Developing Organization Mission, Vision & Values

Derrick DayeNovember 24, 20103 min

An increasing number of organizations for whom we are facilitating brand positioning workshops are asking us to facilitate organization mission, vision and values workshops as well. It makes sense, especially for organizations for which the brand exists at the organizational level. For those organizations, crafting brand strategy is closely aligned with crafting organizational strategy.

It makes sense to craft organization mission, vision and values and brand essence, promise, personality and archetype in concert with one another. Here is an overview of each:

    Strategy Component     Definition     Form
    Mission How we will achieve our vision  7 to 25 words
     Vision What the organization wants to become Forward looking, aspirational, inspirational  7 to 15 words
    Values What an organization believes in and how its people should behave 5 to 10 core values in word or phrases
    Brand Essence The “heart and soul” of the brand, its timeless quality Three words in the form   “Adjective adjective noun”
    Brand Promise The one or two things the brand promises its target audiences that is/are very important to those audiences and unique to the brand In the form, “Only [brand] delivers [one or two benefits] to [target audience]”
    Brand Personality Describing the brand as if it were a person  7 to 12 adjectives
    Brand Archetype

 

 

Brand Purpose

The pattern or model that underlies the brand, especially regarding its motivations and behaviors

Why the brand exists, the motivation for its commercial activity beyond the basic business goal of earning a profit

Choosing the brand’s primary and secondary archetypes

 

10 to 20 words

 


The Blake Project
facilitate’s organization mission, vision and values in one full-day workshop and brand essence, promise, personality and archetype in another full-day workshop aptly named The Brand Positioning Workshop. Both workshops are preceded by online surveys of target audiences and key stakeholders.

Organizations that carefully think through this step are much more likely to align employees in support of organization’s mission, vision and values and transform them into advocates for the brand. They are also much more likely to succeed in the marketplace.

We believe mission, vision and values must be developed in this competitive context: Your mission should focus on what your people are here to achieve.

  • Your vision should project how you as a brand intend to change the world for your customers.
  • Your values should help your brand differentiate and possess competitive value.

Through this lens we will craft mission, vision, and values statements for the organization. Key organizational stakeholders including the leadership team should participate in this highly facilitated one-day workshop.

The Blake Project is adept at critiquing the needs of brands in all stages of development against a robust brand framework that includes a variety of templates and exercises. Our process includes breaking the workshop participants into smaller teams and facilitating a consensus around each statement, which is the workshop’s primary deliverable. We will also present mission, vision, and values statements from other organizations as points of reference and explore the 8 different types of brand cultures, identifying your brand culture in the process.

The Blake Project Can Help: Please email us for more about our purpose, mission, vision and values and brand culture workshops.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Growth and Brand Education

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One comment

  • Dean

    November 25, 2010 at 9:07 am

    I like how simple and straightforward your advice is. If only more organizations’ missions and brand values were as simple. I’ve assisted several firms with writing or rewriting theirs, and here are a few lessons I’ve learned: think about the people who might read them; avoid jargon; use words that are easy to understand; convey emotion; create a picture; try to inspire.

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