How would you like your customers to perceive your brand and how should they not perceive it? If you’re not clear on these questions, to build a unique and consistent brand, refine your identity’s value framework.
It is the value pillars that set the direction of how your brand is perceived by the public and the target customer segment. They also serve an important guiding function for all your strategies, communications, campaigns and other activities.
Define the value pillars of your identity
Value pillars are the cornerstone for creating and maintaining a positive image of your brand and a key element in differentiating it from the competition. How best to define them?
At Row & Slide, we use brand cards – the Brand Deck from https://branding.cards/- in workshops with clients . However, we are currently working on our own modified version in Slovak language.
What is the purpose of brand cards? A simple exercise with brand cards will help you clarify what is important to your brand, how you should communicate and how you would like your customers to perceive you. It will naturally make you think about connections you haven’t considered before. In the following paragraphs, we’ll take you through how defining value pillars through a branding exercise works.
1. Sort the brand cards into categories
Brand cards are double-sided. On each side of the card you will find one value concept. Think and choose the most appropriate one from the concepts on the card and then classify it into one of the four categories:
It does not concern us
How we want to be perceived
How we don’t want to be perceived
We don’t know
Do this for all brand cards. Use also negative definitions such as – we don’t want the public and customers to perceive us simply or, for example, entertainingly, etc.
As an example, consider the card with the term Reliable. Ask questions like: do we want customers to perceive our brand as reliable? In what areas and how are (will we be) reliable?
When thinking about this, remember that your identity and its values should be tailored to the preferences of your target audience, and should be able to adapt to changes in the market. If you still can’t decide despite much effort, put the card in the “Don’t Know” category and come back to it later. If the concept on the card doesn’t apply to you at all, discard it by putting it in the “Does not apply to us” category.
2. Reduce the cards to the most important ones
Once you have all the cards sorted, proceed to reduce them. Discard the “Not Applicable to Us” category and re-evaluate the “Don’t Know” category so that none of the cards remain in it. Then reduce the number of cards in the remaining categories. Leave 4-6 of the most relevant cards in each of the “How we want to be perceived” and “How we do not want to be perceived” categories.
3. Elaborate the selected concepts in more detail
Specify in more detail the categories “How we want to be perceived” and “How we do not want to be perceived” in a separate document. The result will be a detailed description of the value pillars, which you should then translate into your internal team values and external marketing communications.
As an example, we elaborate on the “Reliable” card – We care about the consistent quality of our work. Thanks to our professional team, we deliver to our clients above standard, within the agreed time and price. The success of our clients is our first priority, so we want to bring the best to our clients through our work for their growth. Thanks to this, they perceive us as a reliable partner.
4. Translate your values into everything you do
The value pillars are a guiding framework for profiling and modelling the brand for different situations. They help determine what activities and decisions are consistent with the brand’s values and what is acceptable to the brand. You should translate them into the following areas:
Relationships and collaborations: value pillars play a key role in building relationships with your customers, suppliers or business partners. However, it is your relationships with your customers that have the biggest impact, as customers often prefer brands that share their values. As long as a brand shares the same values, it can build strong bonds and loyalty.
Tone-of-voice: Your identity should have a consistent tone in communications of any kind. Choose it based on your chosen value pillars. For example, if you want your brand to be perceived as respectful, choose a friendly and respectful tone of voice, and avoid humorous and offensive communication.
Visual identity: visual identity includes colours, logos, typography and other visual elements that should be consistent with your brand values and personality. For example, if you want to look adventurous, don’t be afraid to use vibrant and bold colors and elements in your design that will catch your customers’ attention.
Strategies and campaigns: the value pillars are the basis for the development of communication strategies and marketing campaigns. They help shape the message communicated to reach a target audience that resonates with that message on an emotional level.
Build a strong and consistent brand
Only with clearly defined value pillars can a brand thrive and achieve long-term success in the marketplace. Therefore, translate your values into everything you do. This makes it easier to build trust with your customers, create strong relationships and stand out in the marketplace. Remember, however, that your values and priorities can change over time, so update your value pillars when necessary.
If you need help defining your value pillars, we’d be happy to help. Contact us at
