As a new parent many years ago, I remember gazing into my newborn’s scrunched eyes and painting a detailed picture in my mind of  where he’d be many years later.  What he’d look like.  How he’d act.  The kind of education he’d have.  What he’d be doing for a living.  How he’d live.  

Some parents even write this out and create a plan to follow in raising their children.  For better or worse, I wasn’t that disciplined, but I did resolve to do my best to ensure he’d be happy with his life. 

If you have kids, you probably visualized their future like this as well.   

In many ways, this is what a brand identity is all about: how you want your brand to grow up in the real world.  And the starting point for any effective brand identity platform is a brand vision statement. 

A brand vision statement is simply this: how you see your brand down the road — five years, ten years, twenty years, whatever.  It’s the destination for your planned cross-country trip.  It’s what you envision for your grown child.  It’s your goal. 

And, while flexibility in today’s business world is a necessity — particularly for small- to mid-sized companies – keeping an unchanging brand vision statement in sight at all times will become the path to keep you from getting lost in a maze of distractions.  It provides the standard for operations, the litmus test for future opportunities and temptations.  It’s a valuable component of your brand identity.  And, ultimately, it will guide the formation of a business-generating brand image in the marketplace. 

So. What do you see?