There is a balance that must be struck when advertising. On the one hand, businesses need sales to survive, on the other, customers look to enrich their lives in some way. The business wants more profit, the customer a better deal. The business may know the best solution, the customer may not want to be “sold.”
To navigate this dichotomy, you need a moral compass to help ensure that while you may stray from the path, you will always be able to find the right direction. Core values for advertising may, at one extreme, seem redundant or at the other extreme, trivial, and yet they are essential in today’s advertising market. For example, the coveted millennials market is primarily reached through transparency and authenticity. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, “Yes, millennials want to be healthy, but they also want a purposeful life, active community and social ties, and financial stability.” While your business may target older or younger demographics, trust and long term relationships are still a winning combination.
The following core values will help you stay true to your customers and to yourself.
Work Hard, Be Nice to People
From sales to stocker, each person in your business needs to work hard to deliver value. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it™- just kidding. But just because it is hard, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. And people who are having fun are usually quite nice to be around.
Grow or Die
There is an attrition that happens with customers no matter what your business does. Coupled with the threat of competition trying to win over your customers, and changes in your industry, you must face the reality that over time, you either grow or die.
Your Most Important Customer Is Your Current Customer
This is true for so many reasons. Your current customer is your greatest cheerleader. They are the ones trusting you with their investment today. They are the foundation of future growth, and they help you better understand what you are doing right and what could be improved.
When You Become Aware of a Problem, Run To It
No one is perfect, and businesses are its people. Therefore, mistakes are inevitable. The measure of success isn’t the lack of shortcomings, it’s how you deal with them that counts. When you find an issue, you should be the first to acknowledge it, take ownership of it, and see it through completion even if it wasn’t your own doing.
Become More
Very few organizations can remain exactly where they are. Think of the technology disruptions in just the last 10 years. New ways of thinking, new processes, changes in the market and society all require that an organization adapt and Become More or they will most certainly whither where they stand.
Do What You Say
Trust is the foundation of all good relationships, and trust is built on Doing What You Say. When you say you are going to do something you are making a promise. And just because a promise is small (like I’ll get back to you later this week) doesn’t make it any less important when it comes to trust.
Core Values at IndoorMedia
These core values are more than our advertising guidelines. They are the foundation of our business. As IndoorMedia has grown, we have experienced our fair share of growing pains, but with these values to help guide us, I feel, and I hope our customers feel, that we live by our code.
If you ever feel that we are not living up to our name, you can reach me at eric.shafer@indoormedia.com.
By IndoorMedia Marketing
