Strategic Question #3: What Are Your Company’s Core Values?

By Tom Wanek, Wizard of Ads Partner

(This post is a continuation of our detailed look into the 13 strategic marketing questions that every marketer must answer.)

What Are Your Company’s Core Values?

Every successful brand is built upon a backbone of core values; those principles that you stand for, and oppose. And I’ll bet dollars to donuts that your business is no exception. So, it goes without saying that your marketing should reflect and remain faithful to the core values of your brand.

That said, let’s look at few examples. But before we do, allow me to warn you upfront: you’ll either be attracted to the values cast by these companies, or repelled by them. There’s no middle ground.

Geppetto’s Workshop: The Australian toy shop is committed to nurturing a child’s creativity, and it refuses to stock toys made from plastic or requiring batteries. Not a single one.

It’s a bold decision, making it unlikely that any of Geppetto’s toys will be scribbled down on your kid’s wish list. But hey, if all you want to do is distract little Johnny or Suzy with addictive lights and sounds, then Geppetto’s prefers you shop someplace else.

So what do you get with a strong set of core values?