Brand vision: what it is and how to identify it

A good way to determine the success of your business is to have a brand vision. Knowing what you want your product or service to achieve and how it will continue to serve customers’ needs is contingent on how you present your brand identity. Your brand identity should also reflect your company’s goals and values. You can convey this kind of message in a brand mission statement. 

This article will define brand vision and explain the differences between brand vision, brand identity and brand mission. You’ll also learn about the benefits of brand vision, how to identify one for your business and how to write a brand vision statement. Finally, we’ll provide some examples of brand mission statements for inspiration.

Brand vision is the projection of your brand’s future that establishes a social presence. It should ultimately reflect your company’s mission and values and it will be the foundation on which you’ll grow your business. A brand vision should also explain what your business wants to achieve and help guide you through every business decision that you make for your company. Having a strong brand vision requires a strong brand identity and brand mission. 

Brand vision defines your company’s future, whereas brand identity establishes the visible elements of your brand that distinguish it from competitors. The logo, colour design, font choice and slogans represent brand identity. If executed successfully, your brand identity can help you achieve brand awareness and brand recognition that can help you establish trust with consumers, giving you the advantage of presenting new products and services at a premium. Before you reach that point, it’s recommended that you establish a brand vision so that you can strategically market your business towards success. 

Brand mission focuses on the present, whereas the brand vision focuses on the future. 

When you talk about what your brand will look like five years from now and how it’ll be relevant for future generations, that reflects how you envision your brand. What you want your brand to achieve is your brand vision. 

A brand mission is about what your brand accomplishes and how your company sustains those efforts based on the business’s core beliefs and values. These core beliefs and values should reflect your own ones and remind you, your customers and employees of the brand’s purpose, ultimately solving a consumer problem.   

Is it possible for you to run a business without brand vision? Yes. But the chances of running a successful business can be greater with a brand vision. Brand vision can help provide direction, differentiate you from competitors and drive brand activity. Let’s look at how these advantages work.

Brand vision serves as a compass for growing your business. For instance, if you want to provide another service or add another product to your business portfolio, you can refer to your brand vision to confirm whether it aligns with your brand identity and mission. Establishing a brand vision can help you build a strong marketing strategy. Furthermore, it strengthens employee engagement. Your staff will have a better understanding of the company they’re working for and can thus help convey your brand vision to customers. 

Having a clear sense of why your brand exists and what you want it to achieve will strengthen your brand identity, differentiating it from competitors. Brand vision is part of your brand’s personality and an extension of your core values. Overall, brand vision provides a clearer purpose of your company goals that customers can choose to get behind if they resonate with it. That’s why a brand vision should include a social presence, because this is how consumers and customers can connect to whatever you’re selling. The best way to differentiate your business from its competitors is to have a unique and compelling brand story. 

With a clear brand vision statement that reflects a strong brand identity and mission statement, you’ll gain a better idea of how to market your products and services. Better still, brand vision can also help you define who your customers are and optimise your target audience when calculating a Net Promoter® Score or conducting price analysis and optimisation. In other words, brand vision can keep your company consistent with the types of products and services that loyal customers expect from you.

If you have yet to identify your brand vision, here’s how to do it: First, try to identify your brand values and then clearly define your mission and vision statements. Have a clear sense of where you’re starting from and where you want to go. Then begin to implement steps that align with your brand mission and vision. Let’s take a closer look at how you can do this.

Identifying your brand values is assessing why you’ve come to sell your product or service. Many products and services in the market solve a problem. Ask yourself what problem your product or service solves. Think about how you came up with the solution and why. Defining why and how you’re solving consumer problems also helps build a good brand story, brand awareness and a stronger social presence of brand recognition. 

Before defining a brand vision statement, you’ll need to construct the mission statement. Remember, while highlighting your values and principles, that a mission statement tells consumers and customers about your business’s main objectives. Your vision statement will come from that perspective and it should all connect your values with what your company has to offer.

Although brand vision focuses on the future, there still needs to be a point of origin. Goal-setting requires going from Point A to Point B. Brand vision is Point B. Point A represents where your business is starting from and it’s important to establish this first. Your understanding of where your business is starting from should be embedded in your mission statement.

Deciding where you want to go is the projection from Point A. Think of this step as Point B. Where you want your business to go should be embedded in your brand vision statement because it imagines a future for your company. Where you envision your company going is your business goal. 

Once these steps have been established, you should strategise a marketing plan to realise your brand vision. There are many ways to get from your mission to your vision statement. Research the ultimate guide to brand strategy to learn how to achieve strong recognition in the marketplace. 

Studying others is the best way to understand how to craft your brand vision. Here are four brand vision statement examples to inspire you: 

‘Together with our partners, to passionately provide best value optometry, audiology and other healthcare services to everybody, simply, clearly and consistently, exceeding customer expectations every time.’

Specsavers’ vision statement tells you what kind of business it is and what it wants to achieve, and that achievement includes solving a problem for consumers who wear glasses. It also mentions its aim to always exceed customer expectations. 

‘To create a better everyday life for the many people.’

Although IKEA’s vision statement appears vague, it still works for the company. Here’s why: IKEA has established strong international brand awareness and reputation. IKEA’s vision statement is projected from its mission statement, which is more detailed in purpose. Its mission statement is ‘to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.’ IKEA’s vision statement is more concise and generalised to imply that their vision goes beyond the products they sell and has an impact on how they source their materials by creating jobs worldwide.

‘To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible price.’

Amazon’s vision statement could easily be its mission statement since it appears that the company has seemingly become the go-to e-commerce platform for all things. However, placing this as its vision statement conveys the impression that the company is always striving to maintain its goals. Furthermore, vowing to offer the lowest possible price enforces their presence as a reliable e-commerce business that customers can depend on for the best price for any product. 

‘To be the number one department store in the world for luxury branded merchandise, maintaining an unprecedented level of retail standards and expertise.’

As a luxury retail department store, Harrods aims “to provide every customer with a truly unforgettable experience in our quintessentially British environment”. And although Amazon has proved that many consumers prefer the impersonal, no-frills environment of e-commerce, Harrods’ mission statement acknowledges the demand for a memorable, quirky and personalised in-store experience.   

Now that you know how to write a brand vision statement, plan a strategic marketing campaign to help you test how well consumers and customers receive your vision statement. Test your brand mission and vision statement by screening a target audience today. 

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score and NPS are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc. and Fred Reichheld. 

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