Marketing Canvas - Values
About the Marketing Canvas Method
This article covers dimension 230 — Values, part of the
Brand meta-category. The Marketing Canvas Method structures
marketing strategy across 24 dimensions and 9 strategic archetypes.
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In a nutshell
Values (dimension 230) are the core beliefs a brand would defend even when doing so is commercially costly. Not the list of adjectives on the careers page. The principles that visibly shape decisions — what the brand builds, who it hires, which partnerships it declines, which customers it turns away.
In the Marketing Canvas, Values sits within the Brand meta-category alongside Purpose (210), Positioning (220), and Visual Identity (240). If Purpose answers why we exist, Values answers how we behave. Purpose is the architecture. Values are the load-bearing walls that make it structurally sound — or expose it as a facade.
What values actually are
Most companies have values. Almost none of them are used.
The tell is simple. Ask three people on the leadership team to name the company's values without looking at a slide. Then ask them to name one decision made in the last twelve months that was made because of a stated value — a decision where the value-driven choice was harder or less profitable than the alternative.
If they can answer the second question, values are functional. If they cannot, values are decoration.
This is the acid test the Marketing Canvas applies to dimension 230: can you point to a specific decision in the past year that was made because of a stated value, even when a different decision would have been more profitable? A score of +2 or above requires a yes. Everything below that is still in progress.
Values are not aspirational. They are descriptive of current behaviour. "We aspire to be more transparent" is a goal. "We publish our ingredient list in full, even when competitors don't" is a value.
Values in the Marketing Canvas
The canonical question
Are your brand's values reflected in your behaviour and what you actually do?
Values is a Fatal Brake for two archetypes — the two where the absence of genuine values collapses the entire strategic logic:
A2 — Efficiency Machine: In a commodity market, customers need a reason not to feel embarrassed about their choice. Aldi's core value — smart shopping as intelligence, not compromise — reframes discount as a badge of sophistication. Without that value anchoring the positioning, Aldi is just cheap. The value is what makes cost leadership sustainable rather than a race to the bottom. For A2, values anchor the operational discipline that makes efficiency structural, not tactical.
A3 — Brand Evangelist: The tribe forms around shared values, not around products. Patagonia's 2011 "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign — a full-page New York Times ad urging customers not to purchase unless they genuinely needed the product — only worked because the values were real. Any other company running that ad would have been called hypocritical. Patagonia's revenue increased. When values are authentic, they compound. For A3, values are the belief system. Without them, evangelism has nothing to evangelize.
The Harley-Davidson case illustrates what happens when values fail to evolve. Freedom and rebellion as expressed through loud heavyweight motorcycles resonated deeply with baby boomers. But values that are generationally locked are Fatal Brakes in slow motion. When the tribe's next generation defines freedom differently, the brand's values become a museum exhibit, not a compass. The failure wasn't operational. It was a Values (230) failure that the company tried to solve with a Features (310) answer — the LiveWire electric motorcycle. Wrong dimension, wrong diagnosis.
Values as differentiation
In markets where features converge, values become the last meaningful point of difference.
When two cleaning products perform identically, when two accounting software platforms offer similar functionality, when two airlines fly the same routes at comparable prices — the brand whose values align with the customer's identity wins. Not because the customer is irrational, but because identity is a real decision factor. People don't just buy what works. They buy what they want to be seen buying.
Kantar research confirms that in an increasingly volatile world, people want brands that can deliver on their promises and live up to their stated values. The implication is direct: values that are visibly lived are a competitive asset. Values that are stated but not demonstrated are a liability, inviting the cynicism that collapses trust faster than any product failure.
Research from Kantar's BrandZ study shows a clear link between brand strength and pricing power, with strong brands consistently commanding significantly higher prices than weaker ones. Values are a core input to that brand strength — they give customers a reason to choose that survives price comparisons.
Values vs. purpose vs. positioning
These three Brand dimensions are related but distinct. Conflating them produces vague strategy.
| Dimension | Question | Example — Green Clean |
|---|---|---|
| 210 — Purpose | Why do we exist? | Eliminate indoor toxins; make healthy homes the standard |
| 220 — Positioning | Why should customers choose us? | The indoor health protection company |
| 230 — Values | How do we behave to make that real? | Transparency, health accountability, environmental integrity |
Values operationalize purpose. Purpose without values is a mission statement. Values without purpose are a list of adjectives. Together, they create a brand that behaves consistently — not just communicates consistently.
Statements for self-assessment
Rate your agreement on a scale from −3 (completely disagree) to +3 (completely agree). There is no zero: the Marketing Canvas forces a directional position on every dimension.
Interpreting your scores
Negative scores (−1 to −3): Your values lack clarity, real-world demonstration, or both. The likely result: customers cannot feel what the brand stands for; differentiation is thin; trust erodes at scale. Values exist on paper. They do not drive behaviour.
Positive scores (+1 to +3): Your values are defined, demonstrated, and recognisable to both internal and external audiences. Employees can name them without reading a card. Customers can feel them without reading the About page. Values are functioning as a strategic operating system, not a communications asset.
Case study: Green Clean
Green Clean is a fictional eco-friendly residential cleaning service used as the recurring worked example throughout the Marketing Canvas Method.
Score: −2 to −1 (Weak) Green Clean lists sustainability, health, and transparency as values on its website. But internally, no decision references them. A supplier offering a cheaper ingredient with an ambiguous safety profile was approved without review. The marketing team uses "eco-friendly" language but has never commissioned an independent assessment. Employees can quote the values from the careers page; they cannot point to a decision shaped by any of them. The values pass the wall-art test and fail the behaviour test. Customers who investigate feel the gap immediately.
Score: +1 to +2 (Developing) Green Clean's values have started shaping behaviour in some areas. The proprietary non-toxic formula reflects the health value in a tangible way. B-Corp certification demonstrates environmental integrity beyond self-declaration. But consistency is uneven: the Family Health Report is in development but not yet live; a recent pricing decision was made on margin grounds alone, without evaluating alignment with the transparency value. Values are functional in product decisions. They are not yet operational in commercial decisions.
Score: +2 to +3 (Strong) Green Clean's values — transparency, health accountability, environmental integrity — are operationalised across all decision categories. The Family Health Report shows customers the exact toxin load avoided during each visit. A distribution partnership was declined because the partner's own products contained ingredients Green Clean's values prohibit. Pricing is tiered so cost-sensitive customers can access the service without the brand diluting its health standards to compete on price. When asked to name a decision made because of a value, the whole team gives the same three examples without prompting. The values are functional. They are felt before they are read.
Connected dimensions
Values does not operate in isolation. Four dimensions connect most directly:
210 — Purpose: Values operationalize purpose day-to-day. Purpose is the why. Values are the how. Without values, purpose remains abstract and impossible to audit.
240 — Visual Identity: Visual identity expresses values visually. A brand that claims transparency but uses opaque, complex design sends a contradictory signal. Identity must match the stated values or the disconnect becomes visible.
320 — Emotions: Values create emotional trust. The emotional connection customers form with a brand is rooted in their sense that the brand shares and lives their values — not in features or price.
340 — Proof: Behaviour proves values are real. Certifications, third-party audits, published reports, and verifiable commitments are how values cross the line from stated to demonstrated. Without proof, values are a claim. With proof, they are a competitive advantage.
Conclusion
The difference between a brand with values and a brand that posts values is a single question: what decision did you make because of them?
If the answer comes quickly and specifically — a supplier declined, a campaign revised, a partnership turned down — values are load-bearing. If the answer requires a search through recent memory and produces only vague examples, values are decorative.
The Marketing Canvas scores this dimension because values are not a culture matter or an HR matter. They are a strategic matter. In commodity markets, they are the last remaining differentiator. In experience markets, they are the foundation of tribal loyalty. In any archetype where brand identity drives purchasing, a weak score on 230 is a Fatal Brake — it blocks every other investment until it is fixed.
Sources
Patrick Lencioni, "Make Your Values Mean Something", Harvard Business Review, July 2002 — hbr.org
Kantar, BrandZ Most Valuable UK Brands 2024, Kantar, 2024 — kantar.com
Kantar, "Three questions to identify your brand's strategic priorities for 2025", Kantar, 2025 — kantar.com
Marketing Canvas Method, Appendix E — Dimension 230: Values, Laurent Bouty, 2026
About this dimension
Dimension 230 — Values is part of the Brand meta-category (200) in the Marketing Canvas Method. The Brand meta-category contains four dimensions: Purpose (210), Positioning (220), Values (230), and Visual Identity (240).
The Marketing Canvas Method is a complete marketing strategy framework built around 6 meta-categories, 24 dimensions, and 9 strategic archetypes. Learn more at marketingcanvas.net or in the book Marketing Strategy, Programmed by Laurent Bouty.
