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Vision
A vision often precedes the development of a more specific strategic marketing concept. The function of the vision statement is to paint a powerful broad future self-image of the organization, on a time horizon of 5 to 10 years. This future self-image preferably aligns with the founder’s intent. It should also ‘pull’ all the efforts, passions and interests of the different departments and their employees towards its realization. The content of the vision statement relates to the main purpose of the organization regarding what their customers do, can do, or might do in the marketplace.
Company visions can have functional and emotional appeal. The functional level refers to tangible needs of customers, e.g. transportation from A to B. The emotional level encompasses intangible needs, e.g. psychological benefits such as a feeling of community, safety, peace of mind or purpose.
Furthermore they should be context specific, e.g. catering to the characteristics of a specific industry. In the category ‘Marketing Visions’ we show examples for different industries such as entertainment, clothing, food & beverage, real estate, technology and place branding.
To develop an authentic strategic vision you can start with the following exercise:
- Write down your own future self-image.
- Write down your company’s future self-image.
- Optional: develop alternative scenarios for each self-image.
Optional: reflect on your strengths, passions, values and recurring life themes to develop an authentic and sustainable future self-image. - For each self-image, point out which customer trend you capitalize on and what value you bring to your most important target market. Innovative input can be gathered through various exercises related to customer– and community needs.