My Comprehensive Guide to Micro-Influencer Marketing

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I recently purchased an adorable cable-knit sweater on TikTok Shop merely because I saw an influencer post about it.

The pull influencers of all followings have on social media users today is strong.

After all, 63% of consumers will likely buy products promoted by an influencer they trust.

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In my role at Nickelodeon, I work in international influencer marketing, so I know how crucial an influencer strategy is to brands of all sizes.

However, we don’t always have the budget to hire the biggest influencers in the game. Enter micro-influencers.

In this guide, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about micro-influencers, including brands that are using them successfully and how you can connect with these individuals to promote your brand.

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Micro-influencers are social media users, unlike typical celebrities, experts, or public figures. They're individuals who work or specialize in a particular vertical and frequently share social media content about their interests.

Unlike traditional “influencers,” micro-influencers have a more modest number of followers, but they boast of hyper-engaged audiences.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing occurs when organizations partner with content creators — users with thousands or even millions of followers — to promote their products or services to the content creator's audience.

When brands partner with influencers, they can leverage the established trust amongst the influencer's audience. Consumers are more likely to buy from someone they know, so influencers are extremely effective when it comes to strategies like word-of-mouth marketing or increasing social proof.

Brands often pay influencers to either post content featuring their products or sponsor their events, capturing the influencers' large reach. However, organic content can also be achieved with some influencers if you establish a barter deal that doesn’t involve monetary payment.

Types of Influencers

Influencers are generally categorized into four groups based on their number of followers.

Nano-influencers

1,000 to 10,000 followers

Often, they’re regular people who have recently developed a higher following.

They are still on the smaller end and may not have the reach a brand is looking for, but their followers are dedicated and engaged in the influencer’s niche, authentic content.

Micro-influencers

10,000 to 100,000 followers

They are stronger than nano-influencers in terms of following while still maintaining a highly engaged audience.

Their content may still be niche, but they may be more likely to branch out to try new concepts and work on targeted marketing campaigns.

Macro-influencers

100,000 to 1,000,000 followers

These influencers are likely well-known by social media users and brands and may already receive several brand partnership requests.

While they have greater reach than nano- and micro-influencers, their content may have less engagement and personalization.

Mega-influencers

More than 1,000,000 followers

They are likely celebrities or massive personalities with huge fees to work with.

While an endorsement from one of these influencers would be huge for a brand, it may not be as worthwhile if they’re promoting many other brands or if their content is overall less genuine.

I think micro-influencers can be the perfect middle ground for brands beginning their influencer marketing strategy. Since they have smaller followings, their fees may be lower and availability greater. However, they still have a larger reach than nano-influencers, making micro-influencer marketing a powerful option.

The Value of Micro-Influencers

A micro-influencer marketing strategy may seem counterintuitive. Why would I seek out someone with a smaller following to promote my brand? Take a look at the following list of reasons micro-influencers might get better results.

Micro-influencers have better engagement rates.

In my experience, the number of followers doesn’t always equate to how well content resonates with those followers.

A great way to track how engaging an influencer’s content is by the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves it receives. This shows that users are going out of their way to interact with the influencer and the post.

Micro-influencers can produce up to 60% more engagement than other types of influencers.

For instance, the average engagement rate on TikTok for micro-influencers ranges from 8.37% to 17.96%, compared to just 4.96% for mega-influencers.

graphs showing that micro-influencers have a higher engagement rate than bigger influencers

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Micro-influencers have more targeted audiences.

Typically, micro-influencers have more targeted audiences since their content is more niche. People follow them not because they are a popular name but because they’re tuned into the influencer’s content or style.

If I’m a fashion brand building my influencer strategy, I can either partner with one mega-influencer or several micro-influencers. A mega-influencer with 1 million followers has an average engagement rate of 1.21%. That’s approximately 12,100 engagements per post.

However, since mega-influencers have such broad audiences, those 12,100 engagements are likely not all from followers interested in fashion.

Now, if I partner with seven fashion micro-influencers with 50,000 followers each and an average engagement rate of 3.86%, that’s a total of 13,510 engagements.

This method results in more engagements and targets followers interested in fashion who are more likely to become buyers.

Micro-influencers are more affordable.

The highest-paid mega-influencer in the world is Cristiano Ronaldo, who makes a whopping $3.2 million per sponsored post. I’d say most brands can’t afford such a staggering cost for a single post with an influencer.

Micro-influencers are typically much more affordable. Their fees can range from $100 to $1,000 per post, which can help brands afford a breadth of content spanning an entire campaign, rather than a single post.

To do a little more math, you’d have to work with 6,400 micro-influencers at a rate of $500 per post to reach the cost of one sponsored post with Ronaldo. While Ronaldo is obviously an outlier, it’s a good lesson on how brands can better allocate their funds.

At Nickelodeon, we sometimes even work with micro-influencers free of charge as part of a barter deal. For instance, we will produce a custom press mailer promoting a new series and send it to the influencer, who will post about the mailer in exchange for keeping the awesome new products.

Micro-influencers are more authentic.

Micro-influencers are real people, so their Instagram content is real, too.

Instagram users with a few thousand followers likely post their own content, reply to comments, and behave more authentically than a brand or a celebrity with a social media manager might.

If a micro-influencer creates a promotional post on Instagram, their followers might be more inclined to click to learn more about the brand they're posting about.

Instagram’s algorithm also prioritizes posts in users’ feeds from profiles they follow and interact with, as well as authentic, quality content. That means content from micro-influencers can be shown higher than that of mega-influencers since their content is considered more honest.

TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes content that is diverse and interesting and doesn’t necessarily prioritize content from creators with higher followings. Therefore, micro-influencers still have the chance to be seen more frequently in a user’s FYP (For You page).

Now that I’ve successfully convinced you of the value of micro-influencer marketing, read on for a guide to discovering micro-influencers to work with.

How to Find Micro-Influencers

1. Use influencer discovery tools.

This is my preferred method of discovering influencers. Many influencer discovery tools, such as Traackr and Tagger by Sprout Social, were built with capabilities for this exact purpose.

On the homepage of most influencer marketing tool websites, you will see a button to Request Demo. This allows you to schedule a live demo with a specialist to test if the tool has all the capabilities you need.

Micro influencer marketing: Tagger by Sprout Social homepage.

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The right influencer marketing tool should have discovery capabilities. This is a dashboard that allows you to search for influencers within the tool’s database.

Micro influencer marketing: Traackr influencer Discovery dashboard.

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For instance, I can use a tool’s Discovery dashboard to discover fashion micro-influencers. I would filter for influencers with 10K to 100K followers.

Then, I would add other filters, such as “Fashion” for the category or topic and “English” for the language. I can also filter for the influencer’s age, audience, average engagement rate, and preferred social media platforms.

When receiving demos, make sure the influencer discovery process is as seamless as possible. The tool should also offer all the information and metrics you need to know about the influencers, such as brand affinity, keywords, average fees, and contact information.

2. Use the search feature on social media platforms.

Another great option for brands starting out who may be wary of investing in an influencer management tool is finding influencers where they are: social media.

I use this method often as it’s quick and organic. Rather than entering lots of information and filters, I can simply scroll through various accounts and see who resonates.

On Instagram, I can search for a topic I’m interested in. For example, I searched “fashion style.” Then, I toggled over to Accounts, so I solely received results of profiles related to this topic, rather than actual posts or locations.

Micro influencer marketing: Results for “fashion style” searched on the Accounts tab on Instagram.

The first several results are usually big, pricey personalities and publications, so I scrolled down for a bit until I started viewing influencers with followers in the micro-influencer range.

The above screenshot shows an account with 66.2K followers.

Next, I clicked on accounts that interested me, such as @just_trish_style, and viewed their profiles. This gives me a good idea of the types of content they post, as well as any brand partnerships they have recently conducted. This information will help me decide if the influencers are a good fit.

Micro influencer marketing: Click on some of the profiles in the search results to see their follower count and content style.

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If I’d like to reach out to an influencer I discovered on social media, I can first check their bio. Many influencers share an email for their management directly in their bio, as seen in the example above. If there isn’t an email listed, I can send a direct message and express my interest in working with them.

A similar tactic involves searching for hashtags rather than keywords. Use the same search bar and type in a relevant hashtag. For instance, I searched #nycfashion in the Tags tab and got dozens of results for related hashtags.

Micro influencer marketing: Search results for #nycfashion on Instagram.

I want to avoid any hashtags with millions or hundreds of thousands of posts as this will make it more difficult to sift through the crowd of both influencers and regular users using those hashtags.

So, I scrolled down until I found #nycfashioninfluencer which had 1,000+ posts. I clicked on the hashtag, which automatically searched for it in the For you tab.

Micro influencer marketing: Search results for #nycfashioninfluencer in the “For you” tab.

I clicked on a post that interested me, which navigated me to that influencer’s profile.

 Micro influencer marketing: Click on posts using the searched hashtag to navigate to an influencer’s profile.

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The account has 49.1K followers, so it falls in the micro-influencer range. I like the rest of @bria__bryant’s profile, so I can then reach out to the email listed in her bio.

3. See who similar brands are partnering with.

Another option that also involves using social media is checking out the competition. While you likely don’t want to hire the same influencers competitors use, it’s helpful to get a sense of the types of influencers that have worked for similar brands.

Most brands will either incorporate the influencer directly into a post on their profile or create a collab post with an influencer. Otherwise, they may have re-shared an influencer’s post onto their Story or in-feed. Regardless, you should be able to view some of their influencer content on their account.

Get started by searching for related brand accounts on Instagram. For instance, if I work for a women’s fashion brand, I can search for Lisa Says Gah, a woman-run, ethical, independent boutique. Scrolling through their profile, I discovered a post in which the brand tagged various micro-influencers modeling its clothing.

 Micro influencer marketing: Lisa Says Gah Instagram post featuring micro-influencers.

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I like the vibe of @vivianyrl, so I navigated to her profile. Here, I clicked the Follow button. Instagram then auto-populates a row of Suggested for you accounts. These are profiles similar to or followed by the account I just followed.

Micro influencer marketing: Click the “Follow” button on an influencer’s profile to receive other suggested accounts.

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I decided to check out @aishafarida’s profile. Here, I can see that she’s also a micro-influencer with 25.7K followers.

Micro influencer marketing: Click on profiles from the “Suggested for you” section to discover similar accounts.

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I like the types of posts Aïsha posts, which are fashion-forward and aesthetically-curated. For one last check, I clicked on some of the posts in her photo gallery to see if she typically tags brands.

Micro influencer marketing: Click on photos in a micro-influencer’s gallery to see how they interact with brands.

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I can see that in most of Aïsha’s posts, she tags clothing and jewelry brands, which is a good sign. It shows that, if I were to work with Aïsha, it would be in her regular social media style to tag and showcase my fashion brand.

I can now reach out to Aïsha via the contact email listed in her Instagram bio and see if a partnership is possible.

4. Use a search engine.

If conducting this investigative work on social media feels daunting, fear not! You can do very similar research on a search engine.

Search for the kind of influencer you’re looking for. For example, I searched “fashion style micro-influencers” on Google and received several results surrounding my search query.

Micro influencer marketing: Google Search result for “fashion style micro-influencers.”

Upon clicking this link, I scrolled through the list of 10 options. Since this article is from February 2023, some of the influencers have grown in size and are no longer micro-influencers. However, I discovered several great options for fashion-niche micro-influencers, such as @heyimlindz.

Micro influencer marketing: Description of micro-influencer @heyimlindz.

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I liked the sound of her style, so I navigated to her Instagram account. I prefer scrolling on social media on my phone rather than on my laptop, so I manually searched her account there. However, many articles like this have direct links to social media profiles, which saves time.

Micro influencer marketing: Use website suggestions to navigate to micro-influencer profiles on social media.

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Lindsey’s profile fits the personality of my fashion brand and has 31K followers, falling in the micro-influencer range. I then checked out some of her posts as I did for Aisha’s Instagram.

Micro influencer marketing: Click on posts to see how influencers partner with other brands.

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I can see that Lindsey tags fashion brands and promotes their products directly.

She also mentions unique shop discount codes for her followers. This is someone I’d be interested in working with to get the word out about my brand, so I can reach out to the email in her bio or DM her.

I can follow this same process on a search engine to find other similar micro-influencers. If the search results don’t turn out satisfactorily or the results are too broad, test out different keywords. I suggest using keywords that best represent your brand.

For instance, if I wanted to be more specific, I could try “ethical fashion style micro-influencers” if that value is important to my brand.

Or if we are an NYC-based company looking to work with local influencers, I could search “nyc fashion micro-influencers.”

5. Hire an influencer marketing agency.

I get it — we don’t always have the time to do the boots-on-the-ground work. You may have an entire business to run and can’t continuously spend time doing meticulous research and outreach to dozens or hundreds of micro-influencers.

In this case, it’s smart to hire an agency to handle the legwork. Several influencer marketing agencies specialize in various aspects of an influencer campaign, including outreach, contracts, campaign tracking, and payments.

When researching agencies, keep in mind the following factors:

  • Payment. How do their fees compare to competitors? Do they take on an annual retainer or payment per campaign?
  • Influencer Database. How many influencers do they have access to? Do they only handle domestic influencers, or can they access influencers globally? Can they discover influencers with as few as 10K followers, or is there a higher follower minimum to filter into their system?
  • Clients. Have they worked with clients in your industry before? Do they have metrics to share on past campaign performance?

Once you find the right agency, they should be able to handle the entire influencer discovery and outreach process for you, so long as you brief them on the campaign summary and goals.

Now that you know how to find the right micro-influencers, I will walk you through how to work with those micro-influencers to ensure meaningful, effective campaigns.

How to Work With Micro-Influencers

1. Create an influencer brief for the campaign.

Like with any campaign, the best way to start is with a brief. This is a document that explains the campaign summary and goals to the influencer.

I usually like to keep this document as brief and simple as possible — after all, we don’t want to bore or overwhelm influencers with detailed jargon.

If possible, keep the brief to a single page and include the following:

  • Campaign name
  • Campaign summary
  • Goals
  • Messaging requirements
  • Target audience
  • Deliverables
  • Timeline

For example:

Campaign name: Black Friday Sale

Campaign summary: [Fashion brand] is having a massive Black Friday sale this year, and we need your help to get the word out! We will send you a collection of curated pieces that you can style on your social media in your own unique way. Show your audience that now is the time to treat themselves to ethical fashion perfect for a business lunch, family dinner, girls’ night out, and everything in between.

Goals:
  • Drive people to our website to make a new purchase.
  • Grow awareness of our brand and followers of our social media.
  • Show your followers that we are the hot new brand for young, trendy women.
Messaging requirements:
  • Use my code [NAME]10 for an additional 10% off your order!
  • All clothes, shoes, and accessories will be/are 30% off!
  • Follow [brand handle].
Target audience:
  • Gen Z and young Millennials (ages 15-35).
  • Females or anyone who appreciates feminine clothing.
Deliverables:
  • 1 long-form Reel/TikTok.
  • 2 short-form videos or static Stories.
Timeline:
  • Concepts due: November 1.
  • First drafts due: November 8.
  • Final edited versions due: November 15.
  • Story 1 post: Week of November 18.
  • Reel/TikTok post: Week of November 25.
  • Story 2 post: November 29 (day of).

This brief shows the influencer that I’m taking their work seriously while giving them the information and tools they need to be successful.

I try to share the brief at least one week before the first due date to provide the influencer with ample time to review and ask questions.

2. Encourage micro-influencers to use their own style and voice.

While the brief is important to guide the kinds of posts the micro-influencer will post, it’s also important to give them some creative liberty. After all, I selected them for a reason — and that reason is that I already enjoy their content.

I let the influencer know I want them to remain authentic to their brand and style while still following the brief. In my experience, this leads to a strong, trusting partnership, which results in high-quality posts that reflect both the brand and the influencer.

3. Review the proposed content before finalizing.

While I already included this in the brief, I can’t emphasize this enough: Always review the influencer’s content and provide feedback before finalization.

I originally worried this would remove the creative freedom and authenticity I just mentioned. However, a brand’s authenticity is equally as important as that of the micro-influencer. Even armed with a brief, the influencer won’t necessarily know how best to capture a brand’s voice in its content.

As the expert on your brand, you should always be the final eyes on the content to ensure it’s appropriate, gets the correct message across, and is in line with your company values.

4. Decide how the brand will get involved with the micro-influencer.

Once you’ve successfully secured a micro-influencer partnership, it’s important to plan how best to interact with the influencer’s social post to grow your brand’s social media presence. Ride the coattails of the influencer’s platform and use it to your advantage.

Brands can participate in the influencer’s post beyond just liking it. Take a look at @melissasonico’s sponsored post below.

Micro influencer marketing: Micro-influencer sponsored Instagram post with a sustainable fashion brand.

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The brand @mate_the_label commented on the post to engage. This helps increase brand visibility with Melissa’s followers and can inspire them to follow the brand, too.

Micro influencer marketing: Brands can comment on influencer posts to engage.

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Brands can also ask to post a collaboration post with the influencer. An Instagram collab post is co-created by multiple accounts and appears on all their feeds.

One user creates the post and invites others to collaborate. All collaborators’ usernames appear at the top of the post, as seen in the below collab post between @michelledugor and @vespucciconsignment.

Micro influencer marketing: Collaboration post between an influencer and a brand.

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Brands can also post the influencer’s content directly onto their own profile and tag them to give credit, as seen below in @girlfriend’s post featuring @alissa.iris.

Micro influencer marketing: Brands can post an influencer’s content on their own social.

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Brands can also re-share an influencer’s post onto their Story, like @womensbest did with micro-influencer @exercisingwitheleanor’s Reel.

Micro-influencer sponsored post with fitness apparel brand.

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BMicro influencer marketing: rand re-posted influencer’s Reel to its story and tagged her.

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There are plenty of ways to engage with an influencer’s post, so work with the influencer to decide which option works best for you both.

5. Ask for feedback.

At the end of the campaign, I naturally track the results using my company’s preferred analytics and influencer marketing tools. While those campaign results are imperative, so is the relationship with the micro-influencer.

That’s why I recommend asking them for feedback at the campaign’s completion.

What worked well, and what didn’t? Did the content and messaging feel authentic to their social media presence? Did they receive positive sentiment from the partnership? What would the influencer change if they were to work with your brand again?

These learnings will be essential if you want to partner with the same influencer again, but they’re also important for other future influencer partnerships. Keeping the influencer’s niche and brand at the forefront of the campaign will ensure favorable, successful, and painless collaborations.

Now that you’re armed with the tips and tricks to handle these micro-influencer partnerships, read on for examples of real brands already using these processes successfully.

4 Brands Using Micro-Influencers Successfully

1. Mejuri

Mejuri is a luxury, everyday jewelry brand that prioritizes creating high-quality, sustainable products.

A big part of the brand is showing that fine jewelry can still be accessible and relatable. Therefore, it makes sense that Mejuri partners with micro-influencers who can build off of that message of authenticity and relatability.

Mejuri works with micro-influencers to showcase its products worn in everyday settings by real humans.

I love two recent posts the brand did with @cheftarathomas which show the micro-influencer wearing her favorite pieces while in her natural element.

Mejuri Instagram posts featuring a chef micro-influencer.

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This is a perfect example of how micro-influencers can improve a brand campaign. With 18.1K followers, Tara has some reach but also the trust and loyalty of her few but mighty followers. Her inclusion in this campaign brings emotion, relatability, and credibility to Mejuri’s brand and products.

Several of Mejuri’s posts feature micro-influencers. Some, like Tara, may seem like an unconventional choice, but this unconventionality is what works so well. Mejuri positions itself as more than just a fashion and beauty-adjacent brand — it’s a lifestyle brand for everyone.

2. LaCroix Sparkling Water

LaCroix Sparkling Water uses micro-influencers to promote its brand in a competitive marketplace. The brand’s social media presence is bright, colorful, and effervescent — just like its iconic sparkling water packaging.

LaCroix identifies micro-influencers on Instagram and asks them to share product awareness posts. It finds micro-influencers by searching branded hashtags, such as #LiveLaCroix, and when users tag the brand on Instagram, as seen in @rachelmuse’s post below.

The brand comments and asks to repost the posts or offer product vouchers in exchange.

Micro-influencer post tagging @lacroixwater and using #LiveLaCroix.

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While LaCroix works with personalities as big as Katie Ledecky, it also targets profiles with lower follower counts to maintain a feeling of authentic “realness” that appeals to millennial and Gen Z Instagram users.

LaCroix also deeply understands its brand and finds micro-influencers who fit its vibrant, energetic, optimistic tone, like @kaylakane.

Micro influencer marketing: La Croix post featuring a micro-influencer.

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By tapping into smaller, more targeted networks of micro-influencers, LaCroix cultivates an authentic, fun social media presence and ensures its product is in front of the eyes of similar users.

If you have a physical product that looks great on camera (like an eye-popping can of LaCroix), try engaging with micro-influencers by sending free products for Instagram promotions.

3. ASOS

Fashion and cosmetics retailer ASOS collaborates with micro-influencers on Instagram to showcase new products. ASOS’s social media presence is trendy, moody, and aspirational, and the brand effortlessly incorporates micro-influencers with similar vibes, as seen in this example with @hannahkennie.

Micro influencer marketing: Product-focused Instagram post featuring a micro-influencer.

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What I appreciate about ASOS’s strategy is that the micro-influencers chosen are indistinguishable from ASOS’s actual models.

This reveals precision in the influencer selection process and a commitment to protecting and representing the brand.

Beyond this, in February 2024, ASOS relaunched its ASOS Insiders program, which had been discontinued in 2020 during the pandemic. The program includes 36 employees across various departments who were selected as brand influencers.

These ambassadors curate fashion picks, provide style inspiration, and are featured faces on ASOS’s social channels.

The fashion-forward employees were given new social handles with which they provided insider perspectives on the brand.

While these employees, like @asseenonmini, are still growing their new accounts, they typically fall in the nano- or micro-influencer range on their personal socials.

Micro influencer marketing: ASOS post featuring an ASOS Insider.

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ASOS prioritizes amplifying existing content, as well as creating new content.

This ties into its strategy of building genuine connections with customers — ASOS capitalizes on the trust and engagement micro-influencers have built with their audiences and uses it to amplify brand messaging without a need for constant content creation.

4. Samsung

Samsung has tapped into the power of micro-influencers for several campaigns to promote different products, from smartphones to smart TVs, as well as a way of life. Most influencers are selected from specific niches related to the Samsung brand, including tech, photography, gaming, music, and general lifestyle.

I love how Samsung shows real people using its products in real ways. For instance, the brand showcased award-winning artist influencer @aerosynlex creating all new artworks live, alongside a showcase of Samsung Frame TVs, which transforms TVs into works of art.

Micro influencer marketing: Samsung using micro influencer artist to promote its TVs

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The partnership makes total sense and allowed Aerosyn-Lex to remain authentic to his brand and craft while benefiting from Samsung’s platform and the opportunity to participate in the world's largest electronics show.

Similarly, travel and lifestyle micro-influencer @lauramourinhobelbut captured her summer travel memories on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 phone. Again, the content was faithful to her typical style and effortlessly incorporated the brand’s new product.

Samsung video featuring a micro-influencer.

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Think Micro

There is often pushback from leadership to pull in the biggest influencers in the game, but I hope this post highlights the value of micro-influencer marketing.

Success on social media doesn’t always mean accessing the most possible people with each post. It’s about targeting the right people in the right way.

The key is choosing micro-influencers whose niches align with your brand’s niche and trusting them to create content that authentically conveys the message.

There’s also the bonus that selecting an influencer with a smaller audience may mean they’re loyal to your brand in a way that higher-profile influencers aren’t guaranteed to be.

You can feel confident that the influencer will likely work with you on multiple campaigns and won’t immediately be snatched up by a competitor.

My biggest piece of advice is to be open to micro-influencers who discover you, along with those you seek out. Look out for social media users tagging your brand or using branded hashtags, as they might just become your next big ambassador.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The Ultimate Guide to Successfully Rebranding in 2024

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While I’m not a business owner and haven’t branded my own business, I’ve been an employee at companies that have undergone large-scale rebrands.

Most recently, Nickelodeon, where I work full-time in marketing, pulled off a rebranding strategy in 2023 for the first time in 14 years.

We brought back the “splat,” a shape inspired by Nickelodeon’s iconic green slime, as a tactic to tap into both kids and their nostalgic parents who are former 90s Nick Kids themselves. This was part of an effort to position Nickelodeon as a brand that brings families across generations together to enjoy quality time.

Free Kit: How to Build a Brand [Download Now]

In my opinion, this is an example of a company rebranding correctly and out of necessity. In a competitive entertainment landscape fighting for kids’ attention, Nickelodeon knew we couldn’t keep doing more of the same.

Sometimes (but not all the time!), one of the best ways to move forward is by leaning on and adapting past successes.

It’s not easy to know when is the right time to invest in a rebrand and how to handle that rebrand successfully, so I‘ve prepared this post to help guide the process, plus examples of other brands who’ve successfully rebranded their website, name, logo, mission, and purpose.

Table of Contents

Understanding what rebranding is is only part of the battle. Now, you must ensure you have the right reasons to rebrand.

The Right (and Wrong) Reasons to Rebrand

Rebrands are complicated and carry big risks.

Even big brands aren't immune — just look at X, which is considered one of the biggest recent rebranding fails. Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X in 2023 by renaming and restyling the entire brand.

As a result, 78% of U.S. iOS users gave the app 1-star reviews, compared to 50% two weeks prior. Most of the negative reviews mentioned disliking the new name and logo.

While it will take time to see the true long-term effects of this rebranding, it’s clear that abrupt, random changes to brands with generally positive sentiments and long-standing reputations can be incredibly detrimental.

That’s why knowing the risks of rebranding can help determine whether or not you're jumping into a rebrand for the right reasons.

If sales have been slow or brand awareness efforts don't seem to be paying off, rebranding may not be the best immediate step.

These issues can potentially be solved with a new content marketing strategy or by conducting market research to identify the underlying cause.

But if you‘re considering a rebrand because your company’s vision, mission, values, and market are no longer reflected in your brand, then a rebrand might be the right decision.

There are a few other major reasons you might consider a rebrand. I will demonstrate these reasons using my fictitious indoor cycling business, Psyched 2 Cyc.

4 Right Reasons for Rebranding

New Locations

Psyched 2 Cyc started as a singular, local studio in New York City, so I selected a punny name that likely only works in English.

After growing throughout NYC and the country, my business is now looking to expand to non-English, international markets that may not identify with the business name. This could be a good time to consider a full brand rename.

Market Repositioning

The name Psyched 2 Cyc was chosen with young fitness enthusiasts at heart — hence the abbreviated word “Cyc” and the use of “2” instead of “to.”

But I’d now like to target older consumers interested in improving their fitness with a low-impact workout like indoor cycling.

Thus, I may need to refresh my brand name (or consider rewriting it in full as Psyched to Cycle) to better resonate with people of all ages.

New Philosophy

I started my business as primarily an indoor cycling studio. Thus, our mission, vision, and values all surround the idea of fitness, health, and wellness through the use of an indoor bike.

If I want to expand my business to include another modality, such as strength, yoga, or running, it makes sense to want to reevaluate my brand. That way, I can build new MVVs that align with the growing business offerings.

Mergers and Acquisitions

To grow my business, audience, and offerings, I have partnered with a strength training studio, Sweat Power.

Combining our two brands either means that we agree to adopt the branding of one of the studios, or we must work together to come up with a new name, logo, and positioning that best reflects our new brand.

Additionally, here are a few reasons not to rebrand.

4 Wrong Reasons for Rebranding

Boredom

It’s been more than two decades, and I’m feeling uninspired by the logo and slogan I selected back when I first launched Psyched 2 Cyc. I’m itching for some change that will refresh my business and make it look more elevated.

However, my customers (who see my branding much less frequently) might love — or quickly recognize — the signature color and logo I’ve come to loathe. I should consider how a sudden change to my branding could leave consumers confused or disappointed.

Covering Up a Crisis

One of my business’s executives recently received bad press that has reflected badly on Psyched 2 Cyc. I’m desperate for a big rebranding shift that will help us move past this period of negativity.

However, most consumers and employees are smart enough to see right through my rebrand and recognize it for what it is — a cover-up. It’s best to handle bad press with respect, authenticity, and actionable change.

Impact and Ego

I’ve recently hired some new leaders who are excited about a rebranding as they feel they were brought in to help freshen up Psyched 2 Cyc’s brand. They want to refresh our mission statement and values.

However, the kind of institutional change they want to implement doesn’t justify a rebrand. It’s more about them making their mark and producing radical change.

Looking for Attention

Classes have been half-full at best, and several instructors have recently quit. I’m tempted to execute a rebrand to bring life back to the brand and encourage new instructors to want to teach at Psyched 2 Cyc.

At best, this may generate some short-term buzz without any sales and marketing strategy to sustain it. At worst, I could lose brand recognition and set back sales and marketing efforts even more.

If you've determined a rebrand is still the right choice for you, keep reading to learn how to devise a rebranding strategy.

Rebranding efforts may include:

1. Creating a new logo.

One of the main strategies of rebranding is creating a new logo. A new logo is a clear sign to consumers that your brand's identity is different. A new logo can involve new colors, modern typography, or a new icon that better represents your brand.

Pro tip: Use your brand's vision, mission, and values to inspire your new aesthetic. For instance, Pepsi rebranded in 2023 for the first time in 14 years for its 125th anniversary.

Pepsi previous logo (left) and updated logo (right).

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The logo still uses the essence of the past logo, which helps maintain consistency and brand recognition with loyal customers. However, the new logo incorporates bolder colors and a vintage appearance that ties back to the company’s long heritage.

I also appreciate that the logo is now more compact, making it easier to place on products and ads. Lastly, Pepsi has made its brand name much easier to read in the new logo, in all-caps and bold black font, rather than the blue, wavy, lower-case previous version.

2. Shifting brand position.

Unfortunately, rebranding isn’t as easy as hiring an agency to redesign your logo. It’s essential to shift your brand positioning.

The products, services, or content being marketed need to communicate a certain message, whether that's a mission, values, or vision.

This is the best way to set your brand apart from competitors and draw in consumers aligned with these beliefs.

Pro tip: Chances are, you'll need to reestablish a unique selling proposition and take stock of what distinguishes your brand from the crowd. This will help you better connect with you target audience and understand your position in the market.

In 2015, Gucci shifted its brand positioning to appeal to younger generations. To do this, they pivoted from polished and provocative to quirky and contemporary. They also focused more on communication that would resonate on Instagram and adopted a progressive stance on gender fluidity.

Gucci's Instagram post from June 18, 2024 showcases a quirky, colorful, gender-neutral clothing line for men.

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These changes significantly increased sales with Millennial and Gen Z consumers who were able to better resonate with Gucci’s mission, values, and vision.

3. Creating new ads.

Once the logo and messaging are locked, it's time to create new advertisements and content with this messaging in mind.

These ads should communicate the changes to your brand and what they mean for customers. This can help draw in a new demographic and reach larger audiences.

Pro tip: New logos and messaging will only go far if you can invest in marketing to show the world these rebranding changes. For instance, Eurostar rebranded in 2023 after merging with Thalys, a French-Belgian high-speed train operator, as part of a goal to reach 30 million passengers by 2030.

After updating visual elements, the brand, now Eurostar Group, created an ad campaign around the slogan “Together We Go Further,” involving a promo, out-of-home, and digital.

The campaign highlighted the brand’s key traits — European, inclusive, unique, and sustainable — to emphasize the excitement of discovering a vibrant world of travel through Europe.

Eurostar Group’s “Together We Go Further” 60-second promo from 2023.

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The overall rebranding strategy resulted in route growth in 2023 in major routes, such as Paris to London and Paris to Amsterdam, as well as an increase in online sales, website conversions, and mobile app downloads.

4. Changing your brand's voice.

The last step of a solid rebranding strategy is changing the brand‘s voice.

This is the perspective from which you write all your marketing content. Your voice can be formal, casual, witty, or whatever tone best reflects your brand. Change your brand’s voice accordingly and announce your rebrand in this new tone.

Pro tip: Think of your brand as a person. When they walk into a party, are they cracking jokes and the life of the party, or are they professional and no-nonsense? Use your brand personality to inform this brand voice.

Duolingo began as a traditional language learning app and has since evolved into a silly, humorously-aggressive brand. Users started creating memes in 2019 about the evil owl mascot, Duo, who would berate them to practice.

The brand leaned into this personality and adapted its brand voice to fit this new persona.

Duolingo’s Instagram post from July 19, 2024 which jokingly shows evil Duo unplugging a PC because Microsoft didn’t complete their language lesson.

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The brand voice is now very quirky, personable, and young, and, at times, leans into the “evil Duo” voice which has made it ultra-popular on social media.

Embracing this brand voice has aided Duolingo’s entire rebranding strategy, as it now leans on the voice to dictate its brand identity, marketing methods, goals, and target audience.

Not all rebrands are created equal, so let's first consider whether a partial or total rebrand is the best option for your business.

Partial vs. Total Rebrand

The more established your business and brand, the more you have to lose from a rebrand. If your business is more mature, a partial rebrand can help you retain the brand loyalty you've built, while refreshing your image to keep up with the times.

Think of a partial rebrand as an adjustment focused on visual brand identity to suit new offerings or markets, as opposed to a complete identity crisis.

That‘s not to say that a partial rebrand can’t be effective. Just look at Pringles.

They redesigned their mascot, Mr. P, in 2021 with a more simple, contemporary look. This partial rebrand helped them maintain their iconic brand identity while giving their mascot a bold, refreshed appearance.

Pringles previous logo (left) and updated logo (right).

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However, if the goal is a complete identity shift involving your company's mission, vision, and values, a total rebrand might be necessary.

This option is typically suited to situations like mergers, product overhauls, and other similarly foundational shifts.

If a partial rebrand is a quick touch-up, the total rebrand is a complete makeover.

Take a look at the following five steps to successfully implement a rebrand.

1. Reestablish your brand's audience and market.

Let’s return to my fictional indoor cycling business, Psyched 2 Cyc. When I got into this business, I expected my target audience to be in their 20s and early 30s, since that is the most common demographic for other cycling studios like SoulCycle.

However, after extensive market research, I realized my target market was different from what I had assumed.

Key research found that 50% of respondents spend less than 10 minutes traveling to cycling classes, and 92% complete the trip in under 30 minutes. That means only 8% of participants are willing to travel more than 30 minutes to my studio.

This has changed my entire philosophy since the neighborhood my studio launched in has a slightly older demographic (30s-40s adults with families).

Now, I can re-establish my brand’s audience and market, knowing I will have the most luck drawing in new members who live within 30 (or ideally 10!) minutes of the studio.

Pro tip: Focus groups are a great way to discover (or re-discover) your target market. You may be surprised to find that your audience isn’t who you thought it was.

2. Redefine your company's vision, mission, and values.

What am I doing? How am I doing it? Why am I doing it?

These are the three questions I will ask myself when reevaluating my vision, mission, and values for Psyched 2 Cyc’s rebrand. These messaging foundations will likely change as my company grows.

New products, priorities, services, or stakeholders can completely undo what once seemed like a given.

Here is how I will analyze the following factors to gauge which parts of my brand will need some TLC.

Vision

Vision is the “What am I doing?” of the puzzle. It’s the North Star for every action my company undertakes, and it's critical to have a firm understanding of my vision before moving forward.

Originally when I founded Psyched 2 Cyc, I simply wanted to build a new cycling studio since it’s a modality I love. Now that I have established my brand in this way, I can adapt my vision to be more specific or forward-thinking.

I founded the studio originally to target women since women are a large portion of indoor cycling participants. After all, 67% of U.S. Peloton owners are women, and women are the fastest-growing demographic in indoor cycling in 2024, with a 9% increase in cycling activities.

However, now that I’ve established my brand in the eyes of women, I’d like to rebrand to be more inclusive to both men and women.

Just because women are a large percentage of indoor cycling enthusiasts doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for men here, too.

Mission

The mission is the “How am I doing it?” component. This is my company's roadmap for how we will achieve the vision of drawing in more males to my brand.

I’m interested in adding a virtual component to my brand since 26% of Les Mills survey respondents regularly attend virtual indoor cycling classes. On top of that, data found that men are more likely to attend virtual classes than women.

This could be a great way to draw in men who may not be as inclined to take classes in a live studio but would be interested in doing so at home.

My mission is to incorporate virtual classes to target more men in a predominantly female space.

Values

Values are the “Why am I doing this” element. It’s why I’m working towards my vision and dedicated to my mission.

Now that I have adapted my vision and mission, I should accordingly adapt my values to align with this new strategy. For example, I will incorporate the following new values:

  • Raise the bar. This is both a play on words (since the handlebar is a key part of any bike) and a commitment to continuously compete with yesterday’s performance.
  • Room for all. This again has a dual meaning: as I embark on a journey to create a more inclusive space for all people in a predominantly young, female environment, this value will be essential. But it also indicates that Psyched 2 Cyc will create a literal “room” for all; whether in our studio room or your room at home taking a virtual class.

Understandably, some of my founding values might become unsustainable. It’s more effective to prioritize new values rather than cling to past ones, which may limit change.

Brand Voice

Now that I’ve shifted my vision, mission, and values while rebranding, how I convey these aspects of my company will also have to change. What I’m saying is changing, so how I say it will also need to change.

For instance, I have been using a tone of voice that’s young, modern, and feminine. Now that I’m shifting to target a slightly older demographic and males, I will want to adapt my language to be more attractive to these audiences.

3. Rename your company during a rebrand.

Changing names is a big undertaking and can cost brand recognition and organic search traffic in one fell swoop. I would only rename Psyched 2 Cyc if it’s a dire need and I had a plan for recovery as part of my post-rebrand strategy.

As mentioned earlier, I selected the name to attract a younger audience, which is why I used “2” instead of “to” and the shortened term “Cyc.”

Perhaps, in wanting to rebrand to attract my slightly older target audience, I may reconsider changing the name to resonate better with the residents in the surrounding area.

Ideally, the best course of action is to keep the same name to retain brand recognition, but if I want to better align with my new company identity, I can return to the drawing board.

Pro tip: It can be difficult to begin your brainstorming session. Some starter ideas for the renaming process are:

  • Make a new word
  • Use an old word in new ways
  • Say what I do (literally)
  • Modify a word's spelling
  • Add a prefix or suffix
  • Look to other languages
  • Bring two words together
  • Create an acronym
  • Use a location

4. Reconsider your brand's slogan.

A good slogan is catchy and will capture my company's mission and vision. Unlike changing names, changing slogans is a little easier for my marketing efforts, so I won’t lose sight of my existing customers tied to the Psyched 2 Cyc brand.

That doesn’t mean I won’t still consider this carefully and ensure I’m changing the slogan for the right reasons.

Repetition builds recognition, and I don’t want to change too many aspects of my brand that people have come to love and remember.

An idea for a new slogan for Psyched 2 Cyc that can better represent my new mission and vision would be “Spin, Your Way.”

This highlights the purpose (an indoor cycling studio) and emphasizes that we are trying to be more inclusive and that there is space for anyone, regardless of age, ability, or class style preference.

Pro tip: Slogans can be equally as difficult to come up with as brand names. Some ways to discover new ideas for slogans are:

  • Make a claim
  • Get metaphorical
  • Use poetic language
  • Provide instructions
  • Leverage labels
  • Compliment customers

5. Rebuild your brand identity.

The tangible elements I use to communicate the Psyched 2 Cyc brand have been in play for several years, which has given me plenty of time to reconsider their strengths and weaknesses before deciding to replace some of them.

Refreshing some of the visual components of my brand could be a great way to rebrand without changing something as drastic as the company name or slogan.

I can consider redesigning my logo, using new colors in my brand material, or even creating new brand guidelines.

Logo

When I selected my initial logo, I had little budget and couldn’t invest dollars into hiring an external agency to design some options. Instead, I had the help of an artist friend who designed my idea for me.

Unfortunately, I don’t think my logo has a real impact on customers. It’s very generic and doesn’t reflect what is unique about Psyched 2 Cyc. So, I will return to the basics of what makes a good logo to help me get it right this time.

  • Stay simple. Jamming as much symbolism as possible into a logo generally doesn't work well and can become too complex or confusing for customers to understand. Now that my brand is more established, I can show confidence with a simple, clean logo.
  • Make an impact. While it’s important to be simple, I still want to make my logo memorable. There are a lot of indoor cycling brands out there, and I want my logo to be bold enough to stand out amongst competitors.
  • Be adaptable. I didn’t initially consider the limitations of my original logo. Now that I know all the places my logo lives — digitally on my website, app, and social media; in print on products like fitness apparel, water bottles, and our cycling shoes; and in a huge, neon sign in the studio — I can keep these channels in mind during the redesign.
  • Aim for appropriate. I designed the logo for a younger, female audience, and now that I’m expanding my target market, I might want a logo that better attracts this audience.
  • Look to the long term. This rebrand will likely cost me a lot of money, so I don’t want to do another one anytime soon. Therefore, I will consider my vision, mission, values, and purpose to ensure my new logo can support them in the long run.
  • Maintain through-lines. The logo, while not as much as the name, is still one of my brand's most memorable components. I want to avoid losing brand recognition by maintaining the parts of my old logo that worked.

Take a look at the Nickelodeon logo change from 2023 below. We retained the same iconic orange color and font but re-incorporated the “splat,” which would be memorable with parents.

Nickelodeon previous logo (left) and updated logo (right).

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Color Palette

I know color is very impactful in branding — some colors are now synonymous with the brands that use them, like McDonald's yellow. However, choosing the right color can be difficult, so I might consider changing the color to reflect Psyched 2 Cyc’s rebrand.

For example, our brand logo is currently red, which I chose since red is a vibrant, powerful color that reflects fitness well. However, I now see how many competitors also have red logos, such as CycleBar, and want to choose a new color that can stand out.

According to the psychology of color, green can represent growth, freshness, and health, which resonates with fitness well. It also has an adventurous, competitive personality, which ties fairly well with cycling.

Therefore, I might consider changing my logo to dark green, especially since I don’t know many fitness brands with a green logo.

Before making any drastic changes, I will check how the color shows up on-screen and in print to ensure consistency and that I like the look.

Typography

I chose an expressive, regal font for my original logo to help it pop and appear elevated against competitors. However, I now realize that it doesn’t represent my brand well — too much sophistication can make the brand come across as elite and inaccessible to the average person, which is not what Psyched 2 Cyc is about.

When reevaluating fonts, I will ensure the font is consistent with my target market and messaging uncovered in the rebrand. A more traditional serif or sans-serif font may be better suited when trying to attract a slightly older demographic.

I will also ensure that the font is easily accessible for web design and offers various weights and cuts for different channels.

Take the 2023 Minute Maid logo rebrand, for instance, in which they adopted a softer, bolder, and more inviting new font.

Minute Maid previous logo (left) and updated logo (right).

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Shapes and Imagery Revisited

Like logo, color palette, and typography, my imagery and shapes play a vital role in Psyched 2 Cyc’s brand identity. In changing those other visual elements, it makes sense to reconsider my imagery and shapes to keep everything cohesive in the rebrand.

Since I want my studio to be more approachable to new demographics, such as older people and men, I might consider softer lines and rounder shapes that provide a more welcoming appearance to new customers.

Of course, having everything visually aligned isn’t enough. These visual elements must support the core messages of my brand, too.

Brand Guidelines

After going through all the trouble of creating a new brand identity for my business, I want to use all these elements correctly.

Having brand guidelines will help guide me in the rebranding process to ensure consistency in this new stage for Psyched 2 Cyc.

Brand guidelines will be especially critical when showcasing my new logo. These guidelines will make it as easy as possible for customers to see, recognize, and remember my logo, making up for any lost familiarity from the original logo.

When writing my logo guidelines, I will consider the following:

  • Logo elements. What visual elements make up my logo? When and how are each of them used?
  • Color variations. What does the colored version of my logo look like? What about black and white? When are each of these used?
  • Clear space. Also called padding, this is the space around my logo that prevents overlap or obscuring. I will aim for at least 10% of width at all times.
  • Unacceptable uses. What can never be done to my logo? What color variations, rotations, scaling, etc. do I want to avoid?

These guidelines will be essential for me to distribute to my team so everyone has the information they need to handle the rebrand effortlessly.

It will be important for my team members and external agencies we hire to help us with the website and app redesign, building out our rebrand campaign, and creating new marketing materials.

6. Track brand sentiment along the way.

Though part of the reason for my rebrand is to attract new customers, my current customers are loyal and trusted. Therefore, I will get feedback from them on the rebrand elements I am considering.

I plan to conduct focus groups to see if the new branding images and messages communicate my new mission, values, and vision. If I don't receive positive feedback, I may need to go back to the drawing board.

I know one of the most crucial steps in rebranding is tracking brand sentiment before, during, and after a rebrand launch, so I will look at brand sentiment before the rebrand to see what current or potential customers like and dislike about Psyched 2 Cyc’s branding.

Is it clear what our brand offers? Is the branding consistent? How does it compare to similar indoor cycling studios? What is something about our branding that either drew them in or made them reconsider joining our studio?

With these answers in mind, I can conduct my rebrand strategically, adding new messaging that aligns with my audience. As a plus, this also helps my current customers feel valued since their thoughts will be taken into consideration.

7. Plan a successful launch.

The rebrand will only be successful and meaningful if people actually know it’s happening. Therefore, I know that I can’t simply change the colors, fonts, and logo on our Psyched 2 Cyc website, app, and social media. I need to communicate what the rebrand means and let people know we’ve made intentional growth.

First, I plan to run a marketing campaign involving digital display banners, print ads, and a short promo that can run on TV and social media.

I will also organize a press release to announce the launch of our rebrand that will sit on our website and social channels. This allows me to share exactly why Psyched 2 Cyc needed a rebrand and what it means for our future.

This will be the perfect way for us to reset and remain consistent and on-brand in all marketing efforts moving forward.

We’ve lost our way over the past few years as priorities changed to membership retention, but I believe a solid rebrand will help redefine our branding.

Now that we‘ve explored various aspects of rebranding regarding my fictional brand Psyched 2 Cyc, let’s take a look at some real-world examples for further inspiration.

1. 7UP

7UP’s new brand identity is showcased in this collage of images.

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7UP’s new identity was inspired by the soda itself. The company wanted to create a new visual identity that captures the soda’s effervescent essence while modernizing with changing times.

They first handled this with a new “UPliftment” positioning, based on its history of being enjoyed in joyful moments with loved ones. This new strategy promises to “offer light relief from the mundanities of daily life.”

To feed into this “UP” movement, the brand angled its new logo up to focus on upward movement. 7UP also wanted to embrace its global audience, so the packaging logo was designed to be translated into various languages for worldwide unification.

The “UP” in the 7UP logo can be translated across cultures and languages.

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These changes, and the new citrus colors in the palette, have helped 7UP create a bolder, brighter, more confident, and “bubbly” persona, while still staying true to its green color. This rebrand has been widely applauded for its simplistic, minimalistic, and modern execution.

2. LG

LG vision board promo showcasing its rebrand.

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LG first hinted at its upcoming rebrand in April 2023 with the debut of its new and improved logo — maintaining the same icon but transitioning it from 3D to 2D. The new logo is also animated and expressive and can perform eight motions (including nodding and winking).

Beyond the logo change, LG introduced a younger and more playful appearance in August 2023 with new brand characters, Joy and Ryder, that showcase LG’s fun side while playing into the company’s heritage and Korean culture.

To add even more energy to their rebrand, LG also integrated a brighter, bolder shade of red into their color palette.

Characters Joy and Ryder have been introduced into LG’s marketing.

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They even incorporated new values, such as “Warmth to Power a Smile,” and made their “Life’s Good” slogan more prominent in marketing. These changes were part of an effort to attract Millennial and Gen Z audiences and redefine the brand as innovative, modern, and people-centric.

3. Reddit

Reddit mascot Snoo received a makeover in the 2023 rebrand.

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The biggest change in Reddit’s 2023 rebrand was bringing their iconic mascot Snoo to life with a new dynamic 3D look. Snoo is less robotic and more a playful creature who can perform eight motions, such as spinning.

The brand repositioned Reddit as “the heart of the internet” to highlight its role in society as a space for communication and discourse. This repositioning is also evident in the frame around Snoo and the “d” in the Reddit logo, which are now speech bubbles to emphasize the same point.

Reddit previous logo (left) vs. updated logo (right).

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Reddit’s new brand identity also involves four pillars: “inherently eclectic”, “positively different”, “delightfully absurd”, and “genuinely candid”, which help tie all these changes and refreshes together.

The rebrand was done to modernize Reddit’s look with changes such as 3D design elements, a simplified color palette, and new typefaces, while re-emphasizing what people already know and love Reddit for — being a hub for community and conversation.

4. Jell-O

New Jell-O packaging showcases fun, playful imagery and the new blocky logo.

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The 2023 Jell-O rebrand involved a change in logo and packaging for all products. The goal was to attract younger parents and kids with playful, simple, colorful imagery and bring back some of the “jiggly fun and...wonder” that has always been associated with the brand.

This new positioning played into the new designs by incorporating a modern aesthetic while showcasing the many fun flavors Jell-O has to offer. The logo shifted to a blockier sans serif font against a white background for a 3D effect, with the “O” resting slightly above.

The packaging also now includes cartoonish images of pudding swirls and jelly fruit instead of the more realistic images previously shown. This helps the brand target younger parents with fruit images that reveal healthier options while making the packaging more eccentric and light-hearted.

Jell-O original packaging (left) vs. updated packaging (right).

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This rebrand was well-received as consumers saw it as a way to significantly modernize the branding while maintaining some of its classic, beloved traits.

5. WhatsApp

Animated graphic showcasing new visual elements of WhatsApp.

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As part of the parent company Meta, which faced significant backlash for its 2021 rebrand, WhatsApp has remained relatively scandal-free. Thus, it seems the 2023 rebrand was aimed at helping set WhatsApp apart from the rest of Meta’s brands.

The goal was to evolve the brand from a social media tool to a “secure, intimate product designed to give anyone … the ability to connect and enact change.” The team worked to further the notion of “Forward. Together” based on WhatsApp being a trusted platform for safe, reliable global connection.

The color palette aligns with various product touchpoints, and new graphic modules allow for flexible storytelling. They also capture the spirit of WhatsApp by visually showcasing how back and forth communication looks.

The WhatsApp rebrand campaign played with the visualization of a back-and-forth conversation.

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Since WhatsApp has nearly three billion global active users, the rebrand created a unified look that would resonate with people everywhere, regardless of age, region, literacy, or bandwidth.

It successfully established itself as a communication tool while prioritizing brand recognition with an unchanged logo and commitment to the brand’s iconic green color.

Bad Rebranding Examples

1. Comcast

Original Comcast logo (left) vs. updated Xfinity logo (right).

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Comcast has been known to have the most hated customer service in the United States. So, the company changed its name and rebranded its logo to Xfinity. However, the company didn't change its history of bad practices.

While the company could have worked on improving customer support, they spent money on a cosmetic upgrade, which didn't help them earn back the trust of their customers. Superficial updates like a name and logo change can’t help a company unless followed by brand identity and reputation changes.

Beyond this, the name change itself is perplexing and, frankly, a waste of money and time. Many customers were confused about whether Comcast and Xfinity were the same thing, or if one owned the other. This is the exact fear in an abrupt brand name change — causing audience confusion or ridicule which can lead to a loss in current and potential customers.

2. Gap

Current Gap logo (left) vs. briefly updated logo (right).

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Remember that list of reasons to and not to rebrand above? Gap made the mistake of rebranding for seemingly no reason. The company changed its logo and caused outrage among its customers. Just six days later, the company returned to its original logo.

The new logo didn't communicate anything new about the brand and took the personality out of Gap’s logo. Additionally, customers had an emotional bond with the logo, and changing it for no reason caused upset customers.

Rather than immediately coming clean, Gap tried to justify the new logo as a deliberate move to crowdsource new ideas for a logo. As this was met with even more criticism, the brand quickly reinstated its original logo and finally acknowledged its error.

Overall, the urge to quickly modernize a logo has been seen as a panic strategy, rather than one rooted in a true desire to shift a brand’s positioning or perception. If there’s nothing to back up a move this big (and expensive), it is more than likely to receive negative backlash.

3. Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers new logo with updated brand name “WW.”

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Weight Watchers changed its name and logo to shift its focus from weight loss and dieting to wellness. However, the new name WW left consumers confused. People didn’t know what it stood for, and it erased brand recognition.

The rebrand was also handled rather abruptly. There wasn’t enough lead time to prepare consumers for the name and strategy change. To add to it, the "Wellness that Works” slogan didn’t inform consumers of what was going to change about the brand.

While the reasoning behind the rebrand was positive, the follow-through left people wanting more. Weight Watchers should have better explained why it was making this shift and how it would handle this change — preferably with new product or service offerings.

Are you ready to rebrand?

From the examples shared above, it’s clear that the most successful rebrands were ones that were centered around customers in some way.

Whether it was LG aligning with the interests of younger consumers or Jell-O returning to its playful roots, these brands made necessary changes to restate their presence in either the same or a new market.

The important thing to keep in mind if your business is ready to tackle a rebrand is that clear intentions and brand consistency are key. This post taught me that you need legitimate reasons for seeing a rebrand through.

But you also need to be able to handle the time and budget it will take to make all the changes and launch a marketing campaign to reveal the rebrand to your audience.

When you’re ready to make these changes, make them count.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

What Are the Best Alternatives to Google? How Brands Can Succeed Off Google Search

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When I think back to my school days when we were asked to complete research papers using good old-fashioned books from the library, and I genuinely don’t think I could do that today.

I’ve become so accustomed to the wide accessibility of information on the Internet that I’m willing to do anything to maintain that access, including risking inaccurate information or an inefficient experience.

And I’m not the only one who feels this way.

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In HubSpot’s Consumer Trends study surveying more than 700 consumers in January 2024, 78% of consumers said they search for brands online using a search engine like Google, and 79% use search engines like Google to search for answers to questions, as opposed to AI chatbots or social media.

However, only 51% find search engines like Google very effective at answering their questions.

This means many of us blindly use Google because it’s what we know best and not because we think it’s good at what we need it to do. But we don’t need to suffer anymore — there are tons of great search engine options that aren’t Google.

Table of Contents

What to Look For in an Alternative to Google

1. Ad-Free Experience

Google has become quite an oversaturated advertising platform, and it makes sense why. The platform can increase brand awareness by up to 80%, so it’s not shocking that 96% of brands use Google Pay-Per-Click Ads.

While it’s great as a business owner or marketer to use this strategy and can also be beneficial to consumers as a way to discover new brands, I can also sympathize with the frustration of struggling to find the best and quickest answer to a question because I’m bombarded with only slightly relevant links.

Therefore, looking for search engine alternatives that limit the ad experience or support no ads can be ideal to increase the efficiency and efficacy of your search journey.

2. High-Quality Answers

It’s quite interesting to me that, as a society, we’ve developed such a habit of searching queries on Google. After all, in my experience, I rarely receive a direct answer to my questions on this search engine.

Yes, Google can direct me to countless resources that likely have the answers I’m looking for, but it only occasionally populates the best answer when using its AI model Gemini.

I’ve found that Gemini doesn’t always automatically weigh in on my search results, so I then need to skim through various links and select random websites to come to conclusions.

Top search engines should do this work for me by analyzing all the available resources online and offering high-quality answers to my questions.

3. Privacy

Privacy is a real concern for many consumers. 75% of consumers agree that data privacy is a human right and that they should have complete control over how a company uses their data.

While 85% of adults globally want to do more to protect their online privacy using services like Google, 62% believe it’s impossible to go through their daily lives without companies like Google collecting their private data.

There is a way, though, to take more control over your privacy: by using a search engine that emphasizes and specializes in data protection. This is an important consideration when looking for Google alternatives.

4. Special Features

While the main purpose of using a search engine is to search for answers and information, many other traits can set a platform apart from competitors.

For instance, some search engines have an environmental focus and will put ad revenue towards eco-friendly causes, and the same applies to all sorts of charitable causes.

There are also family-friendly search engines, AI search engines, news-focused search engines, and many more options that can align with your interests and needs.

Once you’ve assessed which of these considerations are most important in your review of new search engines, take a look at my list of the best Google alternatives.

What are the best alternatives to Google?

Best Ad-Free or Low-Ad Search Engines

1. Kagi

best alternatives to Google, Kagi homepage.

Kagi stresses high-quality, accurate search results without any ads. To maintain its ad-free status, the platform charges a subscription fee of $5 per month which replaces the required revenue to run the platform that would otherwise come from advertising.

Create an account to use Kagi, an ad-free alternative search engine.

I set up my account and opted for the free trial which allows for 100 search results. Then, I was able to customize the appearance of the search engine in many ways.

Customize how you want your search results to appear.

After I updated some of these settings, I searched for my first test question.

What I Like
  • Being able to customize my search experience on Kagi is unique. I never realized how much of a difference it makes when I can update whether or not I see the website’s icon or full URL in the search results. This makes Kagi feel very personalized and user-centric.
  • The interface closely resembles Google, so it should be easy for users to adapt to this new search engine.
  • Rather than click through multiple pages of search results, I just kept scrolling down to see more and more URLs. I enjoyed this, as I’ve realized I often get dissuaded from looking beyond the first page of search results on Google, which limits my results.
  • Kagi lists the date the website was published, which quickly helps me decide if it’s appropriate to click on.
What I Don’t Like
  • It’s not ideal to have to pay for a subscription, and I’m not sure many people will feel inclined to do so when there are so many free alternatives. However, it makes sense why they have this model, so they can avoid advertising — which is what many other businesses like streaming services do.
Pricing
  • Starter plan: $5/month (300 searches per month)
  • Professional plan: $10/month (Unlimited searches per month)
  • Ultimate plan: $25/month (Unlimited searches + Kagi Assistant)

2. Mojeek

what is the best alternative to google, Mojeek homepage.

Mojeek is not completely ad-free as it does display some text ads in search results. However, the ads on this platform are based only on search keywords and location and not on any data pulled from the user search engine.

Mojeek is also much less ad-intensive than other search engines, like Google. It has its own web crawler and information index. Unlike Google, Mojeek has an independent ad platform where brands can place ads directly on and separately from major search engines.

alternative search engines to google, Results when I clicked “Summarize these results.”

What I Like
  • Mojeek is very straightforward and no-nonsense. As soon as I entered this search engine, I could immediately begin searching, so it was quick to learn.
  • Its interface also closely resembles Google, making it easily recognizable.
  • The “Summarize these results” feature, which shows up on the right side of the screen beside the search results, uses large language models to generate a summary of the search results. This is a great way to incorporate AI for those like me looking for it, while also providing a straight search engine experience for others.
What I Don’t Like
  • Mojeek gives options to search the same query with other search engines, such as Brave or Startpage. I found this quite odd as it encourages users to leave Mojeek for competitors.
  • Since Mojeek isn’t fully ad-free, I don’t think it’s as impressive an option as Kagi.
Pricing
  • Free

Best Search Engines for High-Quality Answers

3. Perplexity

what is the best alternative to google, Perplexity homepage.

Perplexity is an AI search engine that collects, analyzes, and deconstructs information from various sources to provide a high-quality, human-like response to any question or prompt. It’s more than a regular search engine as its AI power means you don’t need to scroll through and skim various links to answers.

Perplexity combines the communication and synthesis abilities of a chatbot like ChatGPT with a search engine’s web crawling and information-gathering capabilities to provide precise and detailed responses to any prompt.

What makes it a strong Google alternative is that it, too, doesn’t rely on an innate knowledge base but can quickly scour the internet for relevant, related sources to pull together its findings.

What I Like
  • The interface is reminiscent of ChatGPT, which is a plus for users like me who have already mastered ChatGPT.
  • Despite being an AI search engine, unlike some other Google alternatives on this list, Perplexity does promise accurate answers. It cites sources at the top of each answer and throughout its copy, so I can review the source material myself.
  • Compared to regular search engines, Perplexity saves me so much time. It’s way more efficient to receive a straightforward answer rather than clicking through several potentially useful links on Google.
  • Since Perplexity is AI-powered, it comprehends my questions and prompts — even when misspelled or grammatically incorrect — much more easily than Google, which regularly needs to ask me “Did you mean...?”
  • Perplexity is currently ad-free. While it has plans to introduce ads in the future, it intends to integrate native ads into its “Related Questions” section in a manner that doesn’t disrupt the natural user experience.
What I Don’t Like
  • Some of the smarter AI capabilities are only available for Perplexity Pro users.
Pricing
  • Standard plan: Free
  • Professional plan: $20/month

4. Wolfram Alpha

google alternative, Wolfram Alpha homepage.

Wolfram Alpha is a search engine that specializes in computational knowledge. It can provide very detailed responses to questions related to data, math, sciences, and other factual topics. For instance, I selected the topic “Food & Nutrition,” as seen below.

Examples of Food & Nutrition related questions.

As you can see, this powerful engine can access very specific, detailed information about a wide variety of topics. There is information on this search engine that I never would have even thought to search for.

Since this search engine is so intelligent, I did try searching some basic questions to see how it would handle them. First up, I checked the average rent in New York City.

Search results for “average nyc rent.”

Next, I tried a more niche question that I felt was still computational:

Search results for “what words are most mentioned in taylor swift lyrics.”

Lastly, I tried something I might most commonly lookup on a search engine like Google, but was left empty-handed:

No search results for “best skincare brands.”

What I Like
  • Wolfram Alpha certainly has high-quality answers and a wide range of types of answers. For instance, for “Transportation” I was able to find out total road lengths in any given country, gasoline price data, various computations on airlines, data on any region’s railroad systems, and much more.
  • I could choose from a set list of topics when I wasn’t sure what to search for, which helped me hone in on a matter and use the pre-chosen examples to guide my search.
  • This search engine would be especially helpful for students, professors, and researchers who need to learn a lot of information about a very specific subject.
What I Don’t Like
  • As a regular consumer, this search engine doesn’t provide the answers I may need on a daily basis. It was unable to comprehend most of my basic queries, which are the types of train-of-thought questions I would normally search for on any other search engine.
  • It has an outdated appearance along with some blurry visuals.
Pricing
  • Basic plan: Free
  • Pro plan: $5/month (Includes step-by-step solutions, increased computation time, and calculator Web Apps)
  • Pro Premium plan: $8.25/month (All features, including priority customer support)

Best Search Engines for Privacy

5. Startpage

what is the best alternative to google: Startpage homepage.

Startpage is unique because it doesn’t have its own index of websites or web crawler. Instead, it acts as a middleman between users and other search engines like Google.

How it works is that it submits your question on your behalf to other search engines, so that you can protect your anonymity. Therefore, you will receive Google and Bing search results while maintaining your privacy from the data tracking practices from which those search engines profit.

It’s basically the equivalent of searching in “incognito mode,” but without the hassle of having to remember to switch that mode on.

What I Like
  • Startpage has a very clever privacy model that helps it guarantee no cookies, trackers, website fingerprinting, price tracking or optimization, or social media tracking.
  • For users who are having a hard time letting Google go, but want increased privacy, this is the perfect option. You’re still getting the same search results as you would on Google or Bing while having Startpage perform the searching for you as a helpful assistant.
  • The interface is modern, sleek, and more attractive than other search engines I reviewed.
What I Don’t Like
  • If you’re looking to switch away from Google for any other reason besides privacy concerns, this may not be the option for you, since it’s basically the same platform and search results as Google.
Pricing
  • Free

6. Brave Search

best google alternatives, Brave Search homepage.

Brave Search boasts security and privacy while browsing the internet, which it manages to do by not tracking users or any of their searches. Brave Search can’t share or sell personal data because it never gets collected in the first place.

This is helpful for those who work from public computers or networks. It can also be attractive to those interested in both privacy and AI, as the platform introduced Answer with AI earlier this year. This feature has quickly become one of the largest AI solutions.

Search results for “best time of year to visit tokyo.”

What I Like
  • Brave Search has a standard appearance similar to other search engine options on this list and major ones like Google.
  • It prioritizes privacy with a fail-proof strategy that allows for complete user protection while still using its own independent web crawler and index.
  • The AI assistant, when able to be used, is very intelligent and good at summarizing the many search results into a cohesive response.
  • While Brave Search does support paid ads, it guarantees that the ads are designed to be anonymous and that the platform won’t report any user data if users view or click on the ads.
What I Don’t Like
  • Answer with AI is not available for all queries, which was a bit disappointing for me. For instance, I searched “best large, leak-free water bottles” and was told that AI was “unavailable for this query.” This might also discourage others who expect an AI assistant to always be effective.
Pricing
  • Standard plan: Free
  • Premium plan: $3/month (Ad-free search results)

Best Search Engines With Special Features

7. OceanHero

what is the best alternative to google, OceanHero homepage.

OceanHero is an incredible search engine with an environmental purpose. It generates revenue through search ads and donates the proceeds to organizations like PlasticBank who are dedicated to collecting plastic to clean up oceans.

The shell counter shows how many shells you’ve earned for your searches.

OceanHero turns searching into a challenge. You can work towards earning as many shells as possible. Once you’ve collected 100 shells, your bottle counter increases by one to reveal how many ocean-bound plastic bottles you’ve helped rescue.

On average, five searches or 17 new tabs in the browser extension contribute to recovering one plastic bottle.

For every 100 shells earned, OceanHero can recover one plastic bottle.

First, I had to add OceanHero as a Google Chrome extension.

Add the free OceanHero Google Chrome extension.

Then, I followed the instructions to begin using OceanHero as my primary search engine.

What I Like
  • Since OceanHero gets added as a Google Chrome extension, it’s the most natural Google alternative. I can search queries directly in my Chrome search bar, and my browsing experience doesn’t change at all. My searches just get entered through OceanHero, rather than Google, making it a seamless transition.
  • OceanHero has such an important purpose that is a joy to be a part of. I’m going to be searching various questions and prompts daily anyway, so I may as well contribute to some positive change while doing so!
  • The idea of making ocean plastic reduction into a game by having users collect shells and bottles adds a fun, competitive edge to this search engine.
What I Don’t Like
  • Having to add OceanHero as a browser extension may deter some folks from wanting to adopt it.
  • Other than its strong environmental mission, OceanHero almost exactly resembles the Google searching experience, for better or for worse.
Pricing
  • Free

8. Swisscows

best google alternatives, Swisscows homepage.

Swisscows is unique in that it boasts family-friendly content, so users can feel confident in allowing their kids to use the search engine freely. In addition, this search engine has a charitable edge.

Charity Project badge keeps track of the number of searches.

The heart icon at the top of the browser keeps track of a user’s number of searches. The search engine states that, on average, 50 searches help finance a meal for a child. You can read more about Swisscows’ social projects, impact, and donation opportunities here.

Search results for “things to do in barcelona.”

What I Like
  • I originally expected Swisscows to have a kiddish appearance due to being family-friendly, but it looks like any other search engine on this list. This makes it more appealing for adults who want to use this platform as well as their kids.
  • The social impact of Swisscows makes it a no-brainer to use. I get to search my numerous queries daily and know those random searches contribute to important social causes benefiting children.
  • The search results are organized cleanly, with an icon photo to the left of the headline, a couple of lines of description, and, below that, a shortened URL, post date, and the ability to open up an anonymous preview with an AI-based description. This format is unlike any other I’ve seen and provides you with as much information upfront as possible.
What I Don’t Like
  • I found this to be one of the slower page load times of the search engines I tested.
  • If you also want an ad-free experience, this search engine does, unfortunately, include ads.
  • I also found that the “Ad” labels are small and at the bottom of each link, rather than at the top like with Google, which can be misleading.
Pricing
  • Free

6 Tips for Succeeding Off Google Search as a Brand

While I’ve gone over the pros and cons of using these eight search engines as a consumer, it’s equally important to know how best to operate them as a brand.

Read on for some of my tips on successfully optimizing for these Google alternatives.

1. Produce high-quality, engaging content.

It may seem obvious, but the most important part of your search engine strategy should be creating content worthy of a search. In such a crowded marketplace, with users having to decide between dozens of sources with near-identical information, it’s difficult to stand out without quality content.

Employ search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure you’re creating content around topics that users are interested in. And, while it’s important to incorporate those keywords, make sure the language on your websites, blog posts, or other platforms feels authentic and natural.

For instance, when I write my HubSpot blog posts, I integrate my opinions and experience, while still hitting keywords, which results in personalized and useful content. I also always write in my natural tone of voice to sound like my authentic self and not a robot.

2. Diversify your keyword strategy.

Speaking of keywords, it’s important to broaden the types of keywords referenced in your content. While it’s easier to plug single-word keywords into any piece of content, it can be more profitable to incorporate longer phrases.

Long-tail keywords are typically three or more words and have lower search volumes. However, they make up a larger percentage of searches when combined and are more likely to result in conversions, since the keywords are so specific.

3. Improve your search ranking with backlinks.

Backlinks are created when another website links to your website. As an example, this is now a backlink for Backlinko.

Backlinks are important as they can show users that your content is reputable. The best way to get backlinks is by giving them back to other trusted sources. Build important partnerships with brands for a mutually beneficial relationship.

4. Update your web experience.

As seen in this post, each search engine has a different appearance and format. This will impact how your content shows up in users’ search results. Therefore, when targeting a new search engine, you must update your content’s web experience.

For instance, some search engines like Kagi show the date of publication upfront in search results, which encourages me to refresh my content regularly so it appears recent and reliable.

Other search engines like Swisscows include a photo icon in search results, so I would want to confirm I have a high-quality, clear, relevant photo chosen alongside the URL.

5. Consider relevant, niche search engines.

I mentioned that there are search engines with special features and purposes, like OceanHero and Swisscows. It can be to your benefit to include search engines in your strategy if their niches align with your brand’s niche.

I work at Nickelodeon, so I’d assume our team has optimized our content for family-friendly search engines like Swisscows. If I were to work at a nonprofit or AI company, I’d similarly want to include search engines in those niches in my strategy.

6. Stay up-to-date on search engine changes.

While Google was not the first search engine, it was an early contender and unique because its founders, two PhD students from Stanford University, developed PageRank, an algorithm that listed sites in order of the number of links to them.

Since then, dozens of new search engines have emerged with different focuses, algorithms, and solutions to problems. It’s imperative, as a brand owner, to stay on top of this ever-changing landscape and accordingly update your SEO strategy.

After all, Google introduced its first AI system, RankBrain, in 2015. Less than ten years later, there are countless AI search engines and standard search engines with AI capabilities. Having an eye on trends and improving user experience will always be a necessity.

The Search for a New Search Engine

When diving into this post, I was aware of some of these non-Google search engines, but my mind is truly blown at how many options there are.

While Google still has more than 90% market share, other search engines can provide unique, individualized experiences for those willing to give them a chance.

In particular, my favorites from this list are Perplexity, which I’ve already integrated into my routine, and OceanHero.

I think both show how search engines can take the common human action of searching queries and take that to the next level to improve users’ lives or the greater world.

Google may seem like the easy, obvious choice, but there is a lot of value in incorporating some of these other search engines to better optimize your content for search.

60+ Core Company Values That Will Shape Your Culture & Inspire Your Employees

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No matter how much I love my job, at the end of the day, it’s still a job. It will and should never replace the things about life that bring me the most joy — my loved ones, exercise, travel, a glass of Pinot Noir, or my parents' home-cooked food.

Download Now: 50 Examples of Company Core Values

However, there are some ways to make a job feel more meaningful. Apart from great colleagues and exciting projects, company values can help direct team members toward a common goal and align groups around a bigger purpose.

Companies need something their teams can get behind and understand to maintain growth.

This search has led many people to The HubSpot Culture Code — and the original 2013 deck has almost 6 million views online. The main focus around our culture code is “Creating a company we love,” which all companies should work towards to add structure to goals and retain employees who believe in those goals.

Table of Contents

Why are company values important?

1. Give your team a shared purpose to rally around.

One of our Nickelodeon company values is that we put kids first in everything we do. This value reminds me that, even when work gets busy or trying, I work here because I believe in educating and entertaining kids and helping them be their best and truest selves.

Core company values give employees purpose, which is undeniably critical for employee satisfaction. A McKinsey & Company survey found 70% of employees said their sense of purpose was largely defined by work. However, that number dropped significantly to 15% when non-executive participants were asked if they were living their purpose at work.

This is why your core values must be embraced at every level, not just by the executive team. Purpose doesn't just improve employee satisfaction — it also increases your bottom line and builds trust with customers.

Professor and author Ranjay Gulati explains in his book Deep Purpose that “to get purpose right, leaders must fundamentally change not only how they execute it but also how they conceive of and relate to it.”

Gulati calls this process “deep purpose,” which furthers an organization's reason for being in a more intense, thoughtful, and comprehensive way.

2. Increase team well-being and motivation.

As much as I may try to “leave my baggage at the door,” stresses and tribulations can sometimes weasel their way into my workday.

At times like this, it helps me to know that, whatever is happening outside of my company, this is a place where I can be happy about and proud of the work I get to do.

WifiTalents data found that 56% of employees cite company culture and values as having a significant impact on their happiness, which is crucial since companies with higher employee happiness levels were shown to have approximately 23% higher revenues.

3. Go public with an aligned message.

What you do should be just as important as why and how you do it.

While your main goal for your company may be increasing sales, awareness, retention, or another key business metric, many consumers nowadays care immensely about purchasing from brands that align with their values.

An MIT Sloan Management Review article references a B2B customer study that asked tens of thousands of consumers how much it mattered if a company was less aligned with its social or environmental values than one of its competitors.

The study found that once buyers become aware of these differences between companies, a lack of alignment in values could reduce sales by as much as 30%.

This risk means it is essential to proudly share public-facing communications about your company values to be authentic about your company’s purpose while drawing in consumers who align with those values.

Ultimately, core values are critical if you want to create a long-lasting, successful, and motivating workplace, whether you work for a new company in need of core-value inspiration or an older company requiring a value revamp.

Elements of Company Core Values

1. Clear and Concise

Having too many values (that may not make sense or contradict each other) or using a lot of unnecessary jargon can make them feel inaccessible to new or younger employees.

Thus, it is essential to keep your company values clear so that they can be understood and embraced by all employees, regardless of their level or position.

For instance, Nickelodeon’s value of putting kids first in everything we do might mean something different to each person, but it’s easy to grasp and something I can easily keep in mind on every campaign.

2. Brief and Memorable

Don't over-explain your company values — keep them brief, instead. Having bite-sized values will make them easier to remember, making it more likely that they will be internalized and adopted as part of your company culture.

Plus, having short and catchy values can help create a distinctive brand identity, giving your company a competitive advantage.

It will be easier to differentiate your company from others in the market when the values are memorable and unique.

3. Action-Oriented

It’s easy to use attractive, vague words like “Authenticity” and “Diversity” without actually thinking about how those terms can and should apply to your company’s work. To create a significant impact, your values should be action-oriented.

One of The HubSpot Culture Code tenets is “We work to be remarkably transparent.”

The action-oriented aspect of this comes in its proof; the Culture Code states that HubSpot shares (almost) everything with its 4,000 employees, including financials and diversity goals, and everyone has equal access to the same data.

This proves that HubSpot isn’t just stating values that sound nice but has taken actionable steps toward exemplifying that value. This helps establish accountability among employees and empowers us to do our best work.

4. Reflective

Your core values establish the foundation of your company's culture, which is why they must be unique to your company and accurately reflect your mission, vision, beliefs, and objectives.

For instance, one of the Culture Code tenets is, “We solve for the customer.”

While other companies may be able to state this same value, it has a unique meaning for HubSpot, since we continuously develop and market new software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service designed to increase customers’ efficiency and efficacy.

Keeping your values consistent with your objectives can help create an authentic brand image and foster trust among your customers, partners, and employees. It will also help attract and retain employees with the same beliefs, resulting in a more cohesive and effective staff.

5. Adaptable

While core values should always be consistent with an overall mission, don't be afraid to make adjustments as your company grows.

Your company may not look like it did when it first started out, and your original values may not be as relevant or effective as they were then.

For instance, HubSpot has updated its Culture Code over 30 times since its founding. As your business evolves, regularly obtain feedback from employees and other stakeholders, and re-assess your core values when necessary.

Examples of Companies with Inspiring Core Values

1. Google

  1. Focus on the user, and all else will follow.
  2. It's best to do one thing really, really well.
  3. Fast is better than slow.
  4. Democracy on the web works.
  5. You don't need to be at your desk to need an answer.
  6. You can make money without doing evil.
  7. There's always more information out there.
  8. The need for information crosses all borders.
  9. You can be serious without a suit.
  10. Great just isn't good enough.

On Google's philosophy page, they don't just list their core values — they also provide examples.

Google’s “Ten things we know to be true” company philosophy page header.

For instance, consider their value, “You can make money without doing evil.”

While many companies likely tout the benefits of integrity, Google references strategic efforts it has made to avoid “evil” business, including “Advertising on Google is always clearly identified as a 'Sponsored Link,' so it does not compromise the integrity of our search results.”

Expedia Sponsored link in search results when Googling “Flights LA to NYC.”

Fulfilling values like “don't be evil” can be complicated. As Google grows and develops more products, there is more tension and scrutiny.

Ultimately, a core value is powerless if your company can't list intentional, calculated decisions it has made to put values ahead of profit.

2. Coca Cola

  1. Leadership: The courage to shape a better future
  2. Collaboration: Leverage collective genius
  3. Integrity: Be real
  4. Accountability: If it is to be, it's up to me
  5. Passion: Committed in heart and mind
  6. Diversity: As inclusive as our brands
  7. Quality: What we do, we do well

Coca-Cola demonstrates its diversity core value with its public Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion page, which lists the company's current efforts and future goals under this larger strategy. I appreciate that the company doesn’t just highlight what it’s already doing but also how it can improve and grow in years to come.

Coca-Cola’s three long-term ambitions towards diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Additionally, Coca-Cola's Sustainability page exemplifies its commitment to climate. This page includes reports about water usage, packaging, climate, and more.

Coca-Cola’s Business & Sustainability Report, which promises to stay true to the company’s purpose of refreshing the world and making a difference.

By acknowledging both its efforts and its shortcomings, Coca-Cola is able to show its desire to live up to its values, while taking responsibility for any mismatch between its ideals and reality.

3. Whole Foods

  1. We sell the highest quality natural and organic foods.
  2. We satisfy and delight our customers.
  3. We promote team member growth and happiness.
  4. We practice win-win partnerships with our suppliers.
  5. We create profits and prosperity.
  6. We care about our community and the environment.

Underneath each of its values on its core value page, Whole Foods provides an in-depth, yet easy-to-understand, explanation. There are also some links, such as “Learn more about how we support communities and our environment,” which share more resources, such as the Whole Foods Market Foundation.

Brief description of Whole Foods Market Foundation with a link to Read more.

Ultimately, their page demonstrates their ability to walk the walk. For instance, to exemplify their commitment to local communities, Whole Foods created a Local Producer Loan Program, which has provided over 365 loans, representing roughly $28 million in capital, for small-scale, local, and emerging producers.

Additionally, Whole Foods provides a list of environmentally friendly efforts they've practiced since 1980, including being the first U.S. grocer to ban plastic grocery bags at checkout (2008) and plastic straws (2019).

I hadn’t even known they had paved the way for both these efforts, so your core values can also be an opportunity for a humble brag.

Whole Foods claim that states, “Every year, we reduce 1 million pounds of plastic.”

Amazon's acquisition of the grocery chain in 2017 caused some loyal shoppers to question the brand’s authenticity, but Whole Foods brought in a new CEO in 2022 who is more dedicated to the company’s core values.

A Yahoo Finance article states that CEO Jason Buechel recognizes Whole Foods customers “... care about where the product was grown, raised, and produced, which comes at a higher cost, raising a challenge for the company.”

He is working to invest in technology, with Amazon’s help, to strike a balance between providing that same product value to customers while still growing the company’s sales and profits. This is partially why so many customers are brand loyalists: they support these efforts, too.

4. Airbnb

  1. Champion the Mission — We’re united in partnership with our community to create connection, which enables belonging.
  2. Be a Host — We're caring, open, and encouraging to everyone we work with.
  3. Embrace the Adventure — We’re driven by open curiosity, hopeful resilience, and the belief that every person can grow.
  4. Be a Cereal Entrepreneur — We’re determined and creative in transforming our bold ambitions into reality.

Airbnb’s continued commitment to being by and for the people sets it apart. People like me use Airbnb to stay in real homes that embrace the culture of the region you’re visiting, so it makes sense that its values are rooted in kindness, connection, and growth. The company’s About Us section reads:

“Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 1.5 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe.

Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.”

Airbnb “What defines us” section with three distinct messages true to the brand.

Co-founders Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia are famed for their iconic origin story. They launched Airbnb at SXSW in 2008 and were met with uncertainty.

To create their own investment dollars, they sold self-designed cereal boxes featuring then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain at $40 a box.

This venture made them $30,000 but, more importantly, it caught the eye of Paul Graham from tech startup accelerator Y Combinator, who told the trio, “If you can convince people to pay $40 for $4 boxes of cereal, maybe, just maybe, you can convince strangers to live with each other.”

Obama and McCain cereal boxes designed by Airbnb co-founders around the 2008 presidential election.

As a brand rooted in travel, opportunity, determination, and connection, it makes sense that its core values and mission tie around these same beliefs. Airbnb makes it clear that it prizes its company culture and wants employees who fit into those values.

5. Gusto

  1. Embody a service mindset. — Never stop advocating for the needs of others.
  2. Dream big, then make it real. — Be ambitious. Show and do is greater than tell and talk.
  3. Be proud of the how. — Ensure deep integrity in everything you do.
  4. Embrace an ownership mentality. — Take initiative to leave things better than you found them.
  5. Debate, then commit. — Share openly, question respectfully, and once a decision is made, commit fully.

This popular payroll app supports more than 300,000 businesses in the United States. Gusto doesn't just talk about supporting the needs of employees and customers; leaders at this company make it happen with radical transparency.

Gusto About Us page, with the statement, “We’re making work meaningful for everyone, everywhere.”

Gusto was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in human resources this year. One of the reasons behind this recognition is how Gusto continues to expand its opportunities and technologies to meet the needs of small-business customers — something that slots into several of its values.

By integrating with Chase Payment Solutions and adopting new AI technologies, Gusto shows that it will continue to make change that meets the needs of customers, is willing to strive for more, takes the initiative to keep growing the brand’s capabilities, and commits to change.

All of these tick boxes in its core values and proves the leaders’ accountability.

6. Adobe

  1. Create the future. — Creativity is in our DNA. We constantly look around the corner to see what is possible. But we don’t wait for the future; we create it. We are builders, makers, and inventors, driven by a deep empathy for our customers and users. We are open-minded and celebrate new ideas. We have the courage to disrupt the market and ourselves through bold bets and ideas we turn into reality.
  2. Own the outcome. — We think and operate like owners. We take initiative, have a bias toward action, and assume ownership for end results, not just our part. We are reliable and have clear points of view. We’re decisive and learn from our mistakes,
  3. Raise the bar. — We aim high, and we play to win. We relentlessly focus on execution, celebrate excellence, and are intellectually honest about where we must do better. We deliver both speed and quality by doing fewer things better. Our success is measured by the success of our customers and users.
  4. Be genuine. — The ability to be yourself is core to who we are. We embrace and respect diversity. We support and challenge each other by being honest and direct. We always act with sincerity, integrity, and the highest of ethics. We do this for our employees, partners, customers and communities.

These values were shared last year in an internal memo from Adobe chairman and CEO Shantanu Narayen to employees globally.

The memo’s goal was to share how the company would evolve its values and cultures to bring in new decades of growth.

Adobe graphic incorporating the brand logo and employees used in an internal memo from the CEO.

What I love about this memo is the immediate transparency of the values to the entire company, so everyone can read, understand, and align with them. Along with this information, Narayen shared his personal thoughts on the four company values, including the following blurb about being genuine.

“Being genuine is a hallmark of Adobe and something that always comes up when people talk about our culture. Ensuring that we reflect the diversity of the world around us — where everyone feels included, respected, and has the opportunity to make an impact — has been a core value since our founding.

It underscores how we support each other while being honest and direct. It also speaks to where we want to go and who Adobe should continue to be for our employees, partners, customers, and communities.”

While these values are relatively new for Adobe, they represent the idea that companies can evolve and update their core values with their growing businesses. Taking responsibility to adapt and share them with employees is a hallmark of a dedicated workplace.

7. American Express

  1. WE DELIVER FOR OUR CUSTOMERS — We're driven by our commitment to deliver exceptional products, services and experiences to our customers. We value our strong customer relationships, and are defined by how well we take care of them.
  2. WE RESPECT PEOPLE — We are a diverse and inclusive company and serve diverse customers. We believe we are a better company when each of us feels included, valued, and able to trust colleagues who respect each of us for who we are and what we contribute to our collective success.
  3. WE CARE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITIES — We aim to make a difference in the communities where we work and live. Our commitment to corporate social responsibility makes an impact by strengthening our connections.
  4. WE MAKE IT GREAT — We deliver an unparalleled standard of excellence in everything we do, staying focused on the biggest opportunities to be meaningful to our customers. From our innovative products to our world-class customer service, our customers expect the best —and our teams are proud to deliver it.
  5. WE NEED DIFFERENT VIEWS — By being open to different ideas from our colleagues, customers, and the world around us, we will find more ways to win.
  6. WE DO WHAT'S RIGHT — Customers choose us because they trust our brand and people. We earn that trust by ensuring everything we do is reliable, consistent, and with the highest level of integrity.
  7. WE WIN AS A TEAM — We view each other as colleagues – part of the same team, striving to deliver the brand promise to our customers and each other every day. Individual performance is essential and valued but never at the expense of the team.

American Express doesn't just hit the bare minimum with polite, helpful customer service. They go above and beyond to solve for their customers, even without strict protocol.

 what are company values? Header on American Express company mission page.

For instance, Raymond Joabar, group president of American Express’ global merchant and network services, told this story in a Forbes interview.

Joabar recalled a hotel café manager who alerted Joabar’s team that he sold a display cake with harmful chemicals. The manager needed to track down the customer before they ate it.

“Obviously, there's no procedure for that, but our team took ownership of the problem,” Joabar told Forbes. Joabar’s team gathered all the information they could and found 21 card members who used their cards at the café during that time frame. They were able to track down the customer before the cake was served at an anniversary party.

“The important point here,” Joabar says in the interview, “other than that everybody ended up safe and sound — is that there isn't a script for every situation, so we empower our care professionals to do what's right for the customer.”

This anecdote exemplifies American Express‘s commitment to its customers, even when it’s not easy, and demonstrates the company's dedication to living by its values and recognizing employees who do the same.

How to Develop Business Values

Now that you've seen what core values look like at other companies, you can use the following steps to create your own.

1. Check in with your team.

A quick way to get started is to consult your founders or executive team. They'll often already have a mission statement or vision for the company values.

If not, I recommend setting up a few brainstorming sessions with your team. Company values can also come up as your team solves problems together.

As you start your business, jot down ideas as they come up, and keep them somewhere that‘s easy to find. This way, you have a go-to place for inspiration when you draw a blank.

Once you have that framework, you can work on fleshing out your organization’s core values.

If you're having a hard time getting started, this company culture code template can help.

How HubSpot completed this step: HubSpot was operating for three years before co-founder Dharmesh Shah started work on HubSpot's culture code. He started the project by asking questions and sending surveys to the team.

This took several rounds because one of the common themes was that employees love working at HubSpot because of the people. It took more time and effort to discover why and how that feeling could translate to a set of company values.

2. Solicit feedback.

The level of feedback you need for a project like this isn't a one-and-done sort of effort. For instance, if I was asked, “Why do I value writing for the HubSpot Blog?” I could list dozens of amazing things, from the flexible hours to the ability to incorporate my personal experience into my writing.

However, if I was also asked, “What other values would I like the HubSpot Blog to embrace?” I might share some thought-provoking answers that can be taken into consideration. Building on your existing values is the best way to create a lasting company culture.

It‘s also important to key into informal conversations and non-verbal signals. Let your team know what you’re doing and why. Then, practice active listening. It may be tempting to argue or defend your point of view during these conversations. But interrupting in this way could mean that you'll lose valuable insights.

These are some useful resources for gathering feedback from your team:

How HubSpot completed this step: HubSpot's core employee values were initially outlined in the acronym HEART:

  • Humble.
  • Effective.
  • Adaptable.
  • Remarkable.
  • Transparent.

While getting feedback for HubSpot's culture code update, co-founder Dharmesh Shah realized that something was a bit off. He found that the acronym was missing one integral part of how HubSpot does business: empathy.

Slide from The HubSpot Culture Code, defining “Empathetic.”

In response, Shah proposed replacing “Effective” with “Empathy” and encouraged employees to submit feedback via an internal wiki page.

3. Implement feedback.

Part of creating a set of company values is ensuring employees buy into those ideas. If collecting feedback is an essential step, the next step is putting that feedback into action.

While not every piece of feedback will be useful, it‘s important to recognize these contributions. As you review updates from your team, you’ll want to compare these insights and start to look for patterns.

Once you have some clear ideas of what you want to add or update, outline your next steps to put these changes into place.

Then, share the plan with your team and thank them for their insights.

How HubSpot completed this step: In HubSpot's case, the team decided to update our culture code and the HEART acronym changed to Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, and Transparent.

Slide from The HubSpot Culture Code, defining the HEART acronym.

This process took several years of refining. After this change and many rounds of feedback, the culture code was shared globally.

4. Make your core values unique to your brand.

Many industries have catchy phrases or jargon that are central to the business.

But those phrases probably aren‘t the best way to communicate the unique values of your brand.

Your company values aren’t just a blueprint for what your business does and what your employees believe in. It's about what separates your team from everything else out there.

One of Nickelodeon-parent-company Paramount’s core values is “Optimism & Determination — We share a positive belief that we can navigate and thrive in the landscape ahead.”

This is foundational to our industry, which constantly embraces changes from the fall of cable to the rise of streaming and is core to how we approach these changes with excitement and resilience.

We learn from each other and develop tactics and strategies every day. These habits come from a foundation of shared values. So, your goal during this step is to bring those distinct values to light.

This may mean collecting quotes that inspire your team. It could arise from offsite meetings or impromptu conversations. No matter your creative process, you'll need to think about what you want your values to do to make them unique.

Ask yourself:

  • How can my team act on these ideas?
  • What will make these ideas easy to remember?
  • Do these ideas inspire me to do my best?
  • Are these ideas inclusive and relevant for everyone on the team?
  • Are they specific enough to guide us when making tough decisions?

As you refine your core values, make sure that they embody the spirit of your business and team.

How HubSpot completed this step: Core values often relate to the problems your business wants to solve and how that relates to your personal values.

For example, in a talk at Stanford University, Dharmesh Shah shared the quote, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

He told a story of how he interpreted this Louis Brandeis quote and then explained how it came into conversations that he and co-founder Brian Halligan were having about transparency.

You can hear the full story in the video below:

Company values often use short sentences and declarative phrases. Because of this, it can also be useful to explain how your team interprets a simple phrase within your values. For example, the culture code explains what transparency is and what it isn't at HubSpot.

Slide from The HubSpot Culture Code, explaining the difference between transparency and democracy.

5. Continue to evolve when necessary.

Change is the only constant. Your business will change over time. Societal norms, values, and trends will change too. To keep your company culture in line with the times, you'll want to revisit your values regularly.

First, spend some time with your core values. These will often stay the same. That said, the way your business applies or interprets these values may have shifted.

In my earlier Paramount example, navigating and thriving in the landscape ahead could have meant something entirely different 30 years ago.

It could have meant coming up with fresh and exciting content to attract new audiences, whereas today, it may look more like embracing new platforms to broaden the reach of our content.

Next, add or remove values in line with changes to your culture. Make thoughtful updates and bring in a group of engaged employees to offer early feedback. Once the group feels satisfied with your updates, share them with the full team for another round of feedback.

Staying open throughout the process is important for keeping your team engaged. Your company values should consistently reflect the core of your business. This means that how you write and edit them will impact every person connected to the company.

As you make changes, start with leadership and ask them to model these updated values. Find ways to encourage employees to embrace updated values and engage them to ensure your company's culture stays top of mind, fresh, and current.

How HubSpot completed this step: As HubSpot continues to grow, there are new ideas to consider. For example, the culture code covers concerns about time off, remote work, and more with a simple phrase – use good judgment. Leaders at HubSpot talk constantly about the culture, and HEART comes up in both tactical and strategic conversations.

In many ways, the team built HubSpot‘s culture code in the same way they create HubSpot’s products — thoughtful updates, regular feedback, and continuous investment.

This slide from the culture code deck emphasizes the importance of updates to company values:

Slide from The HubSpot Culture Code, highlighting the importance of hiring based on culture, as well as skills and experience.

As of now, HubSpot's culture code has seen more than 33 revisions. Updates undergo a beta testing process that collects quantitative and qualitative data. And HubSpot employees work with HEART & SOUL.

Slide from The HubSpot Culture Code, defining the HEART and SOUL acronyms.

How to Implement Core Values

Creating the core values is one thing — implementing them into your everyday business is another. I’ve included some tips on how you can ensure your values resonate and become pillars to live by.

1. Encourage discussion as a step toward acceptance.

In 2023, Nickelodeon introduced a rebrand. It was successful for many reasons, but I believe one of the main reasons was that it was a topic of discussion amongst employees, which helped exponentially grow our excitement for it.

The more discourse employees can have — in meetings and 1:1 — the more they will remember, recognize, and accept the core values as something new but important to learn and adapt to.

2. Hire and onboard based on the values.

You may have gotten your current employees on board, but the key is ensuring future generations also want to abide by these values.

Embolden recruiters and hiring managers to incorporate these values into interviews to discover candidates who resonate with these basic company beliefs.

For example, if one of your values is “We take responsibility for our actions and mistakes,” you can ask candidates how they have owned up to errors in the past to gauge their willingness to continue observing this tenet.

2. Continuously mention and act on the values from a leadership perspective

As a senior coordinator at my job, I feel incredibly distant from some of our executive leadership. Wanting to impress leaders can be a daunting task, especially if you feel unable to relate to their day-to-day, and vice versa.

By relentlessly explaining and exemplifying company values, leaders can show that the values are for everyone — no matter your title.

This can help bridge hierarchical gaps and make employees more excited to follow the same guidelines maintained by their executives.

3. Urge employees to consider these values when reflecting on their performance.

It can be difficult to try to sum up six or twelve months of performance in a review with your manager. I try to align my projects and accomplishments around key business goals to prove how what I do every day has a company-wide impact.

Similarly, you can encourage employees at your company to consider the company values when preparing their performance reviews.

This works in duality — it provides a structure for employees when writing their reviews and helps them conceptualize how they already support company values.

4. Incorporate new activities and programs that reflect your values.

Some company values go beyond deskwork and meetings.

For instance, Whole Foods' core value, “We Care About our Community and the Environment,” can be proven through high-level strategic decisions, as well as employee community service.

Think outside the box to find ways for employees to get involved in your core values, in and out of the office.

If one of your core values centers around ambition and resilience, host a biannual meeting where any employee can sign up to present an idea, no matter how outlandish. If one of your core values is sustainability, organize a local beach or park clean-up for employees.

The key is to show employees, in more ways than one, that these values aren’t just words on paper that sound nice. They are principles to live by and actions to take in everything your company does.

The Value in Company Values

As I grow older and have deeper thoughts about the world I live in, I care more about aligning myself with businesses that are working towards a positive impact.

One of the easiest ways to tell if a company cares about its employees, customers, and the larger world is through its values.

It’s not easy to articulate what your company cares about and is striving towards, but being able to do so can make a huge difference in the people you partner with.

Being able to explain in words what your business values can empower others to advocate for you. And, most importantly, it can return some much-needed purpose and vision to the company you care about.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in November 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.