Vision and mission of the brand

9 February 2024

Reading time 5 minuty

Vision, mission, purpose and brand strategy are the four main elements of a company’s strategic management. They set the direction and pace of the organization’s development, and they also represent the fundamental aspirations and dreams that the organization has.

The above elements are the source of leadership, but also the main integrators, a kind of internal “glue” of the company. The vision – the image of a new and better business future that the company’s management intends to achieve, and the mission – the source of leadership and business inspiration of the company’s sustained success, remain constant. In turn, their goals, strategies and business practices are constantly adapting to the ongoing changes in the business landscape[1].

Table: Comparison of brand mission and vision

	Brand mission	Brand vision
Basis	A mission statement talks about how to get there, how to achieve the vision. It can communicate the purpose of the brand and talk about meeting the needs of stakeholders. The mission refers to the realization of the planned future.	A vision statement represents where the brand wants to be. It can communicate both the goal and the values of the company. A vision statement is often a dream. A visualization of the future, it depicts the brand’s future. It can have an indefinite time frame.
Answer	It answers the questions: Why do we exist? What are we supposed to achieve? What do we do? How do we do it? What is the benefit? What makes us different? What are we striving to achieve? Whose needs are we meeting? Who are the stakeholders? What are the organization’s responsibilities to customers?	It answers the questions: what is our dream? Where do we want to grow? What is our ideal? How do we want to change the world, people’s surroundings, etc.?
Function	Outlines the overall goals the organization is pursuing. Helps define how to measure the organization’s success. It sends a clear message to internal and external stakeholdersi. To jasny przekaz skierowany do interesariuszy wewnętrznych i zewnętrznych	Motivating, inspiring, determining strategy. Showing how we want to change the surrounding reality
Change	The brand mission can be transformed, updated, but it should always refer to the core values of the company, the needs of the customer and include elements explaining how we want to achieve the vision	As the organization grows and the market changes, the vision may be updated or changed completely. Due to its function, changes and their frequency should be kept to a minimum

Note that not all companies have a clarified mission, vision, values or purpose that form the foundation of identity. Some organizations limit themselves to the creation of three components – the vision, values and purpose of the brand, or decide to only two: vision and values, for example. This is not a methodological error. There may be several reasons for this. One is insufficient knowledge of strategic brand management, the second may be the focus on current activities, the struggle for survival in the market, where sales define the purpose of the organization’s existence, and anything beyond that is superfluous. The third reason may be the owner’s attitude expressed in disapproval of such records. The conviction that they are not important, because so far the business has grown without them. However, their combination seems to be the approach that is the most complementary, result-oriented and explains the brand identity most fully to stakeholders.

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Vision. A reason for existence based on recognized and unrecognized customer needs and desires. A bold statement expressing the brand’s aspirations, defining its long-term ambitions and worldview.
Mission. A statement that describes how to achieve a brand vision, embodying practical, business goals. A plan that is ambitious yet feasible over time, revised as a result of market changes and company growth.
Values. A doctrine that indicates how relationships work in an organization – those with employees, customers, the media, thereby encapsulating the soul of the brand and reinforcing its vision and mission. In the same way that ethics creates behavior, core values remain constant in times of changing marketing strategies.

Source: R. Clifton R., J. Simons, Brands and branding, The Economist, London 2003,s. 87

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What, in practice, are the differences between mission and vision are shown by their juxtaposition based on market examples is presented in the table below.

Mission and vision statement of 10 Fortune 500 companies (2016)

NR	Brand	Income (million)		Brand vision	Brand mission
1	Walmart		$481.130	Be the best retailer in the hearts and minds of consumers and employees	Improving quality of life by saving money on purchases
2	State Grid		$329,601	Building a world-class power grid. Building a world-class enterprise	Ensuring a safer, more economical, cleaner energy supply. Promoting optimal development, a more compliant society and a better life.
3	China National Peroleum		$299,271	Commitment to support technological progress and international cooperation, as well as the development and use of energy in a more efficient and environmentally friendly manner. We plan to become an industry leader and operate reliably through competitive offerings and profitability by 2020 through strategic development initiatives, technological innovation and accelerated shift to a new mode of development, emphasizing quality and efficiency.	With Care for Energy -. With Care for YouEnergy – Harmony – Consciousness
4	Sinopec Group		$294,344	Building a leading global energy and chemical company that meets the needs of all people.	Powering a better life
5	Royal Dutch Shell		$272,156	lack of information	Shell Group’s goal is to participate efficiently, responsibly and profitably in projects related to oil, gas, chemicals, but also in other selected businesses, and to participate in the exploration and development of other sources of energy to meet the changing needs of customers and the growing global demand for energy.
6	Exxon Mobil		$246,204	lack of information	Exxon Mobil Corporation is dedicated to being a first-class oil and petrochemical company. To that end, we must continually achieve better financial and operational performance while adhering to high ethical standards.
7	Volkswagen		$236,600	We are a world leader in providing sustainable transportation.	We offer our customers vehicles tailored to their needs. We satisfy the diverse needs of our customers with a portfolio of strong brands. We take responsibility regarding the environment, safety and social issues. We operate integrated and with reliability at the core, quality and passion as the foundation of our work.
8	Toyota Motor		$236,592	Toyota will lead the future of transportation by enriching the lives of people around the world with the safest and most responsible ways to move people. Through our dedication to quality, constant innovation and respect for our planet, we strive to exceed expectations and be rewarded with smiles. We will meet our ambitious goals by engaging talented and passionate people who believe there is always a better solution to a problem.	Lack of information
9	Apple		233,715$	We believe that we face our greatest challenge to create great products, and that is not changing. We are constantly focused on innovation. We believe in simplicity, not unnecessary complication. We believe that there must be top-notch technology behind our products, and that we only appear in markets where our brand can do a lot of good.	Apple makes Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and other professional software. Apple also pioneered the digital revolution in music with the iPod and the iTunes platform. Apple has redefined the concept of the cell phone with their revolutionary iPhone and App Store and is now establishing the future of mobile computing with the iPad.”
10	BP		$252,982	Lack of information	Lack of information