Growing through Values - Ethical Branding
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| There is nothing fishy about these brand values |
The ‘Jamie Oliver’ and ‘Body Shop’ brands demonstrate that clearly
defined core values can be firmly placed at the centre of a healthy business.
Strong values provide an ethical code of behaviour that influences staff,
suppliers and customers. When employees share a brand’s core values they are
more likely to feel content, empowered and fulfilled. Shared values can shape a
behavioural framework that enables an organisation to realise its brands vision
and achieve its true purpose. Values may originally derive from an
organisation’s founders and evolve over time as a business flourishes. If you
do not clarify and communicate these values, they may become diluted and
compromise the qualities that made the organisation successful in the first
place.
Jamie Oliver
The
success of Jamie
Oliver and his many enterprises may be traced to a confident sense of ‘Real Purpose’. The Kitchen Crusaders website and careers
section clearly states ‘there’s a real purpose to working here compared to
slaving away to make massive profits for some faceless corporation!’ And who
would doubt that? Oliver’s Values are so authentic you can hear his voice loud
and clear when you read them - http://www.jamieoliver.com/careers
- Keep it simple
- Give it your all
- Enjoy yourself
- Think fresh
- Spread the love
- Grow with us
This is a brand that undoubtedly benefits from a very visible and passionate brand Champion - and Oliver wears his heart on his sleeve. When the Chef visited North America back in 2010 for his ‘Food Revolution’ campaign he was reduced to tears at a US school, ‘They don’t understand me because they don’t know why I’m here.’ The caring chef was in the West Virginia town of Huntington to address the obesity epidemic that accounted for two out of every three people in the US being overweight. At the time Oliver placed a statement on his website: ‘I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food.’ To back up his manifesto he opened a walk-in advice centre called ‘Jamie’s Kitchen ’ on Huntington’s Third Avenue.
Jamie Oliver first came to the wider public’s attention in 1999 with
his popular TV series ‘The Naked Chef’ and the accompanying book. His
energy and enthusiasm seemed endless. In 2000 he started appearing in Sainsbury’s
supermarket commercials and in 2002 he launched the Fifteen Foundation. The
foundation gave 15 young people, from disadvantaged backgrounds, the
opportunity of a career in the restaurant business. In 2005 he campaigned
against the use of processed foods in school kitchens with the TV series ‘Jamie’s
School Dinners’. With his focus firmly kept on caring for the nation’s
diet, he followed with ‘Jamie’s Ministry of Food’. The success of ‘Jamie’s School
Dinners’ campaign improved not just the health of school children but their
exam results, with a consequent rise of 4.5 per cent in English SAT’s results.
The Fifteen Foundation has been renamed as the Jamie Oliver Foundation.
It was set up to train young people from deprived backgrounds to be chefs and
many have persevered and found careers in this industry. The Fifteen London restaurant was followed by similar projects in Amsterdam, Cornwall
and Melbourne.
His enthusiasm for life is contagious and he is always inspiring or
helping people – whether it is a new recipe, YouTube channel or his successful
food festival ‘Feastival’. He is extremely constructive, using his talent to
help others, offering jobs to unemployed youths and helping to change people’s
perceptions about food. He has the confidence and courage to make a change for
the good of all. You can tell that he really wants to help people and he ranks in
the ‘Giving List of Charitable Donors ’ published by The Sunday Times ‘
Rich List’. The Jamie Oliver brand is focused on caring and like the late Dame Anita
Roddick, The Body Shop founder, Jamie Oliver is a passionate campaigner. He
cares deeply about people and food and is often referred to in the media as ‘
The Kitchen Crusader ’.
Social responsibility
Brands are interconnected with their employees, suppliers and customers.
They are a part of society and can affect both the environment and our physical
health. Commerce has global implications and with that comes responsibility.
Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are the two ‘ must
have ’ policies for global businesses. But is CSR a charity bandwagon or really
heart-felt?
Either way, a lot of good causes benefit t from these policies,
but there is a difference between believing in a cause and just doing the right
thing. A hollow CSR policy will come up for scrutiny but passionate heartfelt causes
could be the focus that drives a brand. Dame Anita Roddick founded the ethical
beauty brand ‘The Body Shop ’ and placed ‘ Against Animal Testing ’ on the
political agenda. The brand was the first global cosmetics brand to be
recognized under the Humane Cosmetics Standard for their ‘ Against Animal
Testing ’ policy.
"The
business of business should not just be about money,
it should
be about responsibility. It should be about public
good, not
private greed."
Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop founder
Core Values are the foundations on which strong brands may be
built. These values should be clear and relevant to each employee at every
stage of their relationship with the organisation. The more work you put into
defining what your organisation stands for and how you expect your staff to
behave, the more your brand will grow in stature and performance.
Blog Author: Paul Hitchens
Find out more about how Values can help
your brand culture. You are invited to join me for my new workshop
designed to help you get to the the best from your brand:
SUCCESSFUL BRAND MANAGEMENT IN A DAY
Book Tour - Brand Workshop
A special one day workshop presented by the author, Paul Hitchens. This fast paced workshop will follow the book with interactive exercises and real world examples. Each delegate will receive a complimentary copy of 'Successful Brand Management - In A Week'.
BOOK HERE 11TH December 2014 London
One day workshop >> £395.00 + VAT
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