After looking at my brand values and how they are potentially reflected through my brand’s name, it was then time to find other brands that I personally use which have the same set of values. We set off on a walk around Belfast to generally spark ideas on some brands I use day-to-day and look further into what they believe in and why I like them / use them so often.
One example that sprung to mind was Starbucks as this is where I would go for a refreshment, bite to eat and sometimes to study in their cafe. We were greeted by big smiles and cheerful hellos from the staff before placing an order. Overall I have a pleasant experience every time and feel really welcomed into every store I go into which is great as it doesn’t matter the location. Seeing as most information about businesses are online now, I took to their website to see their values and mission and look at the comparisons between theirs and my brand.
One of the key words that stuck out to me was ‘transparency’ as this was one of my 5 core values with my bank. I feel that it is important to show the realness of what dealing with a business can be like and to keep everything transparent with the customers, keeping them in the loop and feeling like they’re opinions are important and matter within business decision making. I also feel like Starbucks can represent my value of ‘community’ as they drive to create a “culture of warmth and belonging” which can bring a sense of community to all of their customers.
Another brand which I use every day and feel I can resonate with their values is Tesco. I tend to visit their express stores while out and about, often opting for their trusty £3 meal deal and my family also do their weekly shop at Tesco. Their core purpose is “Serving our customers, communities and planet a little better every day.” One big thing that I can relate to, not just in relation to our similar brand values but also just day-to-day is that both myself and Tesco treat people how they want to be treated. I think that this can give me a personal touch into my brand values which in turn, will feed through into my advertising choices and overall branding of my business. Tesco’s brand values are focused on customers and communities which are also 2/5 of my bank’s brand values.
I noticed that a lot of the signs and posters around Tesco stores are focused on reinforcing the locally sourced produce that they sell. Even just reading this as a customer brings a sense of community to me as it feels like they are ‘local’ to you and care about including the community in their choices but also throughout their product range too.
More relevant brands with similar values:
Monzo is an online bank, popular amongst all age groups but mainly focused on the younger generation with their online, paperless approach to banking. They didn’t have a basic list of values on their website that I could directly compare to my bank but they did have a few that I compiled together.