Brands and values: from political correct to commitment

Lately I have made an effort to draw positive conclusions from the misfortunes that surround us. The relationship between brands and values is getting narrower and narrower, to the point of moving from functionality to entertainment and finally to commitment. I remember that phrase of Lao-Tse: “Perfection is the will to be imperfect” and confirm that imperfection is a human trait, not intended for robots.


2016, the year confidence fell


First the Brexit and then the victory of Donald Trump. Both factors have shaken the state of general confidence. So pick up the latest executive summary Edelman Trust 2017, of which I recommend you take a look to better understand what is cooked.


Positive reading: Behind brands and organizations there are people


The positive thing about times of crisis is that people tend to use ourselves more and more wisely. Superpowers, our values. Brands, and that includes people, they are not satisfied with wanting to occupy a place in our mind, now they need to do it in our hearts.


It's not cheesiness, is commitment


When the word heart is used on dates close to 14 February you can fall into the trap of Valentine's Day. When I speak to heart I do not mean love but emotional commitment.


Every day should be Cancer Day, Mother's Day, Book Day, The Day of Love. That is the challenge of brands and the people who manage them, the challenge of branding is to create awareness and in passing, leave marketing aside a little (let no one be offended).


Do companies need Branding Department?


Like the water we drink. They need to understand that brands represent emotional bonds with their Users (I hate this word, but I prefer it to “Consumers“). Brands need to define emotional territories, the place they want – and they can- occupy in people's hearts. They must be imbued, as difficult as it may seem, of human values.


Not liking everyone is key


Pretending to be Coke, transversal and multigenerational brand, it's a difficult road. The reason this brand connects is not in its bubbles, is in your brand story. Personally I don't like the tail of any brand, but emotionally I carry the Coca Cola brand inside because it has become a symbol of happiness. And now I wonder if brands should keep us in Matrix, we always like or should mutate.


In an unjust society, brands can and should? commit


Commitment is one of the values that most humanize. As a result of the Super Bowl, every year the brands with the largest budget compete for the North American television space with extraordinary ads.


It was precisely an intermission of the Super Bowl of 1984 the one who elevated the birth of the Macintosh with an impeccable staging of Ridley Scott and BBDO script.


This year, and retrieving the context of values, I was very struck by these ads of Budweiser And Coke. These brands have not been the only ones to stand up to Trump and his model of closed America in itself.. But Coca Cola and Budweiser's commitment is evident in a piece that highlights what Trump doesn't want to see.: that great nations have been created from diversity, from the acceptance of the human condition.


The United States has never been white, are the result of the mixture of many races and cultures that have survived and integrated as a single brand.. I leave you the ads of Coca Cola and Bud, and I invite you to think about values and commitment when you have a brand to manage, including your own: From CSR to RSP.



Cover image by Shutterstock.com

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