Purpose, Mission and Vision - The Foundations of Your Brand

Just as having the destination clearly marked on the map makes the journey easier, getting clarity on your business PURPOSE, MISSION and VISION before you start building out the rest of your brand and business strategy is an essential and often glossed-over part of the process.

Making money is great and all. Without it, we can’t do the things we want to do, and support those we love. When you set your business up a couple of years ago, you weren’t even sure that making money would be a thing but you took the chance anyway. 

Now, you’re working on building a BRAND, one that people love and that has a tribe of raving fans, but somehow things have got a little lost on the way.  

The first thing you and your team should do is revisit the PURPOSE, MISSION and VISION of the company. They are often used interchangeably but they are actually very different, and fit together into the foundations of your brand strategy.

PURPOSE

Your brand purpose is usually fixed (it never changes) and should be aspirational but achievable.  

A brand purpose statement helps to integrate this purpose into the company culture and provide a ‘North Star’ for everything the company does. Ask yourself: What’s the overarching reason your business exists beyond making money?

Here are a couple of examples…

Apple

To make tools for the mind that advance Humankind.

Nike

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

Virgin Atlantic

To embrace the human spirit and let it fly.

Make your purpose statement pretty lofty. It needs to be something that encompasses the true meaning behind what you do, regardless of your product or service offerings and how they might change in the future. Remember it’s aspirational BUT achievable…

MISSION

The brand mission sits underneath the purpose, and is your ‘master plan’ for creating value. A large goal if you like, achievable usually within 5-20 years. 

What’s the Mission for your company? How will you deliver value that is on-purpose? 

Take a look at these examples - you can see how the mission of the business could then be translated into the everyday processes and procedures.

American Express

We work hard every day to make American Express the world's most respected service brand.

Honest Tea

To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.

VISION

The brand vision is a shared picture of what success will look like if the mission is achieved. Again, usually this is something that will be worked toward over a fairly long term, 5-20 years.

What does ‘mission success look like within your company? How will it be measured over the next 5-20 years?

With a clear purpose, mission and vision you can set the right goals for the next 1-5 years, build out your core brand values and start building a company culture that has integrity.

Top tip: It can be really hard when you’re ‘inside the bottle’ to read the label - I do get it it. When bringing a team together to work on these kind of internal processes, use an external facilitator or workshop leader to mediate and help you get clarity.

This is one of the ways we can support you as the company and brand really start to grow. Please get in touch if you want to take your brand to the next level this year, don’t be left behind, as more and more of your competitors start to see the power of real branding.

Abi Lemon is an experienced workshop leader, brand strategist and design consultant based in Christchurch, UK. She works with clients all over the world helping them build meaningful, profitable brands through clear messaging and beautiful design. [email protected]