5 Reasons Marketers Should Test Values-Driven Marketing Now

Values-Driven Marketing (VDM) is more than a theory — it’s a framework that marketers can operationalize today. Grounded in Behavioral Science and powered by AI, VDM helps brands answer the three fundamental questions at the heart of any strategy:

• Who are we targeting?
• What do we want to stand for?
• How will we achieve it?

Here’s a step-by-step playbook drawn directly from the research of WARC (World Advertising Research Center, the leading authority on advertising effectiveness for marketers and brands) and Aletheia, the leading values-driven marketing intelligence company and media agency in the U.S.

Step 1: Audience Intelligence

Effective marketing starts with knowing who to reach. VDM segments audiences by their ValuesTypes — such as Tradition, Freedom, Achievement, Purpose, Pleasure, or Security — and measures which motivations matter most in category contexts.

Aletheia’s research process identifies priority segments, flags incremental opportunities, and reveals where competitors are (or aren’t) meeting consumer needs. These insights can then be scaled with national survey data, clustering techniques, and life-stage targeting to sharpen precision.

Step 2: Media Intelligence

With the audience defined, the next step is where to reach them. Through partnerships with LiveRamp and Magnite, Aletheia’s “Zenzi Audiences” make ValuesTypes directly targetable across social networks and DSPs.

Marketers can also evaluate publishers, creators, and influencers based on how well they index against different ValuesTypes — uncovering new sponsorship, partnership, and content opportunities. In one case, a leading amusement park achieved 5x higher CTR on display ads and 6% higher ROAS using values-driven targeting.

Step 3: Messaging Intelligence

Nearly every message contains values signals — intentionally or not. Aletheia’s patented AI platform, Pluralytics, analyzes copy, imagery, and tone to decode which values are being communicated and to which audiences they will resonate most.

This gives marketers a competitive edge by:

• Driving deeper emotional connections (A/B testing showed +33% preference uplift with optimized content).
• Establishing content benchmarks for consistency.
• Reducing wasted spend on misaligned creative.
• Revealing repeatable performance patterns across campaigns.

Step 4: Impact Intelligence

Finally, marketers must measure results. VDM provides a yardstick for tracking both short-term performance (CTR, ROAS, engagement) and long-term brand equity by ValuesType.

By comparing actual vs. predicted results, marketers can refine execution, double down on what works, and ensure that brand and performance efforts reinforce one another.

The Takeaway

Values-Driven Marketing offers marketers a structured, repeatable playbook: define the audience, target them intelligently, align the message, and measure impact.

With advances in AI and data integration, what was once a behavioral science theory is now a scalable marketing discipline. Brands that follow this playbook don’t just hit their targets — they build authentic connections that deliver both equity and performance.

As Aletheia’s research proves, getting values right is one of the most effective ways to drive growth in today’s fragmented media world.

As Virgin Management Group's Jennifer Posnikoff said:

 "If you get Values right, you build long-term brand equity while still delivering short-term performance."

Now is the time for marketers to put VDM to the test.