How to communicate your brand values and culture

In recent years, the consumer mindset has shifted from a buying mentality to one that prioritizes a sense of belonging when it comes to purchasing choices. Manal Syriani shares her top tips on how brands can effectively communicate their core values.

More emphasis is being placed on interactions and experiences than ever before. The focus has shifted somewhat from the end product, and that goes for all industries. With this evolution comes the need for all brands to communicate who they are and why they exist. Consumers are searching for a lifestyle they can identify with and one that mirrors their character.

How you communicate your brand and culture to your target audience impacts consumers’ and investors’ perceptions about your concept as well as the customer experience as a whole. Similarly, transparent communication of your brand values to team members and their commitment to the company culture will increase retention and reduce turnover.

1. Live your values through your actions by showcasing what you stand for and the character you want to infuse in your target audience. Authenticity conveys trust and a sense of ethics. 2. Integrate values into the main cycles of your establishment (guest cycle, employee cycle, product cycle) by following all the steps and ensuring that each moment of truth tells the story of who you are.

All decisions in the organization should answer these questions: How will my actions be perceived? What is the value of my action? What will it highlight?

3. Make your values your decision-making benchmark; actions that do not reflect your values should not be adopted or acknowledged. Solving guest complaints, requests and handling “moments of truth” should be filtered according to your values.

4. It is important to tell your story; business leaders consider themselves as storytellers. People take notice of how you do things more than what you do. The “why” and “how” is always easier to understand and share than an abstract concept. 5. Make use of the proper channels and social media platforms that reflect your character and align with your core values. All channels of communication with the masses should be selected so that they naturally flow from your culture or are perceived as an extension of it.

6. Be consistent in what you share. All the information that is shared, whether industry related or product related, should be communicated within the same frame of values and using the same tone of voice. Constantly communicating in a standardized form will create a sense of familiarity.

7. Make your brand personal by introducing your employees and encouraging consumers to get to know them. As social beings, we identify with individuals, so knowing the people behind a concept and those running the day-to-day operations is fundamental.