beliefs.

Take this example from Google:  

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
3. Fast is better than slow.
4. Democracy on the web works.
5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
6. You can make money without doing evil.
7. There’s always more information out there.
8. The need for information crosses all borders.
9. You can be serious without a suit.
10. Great just isn’t good enough. 

Expressing commands or beliefs allows you to express your culture more creatively and distinctly than a list of attributes, but they are less easy to remember.  

There’s always a trade-off between distinctiveness, authenticity, understanding and memorability and there’s no right or wrong answer.

So how do you know which ones to write? 

THE RESEARCH YOU NEED TO WRITE COMPANY VALUES

Well, that’s where research comes in – not only internally, looking at the company heritage, stories, and engaging employees across the business, but also exploring values and preferences in customer research. You also need to look at competitors – as I talked about here. 

And all of this should be assessed as part of your brand strategy. 

‘Values’ are your answer to WHO you are and HOW you do things, but they sit alongside, and need to support, WHY you exist.  (Learn more about this in my free Brand Strategy mini course).

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO WHEN WRITING COMPANY VALUES

Overall, my number 1 tip is to write something that feels like the place you’re writing it for.  It's much better to get the whole brand strategy in meaningful client words, representing the type of brand and culture they have, their heritage, and the type of people who work there, than trying to write this in some sort of grammatically polished, but inauthentic way. 

Being authentic can even mean sacrificing immediate clarity and understanding for a phrase that opens the door to a meaningful story about the company. 

Stories engage deeply, which is why IBM included Wild Ducks in HOW they do things, and why being a ‘Cereal Entrepreneur’ is one of Airbnb’s four values. (Here’s the story in their own words).

In the meantime, hold dear what you value, and value what you hold dear.  Don’t underestimate the importance of values for employee and customer engagement, and don’t forget to think about them as part of your overall brand strategy.