Posted on Mar 11, 2015

Why Volvo Gets It

It never fails. Whenever I speak to a group and pose the question “What automotive company owns the value of safety?”, the majority respond VOLVO.

Safety has been a core value of Volvo since the company was founded in 1927. It’s what defines the brand.

They may not always have the coolest designs. They might not be rated as the most reliable, or the most enjoyable to drive. But everyone knows they buld the safest vehicles on the road.

The same is true for Volvo Trucks.

Volvo’s Values

As the second largest producer of heavy trucks in the world, Volvo Trucks highlights 4 values: Safety, Quality, Environment, and (Social) Responsbility. The last one – Responsibility – really speaks to their corproate social responsibility and could be considered part of their approach to Environmental Care. In fact, the main document referenced under Responsibility is their Sustainability Report.

So from my viewpoint, Volvo Trucks really has 3 main values, which they define as follows:

Safety – We strive to protect human health and wellbeing. Our ultimate goal is zero accidents with Volvo Group products. The Volvo Group shall be recognized as the leading supplier of safe transport solutions.
Quality – The Volvo Group shall be the leader in customer satisfaction delivering pioneering products and services for the transport and infrastructure industries. All business entities will contribute to this achievement through customer focus, commitment and participation by everyone, a process approach and continuous improvement.
Environment – The Volvo Group is to be ranked as a leader in terms of Environmental Care among the world’s top producers of transport-related products, equipment and systems. The Environmental Care programmes shall be characterized by a holistic view, continual improvement, technical development and resource efficiency. By these means, the Volvo Group will gain competitive advantage and contribute to sustainable development.

Based on my reseach of the Fortune 500 companies, two of these values – Quality and Environment – are part of the 17 Common Values. In other words, Volvo has selected two values that most companies – across all industries – would also consider important values. They’re not unique.

It’s the value of Safety that sets Volvo apart. It’s their key differentiating value.

Safety vs. Safety

To clarify, Safety is listed as one of the 17 Common Values, where Safety (often referred to as Health & Safety) is about having a safe work enviornment. It’s common to find this value amongst companies whose employees work in high risk enviornments, such as oil and gas, construction, and manufacturing. This is likely due to the ongoing pressures of Workers Compensation, and investors who want some assurance there will be no unfortunate surprises. So it makes sense that such firms embrace Saftey as a core value.

But for Volvo, Safety means so much more. It’s about building safety into their products. It’s about inventing the next safety feature that will reduce the number of accidents and save lives.

Just consider the audacious goal highlighted in Volvo’s definition of Safety:

Our ultimate goal is zero accidents with Volvo Group products.

Wow. ZERO accidents. That’s a really big vision! And it’s one that resonates with their many employees and customers.

I would expect Volvo has reward and recognition programs in place to encourage every employee to improve existing safety features and even invent the next safety-related breakthrough. If there’s an engineer or inventor somewhere on the planet who has a brilliant idea that would improve vehicle safety, I would imagine Volvo would be at the top of their list to discuss their ideas.

Comunicating Safety

When a company is really clear about what makes them unique, it makes it so much easier to communicate the brand promise. The creative opportuntities are limitless.

For Volvo Trucks, one option they chose to communicate the value of Safety is focusing on potentially dangerous situations, and then showing us how Volvo resolves them before we even consider it a problem.

Here are two superb examples that highlight perfectly how Volvo Trucks are the safest on the road.

Volvo Trucks – Example #1

In November 2013, Volvo Trucks posted a brilliant video that quickly went viral. The purpose of the video was to demonstrate the precision and directional stability of Volvo Dynamic Steering. However, most people are awe-struck with Jean-Claude Van Damme’s epic split between the two moving trucks. But the real magic is the subtle message that these heavy trucks can be driven with precision and incredible ease – backwards – improving the overall safety of trucks. This is the best kind of marketing as it perfectly profiles the company’s unique differentiator and overall competitive advantage – Safety – in a compelling and ingenious way.

Volvo Trucks – Example #2

Prior to the viral Van Damme video, Volvo posted a superb video that demonstrates their internal confidence in the strength of their trucks (they refer to it as “robustness”). In a brilliant move, Volvo’s marketers had the president of Volvo Trucks, Claes Nilsson, stand on one of their trucks as it’s hanging by a crane on it’s end out over the water. Again, most people will be impressed with the stunt. But the real message is that if the president of Volvo Trucks is willing to put his own neck on the line, then you too can trust the safety of your people – and your business – with a Volvo Truck.

As if to summarize the importance of Safety at Volvo Trucks, Claes Nilsson makes the following statement in the video:

“You don’t need to worry about anything.”

In other words, since Volvo has made safety their priority, you don’t need to.

When you’re clear on what makes your company unique, weaving it into every aspect of your business, as Volvo Trucks has done, then communicating your unique value proposition is almost….. effortless. Everyone will clearly understand your brand promise when everyone who works for you gets it.