Did Marcel Marcondes Have a Better World Cup than Lionel Messi?

Budweiser

There’s an exercise I use to help developing marketing teams build their skill set. It’s based on the experience so many of you have already gone through in real life: you carefully & thoughtfully create a campaign to achieve a number of specific brand goals, only to discover that one or more marketing channels can’t be used the way you’d planned. 

What happens to these careful plans if you can’t use social media? If you no longer have the budget for television? Radio? Signage? Thinking through these type of scenarios helps teams learn to adjust their plans on the fly, using creative thinking and professional skills to get the job done even when circumstances change.

In December, the InBev team faced the Final Boss level of this challenge: what happens to your careful plan if you can’t sell your product?

Quick Backstory if You Missed This Part

Budweiser has been the Official Beer Sponsor of the World Cup for the past 36 years. The InBev team knew there would be challenges in presenting their product in Qatar, a Muslim country that strictly controls alcohol sales. Millions of dollars and years of work went into creating a campaign to enable Budweiser to deliver the in-stadium experience World Cup fans expect while honoring Qatari rules. At the very last minute—fans had already begun to arrive in country—Qatar changed its position: no Budweiser would be able to be sold at the World Cup.

Well, This is Awkward

With one remarkably understated tweet, the InBev team acknowledged the magnitude of these rule changes. And then, with skill and speed similar to what Messi displayed on the field, InBev’s Global CMO Marcel Marcondes’s team executed a beautiful pivot that helped Budweiser achieve many, if not all, of its marketing goals.

What happens if you can’t sell your product in one country? You can award your product as a prize to the winning country. They Budweiser team created the Bring Home the Bud campaign, a multi-day over-the-top campaign that tracked branded red shipping containers around the world to Argentina, with parties in several cities including Messi’s hometown, before culminating in a massive party in Rosario where fans danced and partied on a crate painted with #BringHomeTheBud.

This strategy effectively extended the World Cup sponsorship by several days and definitely strengthened the bond between FIFA fans and Budweiser. A level of excitement was generated that probably would not have occurred if the original plan to sell beer in the stands had been permitted to go forward. It’s a masterful piece of work by the Budweiser marketing team, who pulled this all together in a very abbreviated timeframe.

It’s a good lesson for all of us. There’s no telling what the future will hold. And, any aspect of your campaign can fall apart with little to no notice. The brands that can pivot quickly are the ones that succeed in the long run.

So tell me: What would you have done if you’d been in charge of InBev at this time? What would your winning World Cup strategy have been? I would love to hear your thoughts.

January 5, 2023 by

Top 5 Cult Branding Blogs of 2022

Cult Branding's Top Loyalty and Crisis Blogs of the Year

Below are the 5 most popular blogs of the year.

They cover everything from social media to customer trust to the power of gratitude.

If you’re reading them for the first time, we hope you find new insights. If you’re reading them again, we hope you find a valuable reminder that you can put to action in the new year.

We wish you and your family a happy, healthy, and fantastic New Year.

Is Your Social Media Strategy Really A Social Media Strategy?

The social media landscape changed a lot in 2022. But its core function hasn’t changed. In “Is Your Social Media Strategy Really A Social Media Strategy?” we look at the core function that many businesses miss.

Three Vitally Important Lessons I Learned About Trust While In a Filthy Gas Station Bathroom

A lot is written on customer loyalty. But most of it ignores the precursor to loyalty: trust. Without trust, you can’t get to loyalty.

In “Three Vitally Important Lessons I Learned About Trust While In a Filthy Gas Station Bathroom,” we look at how easy trust is to break and how competitors can use another company’s failure to gain trust to wow their own customers.

Can Customers Trust Your Brand?

Another article on trust. We expect to see a lot more articles written next year on trust (and we plan to write a few ourselves).

In “Can Customers Trust Your Brand?” we look at how brands are outpacing governments in their ability to create trust.

Where Is the Love? Understanding What Went Wrong for Netflix

Even big brands with a lot of customer data can make big mistakes (just look what happened to the ones featured in Good to Great).

In “Where Is the Love? Understanding What Went Wrong for Netflix,” we look at some of the missteps Netflix has made lately and how it could affect customer loyalty.

Four Ways to Make Gratitude a Daily Practice

There’s plenty of research out there showing how adding daily practices of gratitude can improve your well being.

In this “Four Ways to Make Gratitude a Daily Practice,” we describe four ways to easily incorporate gratitude into your daily life.

December 30, 2022 by , and

The Secret to Creating Loyalty Beyond Reason: Trustlove

“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”

– Walt Disney

Great brands must cultivate customer loyalty to stand out from the competition. One way to do this is by building trust and creating a sense of belonging, which can be achieved through a passionate commitment to the customer experience. This is what I call “Trustlove.”

I was born a magician

I have always been fascinated by magic and its power to evoke people’s wonder and amazement. So, from a young age, I sought opportunities to bring magic into people’s lives and share my wonder with others.  This passion led me to found the Cult Branding Company, where I help brands create magic and delight their customers.

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to be mentored by exceptional people who have taught me the importance of dreaming big and taking action. I have also learned that great leaders are powered by emotional intelligence.

One of my most memorable experiences was working at SeaWorld, where I had the opportunity to learn magic from the late great James Sherril. His sets were pure magic, combining expert sleight of hand with perfect timing. James began his act by introducing himself and explaining the Three Shell game to the audience. He placed a small green ball under one of the three shells on the table before him and then shuffled the shells around, moving them back and forth. As he mixed the shells, James used misdirection and sleight of hand to secretly move the ball from one shell to another, all while engaging the audience with his charming personality. The crowd was mesmerized by his performance, and they watched in awe as James revealed the ball under the final shell, much to their surprise. The audience erupted into applause, and James took a deep bow, grateful for the opportunity to share his magic with them. As he left the stage, he knew that he had given his all and had truly captured the hearts and minds of the audience with his Three Shell game performance. I worked with James for three years and learned that people are always amazed by the magic and that wowing the customer is everyone’s top priority.

In 2013, I partnered with the Discovery Channel to create a show called “The Magic Maker,” featuring Master Magician Dan White (who’s now been on The Tonight Show a whopping 13 times). Over 9 million viewers tuned in to watch the magic we captured from around the world, including a levitating monk in the high mountains, the vanish of the moon, and card magic on a journey with locals through the night. This show brought magic to both in-person and at-home audiences.

I have also brought my love of magic back home to the Dominican Republic, where I collaborated with a group of highly skilled magicians on tour to spread joy, wonder, and love to the people of the Dominican Republic. Our group, called Curiosidades, had over 75 appearances on national television.

As a member of the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, I had the opportunity to help create a magic set and postal stamp for the United States Postal Service. I was thrilled to collaborate with Master Magician Mac King, one of the best shows in Vegas. He has received 5-star Google reviews from thousands of people who love his show, which is full of wonder and magic.

Getting to Trustlove

The Secret to creating loyalty for your brand is Trustlove. Trustlove is the state of being both loved and trusted by customers. It is a combination of positive emotions and confidence that a company has earned through its actions and behaviors. When a company can achieve Trustlove, it means that its customers not only have a favorable opinion of the company and its products or services, but they also believe that the company is reliable, honest, and transparent in its dealings. Trustlove is an important goal for companies to strive for, as it can lead to long-term customer loyalty and satisfaction. Trustlove is a powerful tool for building loyalty in customers and standing out in a crowded marketplace. By building trust and creating a sense of belonging, brands can differentiate themselves from the competition and foster a passionate commitment in their customers.

I have been fortunate to experience the power of Trustlove firsthand through my work as a magician and my role as the founder of the Cult Branding Company. Whether creating magic and wonder for people at SeaWorld, producing a television show that explores magic around the world, or collaborating with Master Magicians, I have always been driven by my desire to bring joy and amazement to others. At the heart of all great brands is a dream, and it is that dream that inspires Trustlove and brings happiness to customers.

December 28, 2022 by

Secrets Bad, Strategy Good: One Cultural Change to Make a Top Priority in 2023

Most people can’t recall the strategy of the company they work for. Harvard Business Review was pulling no punches in its recent article explaining the necessity of having your entire team – from the leadership right down to the front line – aware of the company’s strategic priorities. Almost 3/4ths of research study participants admitted not knowing. This is understandable, HBR says, because most companies don’t have a strategy.

But let’s say you do. Let’s say you do have a strategy, and you’re feeling pretty good about how things will turn out if that strategy is implemented consistently. My question for you is how are you communicating this strategy to all of the people who work for your company.

Yes – all of the people. I’m talking about the customer service representatives, the truck drivers, the janitors and custodians, AR, HR, IT, and every other behind-the-scenes department: do they know where your company is going and the role they play in getting you there?

A Strategy No One Knows About is No Strategy at All

In some organizations, strategy is treated as a type of mystical secret. Only the very elect, who have earned their way into being able to access this information, can know what the big picture is. There are a number of reasons for this, including a fear of the strategy becoming known to the competition, or the fact the strategy is too complex to explain. 

Let’s address the latter point first. The strategy that is too complex to explain is too complex to execute. I can respect not informing your team of a strategic direction that isn’t well-thought-through – why confuse the situation? But in that case, you know that clarifying the strategy into something that can be communicated effectively is a priority item on your 2023 to-do list. 

For an example of a clear, quickly articulated strategy, look at Scheels. They’ve boiled their approach down into a single sentence: Our goal is to be the best retailer in the eyes of our customers, associates, and business partners. Every member of the team is aware of this strategy, and when they’re in a position to make a decision, it’s an easy litmus test: does this option make us the best retailer? If the answer is no, it’s not the right option.

There’s No Need for Secrecy

The Scheels strategy isn’t hidden behind any walls. You don’t need to exert a ton of effort to find it. Scheels puts it, and a lot of the reasoning behind it, right on their website for the entire world to see. Check it out for yourself: scheels.com/about

But what about the fears of competitors benefitting by knowing your strategy?  These are entirely misplaced. Knowing a strategy is not the same as committing to implementing it effectively, and frankly, any company that’s focused enough to mimic someone else’s operational choices to that degree will also possess enough resources to eventually realize each brand charts its own unique route to success.

Tell Me What You Think

I’d love to hear what you find most rewarding – or challenging – about sharing the company’s strategy with your team, associates, and customers. Have you made communicating your strategy internally a top priority? If not, are you planning to do so going forward?

Less secrets, more strategy – Goal #1 for 2023!

December 14, 2022 by

Free McDonald’s for Life? That’s Not Boring

Anyone who is serious about brand building pays attention to what McDonald’s is doing. Over the years we’ve seen some really great ideas executed by skilled teams determined to keep on top of a very competitive industry.  When I saw CMO Tariq Hassan comment in a recent CNBC story that he tells his team to be comfortable being boring, I had to laugh.

Google “McDonald’s Free Food for Life” to see how much editorial coverage the brand’s latest campaign has generated. Designed to increase the number of McDonald’s customers using the brand’s app, this campaign offers customers one entry per purchase into a chance to unlock free McDonald’s food for life – for them and for three of their friends. This type of global attention is not boring.

In fact, here are a couple of points McDonald’s is making that I think are well worth paying attention to. 

Focus on a Channel to See It Flourish

It was interesting to see Hassan pointing out the value placed on app-using customers – he called them ‘more meaningful and profitable’ – and also talking about the efforts required to attract and retain those customers. A significant investment in marketing and paid media brings new users on board; after that, it’s all about the channel experience. There’s a similar significant investment at this point as well – app users have access to special online concerts, limited edition merch, and other pretty cool perks.

The key point is this: you have to focus on a channel if you want to see it flourish. Ask any gardener – if they have some area of the yard they want to fill with beautiful flowers and lush vegetables, that’s where they’ll concentrate all of their energy. The soil will get the best nutrition, there will be plenty of water and sunshine, all the weeds will be pulled away – basically, focus – and as a result, the garden will flourish. 

Apps don’t attract customers simply by being there. You have to have a well-defined user acquisition and retention strategy.  Have a compelling reason for customers to download the app and even more compelling reasons for them to keep using it. 

Keep Channel Experience Consistent with Larger Strategic Objectives

Since the pandemic, McDonald’s has simplified its menu. Core classic items – cheeseburgers and fries, let’s say – remain, while trendy, underperforming items like salads and parfaits are gone. Hassan calls this strategic consistency, and it appears customers appreciate having a smaller, more affordable array of options. 

What’s important to understand here is that the McDonald’s app experience is consistent with the rest of the brand narrative – you can get your Chicken Nuggets, you can get your Big Mac – while adding a layer of community and fun. Over the three weeks the “Win McDonald’s Food for Life” campaign runs, people will be discussing what it would be like to win that prize. They contemplate which three friends they’d share the experience with. What would it be like to share french fries with the same people for the next fifty years?  Downloading an app is a small way to take part in the fun and be part of the conversation. Meanwhile, the savings incentives are focused on classic menu items, helping customers strengthen their connection to the brand’s chosen path forward. Smart. 

What Do You Think?

Are you a McDonald’s app user? If you are, has the relationship you have with the brand changed over the time you’ve been using the app? Would you want to win free McDonald’s food for life? Inquiring minds want to know!

December 7, 2022 by

What The World Cup Did For China, Some Other Brand Will Do To You – Be Ready

Billions of people around the world watch the World Cup – but all of those people aren’t necessarily noticing the same things. Some fans are really focused on the football while others are just waiting to hear Andrés Cantor yell “GOAL!” the way only he can. And in China, where the strictest COVID control measures have been in place for quite some time before censors could stop the images from getting through, World Cup viewers were exposed to the crowds of fans watching the game in person.

Fans who were not wearing masks. Fans who were not observing any social distancing guidelines whatsoever. Fans who were having a good time, celebrating in crowds, together. 

This has been very eye-opening to Chinese people who have been living under severe restrictions. For example, in some areas, people have not been able to visit the grocery store without submitting negative PCR results. Personal movement is significantly controlled, and there has been much suffering.  This has all been attributed to COVID prevention – but exposure to the World Cup fans has revealed to at least some Chinese people that the rest of the world is not living the way they’re living. 

The Awareness of Alternatives Often Prompts People to Change

The Chinese authorities have heavily censored coverage of the World Cup fans because they know that when people are aware of alternatives to the way they are currently existing, it can often prompt the demand for change. Seeing throngs of people celebrating together, without masks, can easily inspire the question “Is the hardship we’re being forced to endure really necessary?” Mass protests against China’s zero COVID policy have swept across the country, and as of this writing, restrictions have been eased in two of the larger cities, Guangzhou and Chongqing – impacting more than 31 million people. 

Now, how does this translate to your ongoing quest to keep your customers in love with your brand? Well, the first takeaway is that there’s really no such thing as a captive audience. Even in a very authoritarian state, the people want what the people want. And while getting change in that environment is difficult and requires a lot of personal self-sacrifice and courage, your customers here can change brand loyalty without consequence or obstacle. 

Sometimes brands forget this. It’s common knowledge that some convenience retail chains got by for years and years offering a pretty substandard experience because they were the only option. Customers had no choice. In fact, customers got used to dirty bathrooms and food products of questionable provenance to such a degree that they didn’t realize things could be any other way. 

This created an opportunity for a brand like Buc-ee’s to come in and disrupt the industry by offering a significantly different, significantly more enjoyable experience. When people see better, they want better – and they change their behaviors to get better. 

The question for the brand manager is are you running the company that’s hoping your customers don’t see things could be better for them just a short distance down the road – or are you running the company that tells customers you don’t have to settle for the experience you’ve been having?  

The choice is yours. I’d love to hear your thoughts, you can reply to this email, especially about those moments of discovery that changed the way you viewed or interacted with specific brands.

November 30, 2022 by

Harness The Power of Your Brand

Having a recognizable brand that people associate favorably with your company is vital in helping customers learn about your company’s core beliefs, brand character, and overall purpose. 

The following are some of the advantages you can enjoy if you’re successful in building a brand:

  • Greater visibility
  • Strong connections to the client base
  • The reliability of positive recommendations

It’s also possible to reach out to the general public and win over potential clients. People who care about the same things you do will be drawn to your business and its offerings. In addition, it will aid in assembling a solid group of compatible individuals. A strong foundation for future growth can be laid with a team of employees that share the company’s core beliefs.

The most important thing about building a successful brand is that it helps spread the word, develop relationships with consumers, and earn their trust. Establishing a distinct brand identity helps you to attract more customers, retain the ones you already have, and boost your brand’s perceived value.

Watch as I, along with three well-known newspaper brands, demonstrate how to introduce branding into any type of company. We are proud to help companies harness the power of their brand. Let’s start a conversation around your brand today.

November 29, 2022 by

On Observing Chaotic Processes: Elon Musk’s Takeover of Twitter, Examined

Watching Elon Musk take possession of Twitter is a lot like watching someone clean their room. At this point, it looks like chaos in every direction. But is there an underlying order that will emerge once all of the necessary changes have been made?

Your answer might depend a great deal on if you’re an Elon-lover or an Elon-hater. There’s no doubt that Musk is a highly polarizing figure. And he’s operating on a scale that seems larger than life – sending people to Mars, controlling a fleet of satellites, trying to steer the conversation on electric vehicles, and now, owner of one of the world’s largest social media platforms. Every move Elon makes sends ripples through several industries, and it is perhaps inevitable that he is taking on somewhat mythic proportions in the public imagination. 

Our Expectations of a Rational Process Are Not Elon’s Obligation

Being seen as larger than life the way Elon Musk is can be a mixed blessing at best. Yes, there’s tremendous opportunity in being able to leverage the sentiment of a large fan base – how many Teslas do you think would sell absent Elon’s leadership of the brand? – but one is also saddled with the public’s expectations of how someone in that position can and should act.

Case in point: the Twitter takeover. Elon is hardly new to the tech space. He knows that programmers, developers, and other essential personnel tend to be highly inefficient at best, and if they’re not on your side – look out. Cleaning house the way he did was hardly tactful – and the heavy-handedness of the process resulted in several avoidable points of self-inflicted damage – but at the end of the day, Elon is a shrewd businessman who wants the corporate culture with him, not against him. 

Does this look nice? Does it make for warm and fuzzy coverage in the press? Absolutely not – but it’s important to observe what is actually happening, compared to the expectations we have relative to Elon’s performance.  For example, we might have expectations related to the pivotal role Twitter has had in supporting democratic movements around the world – but if we observe Elon’s actions, such as the huge block of Twitter advertising just purchased by Space X – some connections and synergies begin to take on greater weight and relevance. 

What looks like an entirely chaotic process may in fact just be a very complex way to introduce a greater level of coherence into Musk’s organizational structure. We know he likes to own every controllable aspect of his empire – that’s why you can only get Tesla parts and service from Tesla – and Twitter represents a giant, owned advertising platform with tremendous global reach. 

I’m not saying everything is being handled brilliantly – Eli Lilly definitely would have words on this point, I’m sure – but there is a method to the madness. Birth is a messy process. For Twitter to reach a form that’s in alignment with Musk’s vision, this chaos is both inevitable and a positive sign of change. 

Is it change for the better? Hard to say at this point, but I’m very curious to know your thoughts. Let me know what you’d say to Elon right now if you had the chance.

November 16, 2022 by

Love K-Pop, Love Korea? It Might Be That Simple

In July 1970, American Top 40 was born – dominating the radio airwaves for decades and cementing Billboard Magazine’s iconic charts as the relevant metric for the industry. Just last month, they launched the “The K-Billboard Awards” to celebrate the accomplishments of K-Pop artists. 

K-Pop is absolutely a musical phenomenon. Combining fun tunes, precisely coordinated dance routines and flashy fashion, the bands have gained popularity around the world. BTS is perhaps the most well-known group, but there are literally hundreds of others. If you’re reading this, the odds are pretty good you’re involved in brand building – so you know this type of global enthusiasm doesn’t just happen. So what’s going on?

Understanding Hallyu: The Rise of South Korea’s Cultural Economy

It was in the mid-nineties when South Korean economic officials began to realize how profitable popular culture could be. The profits from Jurassic Park – a mega-hit at the time – was the equivalent of exporting 60,000 Hyundai cars.

At this point, South Korea began investing heavily in developing its music and film industry. There’s been some critiques of how K-Pop musicians are trained in an assembly-line fashion, but no one’s knocking the cinematographers: Squid Games, Love and Leashes, and other South Korean offerings are earning rave reviews.

It’s important to understand that there’s absolutely an economic incentive to create and export great content. But we’d be naive not to examine this phenomenon in its greater context. The K-Pop phenomenon results in more people loving (or at least being quite fond of) South Korea. In geopolitical terms, that’s known as Soft Power.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which began writing about the K-Pop phenomenon in 2020, explains soft power this way:

“…being home to popular shows and bands is not in itself a form of soft power. There is a distinction between nation branding—a country generally promoting a positive but relatively shallow view of itself—and soft power. Soft power takes the appeal of soft resources—attractive pop culture fixtures like movie stars and pop icons, tourist attractions, and a welcoming environment for study abroad programs—and combines them to create, and solidify, new long-term changes in how people think about or interact with the country in question. After all, as the father of soft power, Joseph Nye, wrote, soft power is all about getting another party to want what you want.”

But Does It Work?

It’s one thing to say that creating a legion of fans for a particular country’s culture can influence politics – but does it work? Well, K-Pop fans famously (and fraudulently) registered for hundreds of Trump-rally tickets they never intended to use. This led to the former President to give a speech to a nearly empty house in Tulsa. Cable news had a field day playing and replaying the story, which, ultimately, to some degree, influenced the election. 

Was this coordinated by the South Korean government or a spontaneous action of a cohort of like-minded individuals? These lines blur, don’t they, when we stop thinking of art as an end in itself and consider it instead as a strategic asset in an increasingly uncertain world?  If you had Kim Jong-Un living next door to you, you’d want lots of friends too.

And if that means making beautiful music, beautiful music you will make.

November 14, 2022 by

Seven Steps to Discovering Your Company’s Core Values

As a leader of your enterprise, this process begins with you—your interest, passion, and commitment to establishing a set of values that will guide your culture through decades of growth.

Taking the time to define your values, embody them, and keep them fresh and alive in everyone’s minds are some of the most vital things you can do to promote a thriving culture.

Arriving at a concise and short list of values can be a daunting task. You can find lists of 300 values to choose from. However, we don’t advise using any predetermined lists.

Why? Values aren’t selected; they are discovered. Freely associating in a brainstorming session with your employees will invariably yield superior results.

Ready to get started? Here are seven steps to creating distinct and meaningful core values that will serve as a foundation for your corporate culture:

Step 1: Begin with a Beginner’s Mind

It’s too easy to presume we know the answer at the start and to therefore never truly embark on a creative discovery process. Adopting the mind of a beginner—someone without any preconceived notions of what is—gives you access to more ideas and a fresh perspective on your business.

This is an important step in any kind of discovery process. In our firm, every time we begin a new creative project or the discovery of psychologically-driven consumer insights for clients, we always start with a Beginner’s Mind.

We believe it is imperative to approach the discovery of core values without any preconceived notions and beliefs about your culture and your business. Simply taking a deep breath and momentarily clearing your mind may be all that’s needed. Remembering that your conscious mind doesn’t know all of the answers is helpful too.

Step 2: Create your own master list of internal values.

The more experienced and engaged employees you can enroll in this initial process, the better. Set up a meeting with your leadership team first. Have everyone list what they believe to be your company’s imperatives, ideal behaviors, desired skills, and greatest strengths.

Ask:

  • What do you believe defines the culture at [company]?
  • What values do you bring to your work that you consistently uphold whether or not they are rewarded?
  • What do you truly stand for in your work? What do you believe [company] truly stands for?
  • What do our customers believe about us? What do they believe we stand for?
  • What values does our company consistently adhere to in the face of obstacles?
  • What are our company’s greatest strengths?
  • What are the top three to five most important behaviors we should expect from every employee (including you)? “Actual company values are the behaviors and skills that are valued in fellow employees,” explains Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

Your goal is to discover the pre-existing values within your organization (assuming you’re not an early-stage start-up). It will be difficult to reinforce values that aren’t already part of your organization’s ethos. It’s best to highlight your organization’s current strengths and build on them.

While some companies hire an outside consultant to help uncover their core values (which is appropriate at times), it is vital that you as a leader are playing a role in facilitating the discussion. Your employees need to see that you’re taking this process seriously and that it’s not just some “corporate agenda” for appearance purposes. If you don’t take this process seriously, it’s unlikely your employees will.

If you are going to lead the discussion, however, be sure that you’re not shaping the conversation or influencing people’s answers.

Step 3: Chunk your values into related groups.

Combining all of the answers from step 2, you now have a master list of values. If you and your team took this process seriously, you may have between 25 and 75 values. Obviously, that’s far too many to be actionable and memorable.

Your next step is to group these values under related themes. Values like accountability, responsibility, and timeliness are all related. Group them together.

Step 4: Highlight the central theme of each value group.

If you have a group of values that include honesty, transparency, integrity, candor, directness, and non-political, select a word that you feel best represents the group. For example, integrity might work as a central theme for the values listed above.

This process is best done with a small team, but this brainstorming session can be an open meeting as well.

Step 5: Sacrifice and Focus.

Now comes the hardest part. After completing step 4 you still might have a sizable list of values. Here are a few questions to help you whittle your list down:

  • What values are absolutely essential to your work environment?
  • What values represent the primary behaviors your organization wants to encourage and stand by?
  • What values are essential to supporting your unique culture?

You can’t be all things to all people. Your culture is unique. It should emphasize what matters most to your collective. It should highlight what makes your organization a place that talented people want to work. It should represent both your current and the ultimate expression of your culture.

Strong values require difficult decisions to be made in order to uphold the values. Avoid prosaic or generic values (often listed in a single word, like “accountability”) because they won’t establish a strong, distinct culture.

How many core values should your organization adopt? Too few and you won’t capture all of the desired behaviors and unique dimensions of your organization. Too many and your employees will get overwhelmed and they will lose their overall impact. While the number of core values differs for each organization, the magic range seems to be between 5 and 10.

Step 6: Craft Your Company’s List of Core Values.

Now creativity really comes into play. You’ll notice in the core values examples from successful brands that none of them list their values in a single word like Integrity, Accountability, or Fun. While a one-word value might be easier to remember, it is difficult for a single word to become a distinct expression of your culture. More importantly, it is incredibly difficult for a single-word value to trigger an emotional response in your employees.

Highlighting values in memorable phrases or sentences forces your organization to define the meaning behind each value. It gives you the opportunity to make the value more memorable in the minds of your employees.

Be sure to enroll at least one strong writer from your team in this stage of the process. Here are a few tips and guidelines for crafting your values:

  • Use inspiring words and vocabulary. Our brains are quick to delete or ignore the mundane and commonplace. A phrase like “Customer Service Excellence” is not going to inspire you or your employees. Zappos’ “Deliver WOW Through Service” just might.
  • Mine for words that evoke emotion. Words and phrases that trigger emotional responses will be more meaningful and memorable in the minds of your employees.
  • Focus on your organization’s strengths. It’s fitting that a company like IDEO would promote principles like “Encourage Wild Ideas” and “Build on the ideas of others.” Play to your strengths in crafting your values.
  • Make it meaningful. Slogans and taglines are not core values. Make your value statements rich and meaningful to your employees.

Step 7: Test the Ecology of Each Value.

Once you’ve finalized your list of core values, it’s time to test.

Here’s a quick checklist to test the integrity of your new core values:

  1. Will each value help you make decisions (especially the difficult ones)?
  2. Are your core values memorable? Will every team member be able to encode them in their minds?
  3. Does each value represent distinct elements of your overall culture?
  4. Does each value speak to at least one desired behavior?
  5. Will you be willing to uphold these values 50 years from now?
  6. Are your values congruent with the behavior of your leadership team? Are these values BS-tested? Will an employee be able to observe hypocrisy?
  7. Can your organization hold up these values in stressful and difficult situations (like increased competition, product recall, stock devaluation, or downsizing)?
  8. Are you willing to defend these values unequivocally? That is, does each value permeate through the entire organization?

What clients say about the Cult Branding Process

“B.J. Bueno and his team at The Cult Branding Company respect and understand what so many strategists miss: before we can be experts on the product, sales, or the market, we must first be experts on human nature. They have a proven track record of building healthy, sustainable businesses for some of the best brands in the world―using the very process outlined in this book.”

―Bert Jacobs, chief executive optimist, The Life is good Company

To learn more about how we help leaders like you achieve amazing results click here.

October 31, 2022 by