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 | The organization’s reason for existing | 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 | The pattern or model that underlies the brand, especially regarding its motivations and behaviors | Choosing the brand’s primary and secondary archetypes |
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 decide on and craft these components are much more likely to align employees in support of organization’s mission and vision and transform them into advocates for the brand. They are also much more likely to succeed in the marketplace.
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
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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