Values in action
As the CEO of a major promotional company overseeing customer engagement opportunities for some of the nation’s biggest brands, Arrowhead’s Katie Prokop remembers a conversation that brought into focus the importance of brand values and how they can help brands better serve their customers.
A client was pulling back on a nationally acclaimed promotional campaign that benefited local schools but no longer aligned with a changing mission for the company, which centered on better health through healthy foods. The promotional campaign was a large part of Arrowhead’s portfolio at the time, and Prokop wanted to learn more about the brand’s reasoning for the change.
“We got into a really healthy conversation about mission and values, and what they were doing – and what we were doing as a company,” Prokop said. In the end, the client moved ahead with a different campaign to better align with its new mission. The conversation gave Prokop insight that still resonates years later. “Mission, visions and values, at times, can be tough,” explained Prokop. “I really respected them for living their mission, vision, and values. It was the right thing for them.”
Likewise, Arrowhead’s own values, “Commitment, Excellence, Innovation, Integrity and Respect” are not just words. “That’s our culture, and it’s the culture of how we treat each other and how we treat our clients,” Prokop said. When it comes to clients, Prokop believes it’s her team’s job to know their clients’ brand values and work with clients to help them understand how the promotional programs they run intersect with those values.
Brand values build brand loyalty
A promotional campaign that aligns with brand values generates loyalty when customers see a brand authentically living those values and then extending those values to serve the community its targeting. This can create a halo effect for the brand, prompting customers to consider additional products because they trust the brand and understand its values.
Brands are sometimes accused of performative actions – creating a campaign that jumps on a popular cause or trend but isn’t reflective of the brand’s overall mission and values. Any brand can offer up swag, a coupon or rebate – but how does that improve the community you’re working with, and does it align with the brand itself? If not, it could actually drive away consumers.
Warby Parker’s Buy a Pair, Give a Pair is a perfect example of a company reflecting its values, while also incentivizing customers to choose its glasses instead of a competitor’s. When you purchase a pair of glasses from Warby Parker, another pair of glasses is distributed to someone in need. Everyone wins, and the promotion makes sense for both the brand and its customers.
One of Arrowhead’s clients, apparel manufacturer Hanes, has created a B2B rebate program targeting apparel decorators and promotional product distributors. By purchasing qualifying Hanes and ComfortWash products for orders, resellers earn rebates for a school of their choosing. Think about a business that is embellishing team or club logo shirts for a local school. Or an organization that needs shirts for a fun run. If the printing business buys its t-shirts from Hanes, it can earn rebates, which are then distributed to a school of the decorator’s choosing. It’s a win for Hanes, a win for the decorator’s business, and a win for the community. To date, the Hanes4Education program has donated more than $1 million to schools.
Know your customer
One of the most important things a brand can do is understand its audience. Does your promotional campaign make sense for your community? Does it express the values promoted by your brand? This conversation extends beyond any one promotion and into how the company operates within its community.
Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, many brands were encouraged by their employees and customers to take a stand – which then extended to other social issues and causes. Some companies have found themselves in trouble with their customers when they misread their target audience. In recent months, we’ve seen retailers pulling back from long-held values that did resonate with their customers, only to find themselves targeted by boycotts. Mission, vision, and values matter as people decide where and how to spend their money.
In it for the long haul
As Katie Prokop said – values can be hard. Living them means not everything is “just business” unless that sums up your brand. However, a brand that understands its audience and can authentically express its values in the programs it offers its customers, is giving consumers a reason to pick their products over those of a competitor and feel good doing it. Mission, vision, and values are powerful tools to build brand loyalty that can be generational when brands fully commit to living those values.
