What values do you share with your customers? We define Values as lifelong beliefs that shape the character of a person. Likely they will not change after someone comes of age and starts to live independently as an adult. Attitudes are different than Values. Attitudes change, turning with the prevailing winds of influence and popular opinion. We encourage our marketing clients to distinguish between the two with their customers. Attitudes among your customers will come and go. They are quite faddish. Values are not fads. They are deeply held and unchanging. If you cross the line with a customer’s Attitude, you have a chance of righting the ship and waiting until it simply isn’t relevant to them any longer. However, step over the line with a Value and you have lost your customer forever.

In recent years, corporate values have come under the microscope. Traditionally, leaders of corporations have tried to be wallflowers when it comes to stating their beliefs. They like to stay neutral for fear of offending one side of an argument or another. When they have stated their beliefs in how the corporation will operate, they tend to come out in banal platitudes that have little meaning, such as Integrity, Trustworthy, Customer-focused, Exceeding Expectations, etc. We are now living in an age where consumers expect more than a bullet point list of clichés, they want companies who align with their Values. These same customers are quick to point out any hint of hypocrisy in a corporation who is faking it.

Some corporations have taken hold of this new shared values branding and included it in their marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at two examples: Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and fast-food giant, Chick-fil-A.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream in 1978. They were socially conscious and leaned left in their political viewpoints. They have used their brand to promote their beliefs over the decades. Ben and Jerry’s have a Social Mission statement:

Our Social Mission compels us to use our Company in innovative ways to make the world a better place.

Ben and Jerry’s have played out their social mission in raising awareness for a long list of causes that are aligned with their beliefs. Some of those causes include promoting non-GMO labeling, ending man-made global warming, expressing solidarity with the anti-corporation Occupy Wall Street protests, and opposing the use of growth hormones in cows. They are not silent about what they believe, whether it is controversial or not. They recently released a new ice cream flavor called Justice ReMix’d to highlight racial inequalities and their support of reforming the criminal justice system. ¹

Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A in 1946. Cathy’s Christian faith was central to what has been described as the servant culture he cultivated within his fast-food franchises. The interaction that a Chick-fil-A employee is trained to use with customers reflects this culture. "How may I serve you today?” and "It’s my pleasure.” are common phrases used when ordering at Chick-fil-A. So is bringing food to your table. For Cathy, the Chick-fil-A culture went beyond just training workers to take orders and serve food with courtesy. He also wanted his employees to go beyond the counter in aiding customers. He created what was known as the Second-Mile Service. This allows Chick-fil-A employees the freedom to help customers in more than selling them chicken sandwiches and waffle fries. It compels them to walk people to their car under an umbrella if it is raining or to change a flat tire for a customer. Truett Cathy said, "We should be about more than just selling chicken. We should be a part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve.”² Cathy’s model has more to do with the customer’s experience, both inside and outside his restaurants, than it does in supporting social causes.

Here is the Vision Statement of Chick-fil-A:

To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.

Are there pitfalls in making such an overt statement about your beliefs in a corporate setting? Yes, of course. Both of these companies have been attacked for standing up for their founders’ values. However, when we are talking about brand loyalty, it has been suggested that 64% of brand relationships are from common values.³ In other words, for all of the detractors, you will find people that will align with your brand and become loyal customers for life based on like-minded values.

What are your values? Are they reflected within the culture of your company? Do they align with your customers’ values too?

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1. Ben and Jerry’s web site: Issues We Care About https://www.benjerry.com/values/issues-we-care-about

2. Chick-fil-A web site: Who We Are https://www.chick-fil-a.com/about/who-we-are

3. 15 Insightful Branding Statistics, by Aleks Merkovich, Fit Small Business.com March 27, 2019