In 1666 a fire broke out in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane
in the heart of the City Of London.
It quickly spread and rapidly gutted the mediaeval city,
destroying over 80 000 houses and almost one hundred churches.One of the churches destroyed was St Paul’s Cathedral which soared over the city.
In 1668 Sir Christopher Wren, a leading architect of the
day, won the pitch to build a cathedral that would be ‘handsome and noble to all the ends of it
and to the reputation of the City and the nation’.
One day in 1671 Sir
Christopher Wren was walking around the building site that was to become St
Paul’s Cathedral.
Seeing a builder taking delivery of a load of bricks he
wandered over and asked him what he was doing.
‘Laying some bricks, Sir’ was the reply.
A few yards further on he spotted another mason, hard at
work.
And he asked him the same question.
‘Building a wall, Sir’, the second man replied.
Then he saw a third man with a pile of bricks at his feet
whom he had observed to be the most productive of the three.
Same question.
‘Sir, I am building a Cathedral to the Almighty. A magnificent building that will last for
generations. That will provide a long lasting testament to Man’s devotion to
God . That many will come to wonder at the magnificence of its design and
build.’
Sir Christopher smiled quietly to himself and wandered on.
Now this might be an apocryphal story. I hope it’s not.For it illustrates the ability to think big and to see the big picture.
And the productive benefits of having a strong and
compelling sense of purpose.
Brands can be like cathedrals.And brand managers, from the chief executive down, can be like the bricklayers.
But too often brands have as their vision to be the number one in their chosen market. And a mission to be the best for customers or shareholders.
Or some such.
Do these words on a page truly inspire? Are they full of
lofty ambition? Do people get out of bed to work for brands built on this
basis?
Brand mission and vision statements should be memorable,
concise and clear. They should be tweetable. But above all they must inspire.
A mission statement ought to answer the question ‘why does
my brand exist?’ A vision statement ‘what will change in long term as a result
of our brand’?
Consider this from Ikea
Vision-to make everyday life better
Mission-to offer a wide range of functional well designed
home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible can
afford good design.
Or consider this from RNLI
Vision-to end preventable loss of life at sea
Mission-to save lives at sea
Inspiring. Lofty. Idealistic.
Sir Christopher would be proud.