Most businesses start with an idea. It could be a product, a service, a goal, or to simply make a difference in the industry. Regardless, this ‘seed’ typically contributes to how the business grows and develops over time. There can be other factors that impact the trajectory of a business, which are impossible to know from the start. However, businesses with a clear brand vision are the ones most likely to stay true to their roots, which in turn allows consumers to connect with the company more easily.
In this blog, we’ll impart all the knowledge we have on brand vision including tips and insights to help you establish your own.
Brands explained
In short, a brand is big component of what gives a business its character. On the surface, a brand is the name, design, symbol, or other feature that is recognisable as belonging to a certain organisation. In this case it also refers to a set of values which a business uses to inform how it operates.
Brand guidelines, often called a mission statement, are typically created alongside the business. This is usually because the owner has put a part of their own beliefs into the business or had a longstanding idea of what the company would stand for. Over time, consumers come to have a deep understanding of a brand as they interact with it. This provides value to the business itself as people are more likely to seek it out for the products and services, they know it provides. The ability for a brand to generate sales in this way is known as brand equity.
The Cola-Cola brand worth was calculated to be $97.9 billion in 2022. Notably, while this figure is lower than the company’s overall value of $246.49 billion, the brand still makes up a significant portion.
Brand identity and brand awareness
These are phrases you’ve probably seen thrown around fairly often when talking about the topic of business branding. This is because there are many aspects of a brand that must be considered to ensure its success. Brand identity concerns a brand’s physical appearance, including elements such as:
- Colour.
- Logo.
- Design.
- Typography.
- How it is featured.
Brand awareness on the other hand, is a marketing metric that considers how many people have knowledge of a business’s products and services. This includes what sets a new or existing product or service apart from the competition. You can read our blog on how to measure brand awareness for more info.
What is brand vision?
Arguably the most important part of branding, a brand vision is the future concept of a brand. It’s the end goal of a brand and as a result, it should encompass various aspects that can be achieved later in the lifecycle of the business. A brand vision should include:
- What values it stands for.
- Where the brand is going and how it’s going to get there.
- The company’s market stance.
A brand vision can subsequently be used to map a business’s trajectory and inform how other aspects of the brand will develop. For example, a brand vision established in the infancy of business can lead to certain brand values naturally falling into place. This is because a good brand vision should provide a framework that can be followed to reach the goals it sets out.
Many companies with publicly display their brand vision in the form of a mission or vision statement. This lets consumers and media entities know in a direct way what they stand for and what it is that is guiding the business’s actions.
Nike
‘To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world’
Here, Nike are making it clear who their target audience is. Their statement also comes with an asterisk below that says, ‘if you have a body, you are an athlete’. As a result, the brand is positioned as one that’s of a high enough quality to be used by professional sports people but that’s also accessible to everyday enthusiasts.
Ben & Jerry’s
‘Making the best ice cream in the nicest way possible’
This statement alludes to the fact that the company has strong morals around corporate social responsibility and sustainability. In fact, you could infer from the wording that there are other companies who make similarly nice ice cream but whose practices aren’t as good. This is the main factor that the Ben & Jerry’s brand uses to appeal to consumers.
Oxfam
‘A just world without poverty’
A charity is a great example of a brand vision that’s based on a central goal, in this case the elimination of poverty. Many businesses with a single product or service will benefit from a focused brand vision like this. It’s simple and effective. Consumers know that any money they spend with Oxfam is going towards solving poverty issues.
Why is having a brand vision important?
It’s not an understatement to say that a brand vision has the potential to dictate the effectiveness of marketing content. This is because the first benefit that it gives your brand is a sense of direction. Brands aren’t simply established by statements; they have to be backed up by tangible actions. The brand vision will reveal what strategies and actions will help the business put out the intended image. When consumers see you standing by values they agree with, they’ll be more confident in buying from your brand.
Secondly, a strong brand vision helps form strong consumer connections. A clear vision enables the business to have a recognisable personality and purpose. These will be the elements that resonate with certain consumers, thereby leading improved lead conversion. The implementation of a brand vision can also help boost lead generation as businesses with lively personalities are more likely to stand out from the crowd. For certain industries, personality is essential for success too.
Tips for creating a brand vision
As a digital marketing and creative branding agency, we have hands-on experience helping a variety of businesses with their brand. The brands who have stayed true to their vision have made far more use of our branding services, simply because they know what they want. As such, if you don’t have a brand vision it’s best to create one. Doing this involves the following:
Settle on your vision
Whether your brand vision contains 10 elements or 2, it’s important that everyone in the company is clear they are. That being said, it’s recommended that you choose one or two to be your brand’s core elements. The others can remain as extended vision elements which can inform corner case branding decisions in the future. Without clarity on what the brand is working towards, the vision won’t have the desired effect.
Be realistic
It can be tempting to expand on your brand vision to make the business seem as appealing as possible to consumers. However, this can have the opposite effect of making the brand seem disingenuous. Staying to true to your brand vision means your brand will remain relevant to market and sector the business is operating in.
Stay aspirational
A big part of a brand vision is that it lets you plan for the future. This should be kept in mind during its creation by asking yourself questions like ‘what do I want the brand to look like in X years?’ and ‘What do I want this brand to achieve?’. Oftentimes, these goals won’t be possible with your current capabilities but don’t let that put you off from being ambitious.
Utilise brand position
Your brand position typically reveals which elements can be delivered to consumers to maintain credibility. However, this will change over time as the market shifts and your business inevitably grows. Until you get to a point where the internal brand vision lines up with the current position capabilities, you will still have goals to work towards. It’s often best to review brand values at the point when this happens, although that doesn’t mean the vision should be disregarded.
Deliver’s vision
When Deliver Media was set up 11 years ago, its mission was to provide business owners with real value through digital marketing. In addition, Scott wanted the business to operate in ways that were transparent and authentic. This is still true today, which is why our services are based around reporting digital marketing data. The Deliver team are also your marketing partner, so we like to have ongoing communications with our clients. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you need help with anything related to branding, or digital marketing as a whole.