Imagine that you are driving at night.
The road is very dark and there are no buildings or what so ever. Just you in your car and the gloomy road. Without headlamps to show you the road.
You are driving fast in the darkness. You don’t have any idea of what is coming, but you keep driving anyway.
It’s not a fun experience, isn’t it?
This is how it feels when you run a business without a clear vision.
What is a brand vision statement
Your brand vision is a statement that clarifies where you see your business being in the future.
Think of it as your image in the future and how you want to see your business.
It is future-based. it’s about your long-term goals. It should be big and inspiring.
It’s the destination to where you want to take your business to.
When you know where you’re heading, it becomes much easier to find the road to it. It will give you the focus you need to take future decisions that support the brand.
Before writing your vision statement
Your vision statement is directly connected to your brand purpose. You can’t write a vision statement without first uncovering your why and what you stand for.
A brand vision and purpose are built and support each other. So you have to think of your brand purpose first.
It will a great idea to do these exercises with your partner or a brand designer who can help you find creative ideas. It’s better to do these exercises in a group. But you’re the one who started the business and you’re the best one who knows company’s ins and outs.
How to write your vision statement
Everyone who will work in this process has to write their ideas separately, and then you can collect and see what works and what doesn’t.
First, ask yourself and the team the following questions to inspire ideas:
- What ultimate impact does your brand has on your customers?
- Why do we exist? (this is your brand purpose)
- If you were completely successful, what would this look like for you and your customers?
- Where do you see your brand in the future?
Answering these questions will open your eyes to opportunities and things you might haven’t thought of before.
Now, you can use one of these templates to write your vision statements:
Template 1
To (provide, give, create, make, etc…) a (healthy, happy, productive, safe, etc…) (world, place, dream, reality, existence, etc…) for (the group of people you want to help).
Template 2
(Providing, giving, creating, making, etc…) a (healthier, happier, more productive, safer, etc…) (world, place, dream, reality, existence, etc…) for (the group of people you want to help).
Vision statement guidelines
When writing your brand vision statement, make sure that:
- You think BIG. A brand vision should be flexible enough to last for a long time. It’s not about what you’re going to achieve next year. It has to last for a long time.
- It’s clear. You have to make it clear and inspire you and the team and attract other people who would love to be a part of that vision.
- It’s Concise. You don’t want to end up with a very long paragraph that inspires no one. A brand vision needs to be short and easy to understand.
- It uses short words. Don’t use long words that are hard to read
- To the point. Don’t over-explain. Make it short and easy to understand.
Your vision statement is useless
Yeah, after all that, I’m saying this.
Your brand vision statement is useless on its own. It won’t do you anything if you just write it down and saved it in the archive.
You have to use this statement and implement it to guide your future decisions. It should be a guiding star, and you should check it regularly to make sure you’re moving in the right direction.
Vision statement examples from the big leaders
Now, you might be unsure of how your vision statement should sound like, or how do vision statements look like in general.
So, here I listed some inspiring vision statements to give you an idea and to inspire you to write your own.
- Microsoft: A computer on every desktop and on every home. they have almost achieved that, right?
- Tesla: Driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles. – You can see that clearly in everything they do.
- Intel: To bring smart, connected devices to every person on earth.
- Instagram: Capture and share the world’s moments.
- TED: To make great ideas accessible and to spark conversation.
- Hilton: To fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.
Final words
Your brand vision will be your guide to your future. It’s what’s going to lighten the dark road for you.
The car is your brand
The headlamp is your vision
And the driver of all that and who is going to take the brand to its success is YOU.
