What courage can do for your brand

Brand values can influence an organization’s destiny.

Those values are the ideals and experiences that the organization claims to follow as golden standards for doing business. Despite the huge influence that values have on a brand, they’re usually seen as a list of ethical and operational ideals rather than actions an organization takes to set its brand apart.

In most cases, an organization’s list of brand values tends to state the obvious and is identical to those of the competition.

So, how does an organization go beyond just words and move into action?

Business leaders should identify a personality they feel their organization can benchmark against, a person who encapsulates the values that attract consumers.

The values of individuals like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jack Welch would appear to be obvious choices for organizations to emulate, but they rarely are. Instead, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Elon Musk and David Bowie are looked to more often.

The latter share traits that set them apart: courage and a penchant for rebellious behavior.

Every time I’m asked what made Bowie so special, the feedback is the same: He continuously transformed his brand and never stood still. He simply refused to get boring.