If your brand can be sung, you’ve done it right

We’ve all been there. The kickoff workshop. The wall full of Post-its. The hours unpacking mission, vision, and “who we are.”

And too often, we’ve also been here:
The values are documented... and then quietly filed away. Forgotten until the next rebrand.

Here’s the problem: too many brands treat values as internal décor: something that looks nice in a handbook, maybe on a website, but rarely makes it to the front lines of culture.

Then along comes a song like “Skoal, Chevy, and Browning” sung by Morgan Wallen and written by Richard Chase Mcgill, Joshua O. Miller, Joe Aaron Fox.

No paid placement. No brand brief. Just three names used as metaphors for loyalty, strength, and truth.

That’s when you know a brand has made it.
When a songwriter, without even trying, is able to drop your name and it carries emotional weight.

Skoal means dependability. “Always there in a pinch.”

Chevy means steady. “Love her like a Chevy, buddy, steady like a rock.”

Browning means honesty. “Try to shoot ’em straight.”

This isn’t about advertising. It’s about cultural equity.

And that’s where agencies and brands face a real challenge: confirming that values work isn’t fluff, it’s the foundation. The blueprint. The difference between being remembered and being replaceable.

We hear the skepticism all the time:
“Can we skip the values and get to the campaign?”
“Does this really matter to consumers?”
“Will this move the needle?”

Yes. Yes. And yes.

But only when those values are lived, not listed. When they show up in how your people act, how your product is made, how your brand is experienced and yes, even how your brand is talked about in a song.

So next time you’re building a brand platform, ask yourself: Could someone use our name as a metaphor for something bigger than us?

If not, you’ve still got work to do.

A real brand doesn’t need to speak its values. It shows them.

And if you do it right, one day someone will write a song and your name will mean something. Let’s build that brand.