How to make your mission, vision and values meaningful

I’m not afraid to tell you dearest gentle reader, that we have a bee in our bonnet. Cast your mind to your brand guidelines. They’re no doubt a beautifully presented, thorough document outlining all the visuals of your brand. 

But what about the things that give your brand its heart? The mission, the vision and the values? Do they truly convey everything your brand is about? Or are they a list of non-descript adjectives that you think people want to hear or that you think you should stand for?

That dearest gentle reader is the bee I’m talking about here. Generic mission, vision and values that don’t help a brand stand out whatsoever. 

Well that stops here reader. Here are our tips for making the most of your brand foundations and turning them into a force for better recruitment, better content and a better place to be. 

Vision 

Now your vision might be well established. But that’s not to say it can’t be altered to be more in line with what your brand is about. 

For example, IKEA’s vision is ‘To create a better everyday life for the many people'. They explain how this is more far-reaching than just selling furniture. It’s about making a positive difference to the communities they source materials from and how their products can impact the sustainability of their customers’ homes. 

If you’re an agency working on a client’s vision, are you encouraging them to look at ‘the bigger picture’, or are they thinking small? When it comes to vision, the bigger the idea the better. From there, you can start to define and refine. 

Mission

The important distinction here is that the mission is ‘how’ your client is going to achieve their vision. 

Batman’s vision is probably to ‘rid the world of evil’, but his mission is to beat the Joker in the first instance. 

Let’s go back to IKEA. The way they’re going to achieve their vision is by ‘offering 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.’

You see how the mission is the rung below on the ladder? Pinch any of these analogies to help your clients feel more confident in the difference. 

Values 

If I had a pound for every brand I’ve seen with the values, ‘honesty’, ‘integrity’ and ‘transparency’, I’d probably be able to buy at least 10 Tesco meal deals. 

The reason these are such a bugbear is because surely every business and brand you encounter should think those things are important, right? ‘I want to work with dishonest, devious and cagey people’, said no one ever. 

If you’re a potential new recruit to a business, the values ‘honesty’, ‘integrity’ and ‘transparency’ don’t really tell you anything about the culture or passions of the brand. 

Airbnb is a great example of values that beautifully align with the brand, and they’ve communicated them in a way that’s unique to them: 

Champion the mission and

Be a host - Airbnb asks its teams to ‘create a world where anyone can belong anywhere’. This value serves as a reminder of that, presumably creating a culture of inclusivity and respect. 

Embrace the adventure - reminding people to keep an open mind and embrace new opportunities, as well as tying in with them being a travel and tourism business.

Be a ‘cereal’ entrepreneur - the founders originally sold cereal boxes to fund Airbnb in the early days. This is their fun, personal way of telling their team they value ingenuity, passion and resilience. 

You can see instantly how these tell someone so much more about the culture and the brand personality. 

Top tip: if your client is struggling to articulate what they value, ask them what really bothers them. You’ll be amazed how much more information you’ll get. From there, you can start playing your Uno reverse cards and figure out what ultimately matters to them.

As experts, we can help our clients to look beyond the initial ‘honesty’, ‘integrity’ and ‘transparent’ trap and start to look deeper. We can help them set themselves apart from the next business and put their best foot forward. 

To find out more about collaborating with So Contented on all things brand voice and copywriting, please get in touch now.