Visionary vs Ordinary: The Role of Company Vision in Success and Marketing

What sets visionary companies apart from ordinary companies? The answer lies in the power of a compelling vision - a guiding principle that steers companies to lasting success and shapes their marketing strategies. But how important is this vision to a company's success? Let's explore the intricacies of a company's vision and its profound impact on marketing.

?

The Essence of a Company’s Vision

A company's vision is a clear and concise statement that paints a picture of the future it aspires to create. This vision sets the direction for the company, serving as a roadmap for its journey ahead. The key lies in its simplicity and precision, echoing familiar principles from marketing communication—be clear, be memorable.

?

Vision as the Foundation of Business Strategy

Every employee should be able to understand the vision, as it provides them with a frame of reference and a foundation for mission statements, which can be used to derive strategic directions and priorities and ultimately influence actions at the lowest level (cf. Ant 2018, p. 163 f).

If we take a look at the importance of a vision in the creation of a strategic business plan, it becomes clear why it can be a success factor for a company.

The Business Strategy Pyramid is used to visualize how the corporate vision serves as the top level to derive mission statements, set goals, create strategies that are necessary to achieve the goals and how it impacts the ordinary employees at the lowest level to achieve the set goals with tactical measures.

Uncertain Times Ahead - VUCA world and vision

In an ever-changing business landscape, characterized by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA), the importance of a robust vision becomes even more critical.

As described above, the vision provides a frame of reference that makes it possible to penetrate complex structures and the various levels of a company and reduce them to a common denominator. This is particularly relevant in larger companies (cf. Klostermann/Düsterhoff 2020, p. 44) and in dynamic industries and uncertain times (cf. Klostermann/Düsterhoff 2020, p. 35).?

Vision and Succes - An Empirical Perspective

Based on the figure above, the structure for a strategic orientation to achieve the goals by setting a vision seems logical. But is it? Does a company really need a vision to be successful?

As there are few studies on this, it is unfortunately not possible to answer this question accurately. What can be said, however, is that the corporate vision, as a consciously used instrument, always serves the overarching goal of corporate profitability (Wendel 2016, p. 9).

But when we now change the question to: Are companies with a pronounced and clearly formulated vision more successful than companies that do not have a vision? we get a different picture.

Collins/Porras compared the effectiveness of visions by comparing 18 "visionary" companies with "normal" companies in the same sector or with similar characteristics on the basis of their share price. According to their findings, visionary companies had a higher share price (cf. G?pfert 2019, p. 103). Yes, I know, an empirical profound study is something else!

However, there are also studies that show that a company's vision plays an important role in its success (cf. G?pfert 2019, p. 103). Other surveys conducted show that employees who have an emotional connection to the vision perform better at work (cf. Wolf 2020, p. 141).

?

The Vision, the Mission and the important WHY for Marketing

The purpose of your company goes together with its mission.?Why does your company exist? Why are we doing what we are doing? The vision is your foundation for the mission statements (cf. Pidun 2019, p. 21).

For the mission statements questions like:

1. Who are we?
2. Who are our customers?
3. What are our core competencies and competition advantages?
4. What values are important to us?
5. How can we reach our vision by our daily doing?

etc. are important to answer.

Now you know the purpose of your company and you can use it to build a strong brand in your market by communicating it. According to Simon Sinek, this is a crucial factor for corporate communication! (cf. Deloitte Consulting GmbH o. J.)

?

Let’s take Nike as an example:

• Vision:Nike’s vision is "to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world." The asterisk signifies Nike's inclusive definition of an athlete: "If you have a body, you are an athlete." This vision is broad and inspirational, aiming to empower people globally through sports.
• Mission:Their mission statement is "to do everything possible to expand human potential. We do that by creating groundbreaking sport innovations, by making our products more sustainably, by building a creative and diverse global team, and by making a positive impact in communities where we live and work." This mission reflects their commitment to innovation, sustainability, diversity, and community impact, extending the vision into more concrete objectives.
• Marketing Strategy:I don’t have insight of the whole marketing strategy but let’s focus on one obvious example - Brand Positioning and Promotion.Nike positions itself as a brand that champions athletes and athletic excellence. Their marketing strategy heavily emphasizes storytelling, often revolving around athletes' journeys, challenges, and triumphs. This aligns with their vision of inspiration and innovation.You can find further information on https://bstrategyhub.com/nike-mission-vision-purpose-core-values/

Conclusion

The journey from being ordinary to visionary begins with a clear, compelling vision. It’s the cornerstone of not only strategic business planning but also effective marketing. As we navigate these challenging times, let’s revisit our visions, realign our missions, and rediscover our ‘WHY’—the essence of our existence and the key to our success.

List of References

Alps Academy (Hg.) (o. J.): Business Strategy Pyramid: Design a Path to Success. Online verfügbar unter https://www.alps.academy/business-strategy-pyramid/.

Ant, Marc (2018): Effizientes strategisches Management. Die 10 Phasen einer erfolgreichen Unternehmensentwicklung. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler (SpringerLink Bücher).

Deloitte Consulting GmbH (o. J.): Der Golden Circle: Wie Simon Sinek Ihre Unternehmens-Strategie sch?rft. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS START WITH "WHY". Hg. v. Deloitte Consulting GmbH. Online verfügbar unter https://www.deloittedigital.at/golden-circle-strategie/, zuletzt geprüft am 30.10.23.

G?pfert, Ingrid (2019): Logistik der Zukunft - Logistics for the Future. 8th ed. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Online verfügbar unter https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kxp/detail.action?docID=5552025.

Klostermann, Anna Katharina; Düsterhoff, Henning (2020): Die Vision als Erfolgsfaktor: Ein Rahmenmodell für den strategischen Einsatz von Visionen bei M&A-Transaktionen. In: DU 74 (1), S. 34–54. DOI: 10.5771/0042-059X-2020-1-34.

Pidun, Ulrich (2019): Corporate strategy. Theory and practice. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler.

Wendel, Stephanie (2016): Unternehmensvisionen. überblick zum aktuellen Forschungsstand. Hg. v. Rainer V?lker. Hochschule Ludwigshafen am Rhein / Kompetenzzentrum für Innovation und nachhaltiges. Online verfügbar unter https://imi.hwg-lu.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Wendel-Unternehmensvisionen.pdf.

Wolf, Gunther (2020): Mitarbeiterbindung. Strategie und Umsetzung im Unternehmen. 4. Auflage. Freiburg, München, Stuttgart: Haufe Group. Online verfügbar unter https://www.haufe.de/.