Aspirations, The Foundation of a Brand

At OpenView Venture Partners, we aim to provide the best possible strategic consulting services to our companies. In doing so, we are in the process of perfecting several best practices processes. One of our primary areas of focus has been defining company aspirations (mission, vision, values, priorities) and making the connection between those aspirations and firm goals.

If you’re going to set out to improve your brand, it’s important to consider the foundation which your brand is supported by.Martin Jelsema, author of the branding blog, supports this theory by stating that:

“Branding should be a strategic process…thus, the brand can mature and develop relationships based upon a consistent brand promise.” See Martin’s blog for more detail!

Prior to revamping your company’s branding strategy, take a look at your aspirations and see if any work needs to be done in this area.My guess is that it does.Spend some time answering the following:

• What direction is your company headed in?
• Is the leadership team in synch?
• Do all firm members understand your strategic themes and priorities?
• How do you plan on getting where you want to go?
• In what ways will you measure success against your goals?
• When will you reassess and improve this process?

Once everyone in your firm understands where the company is headed, how you’re going to get there, and how you will measure your successes – it will then be time to consider the brand that you want to portray to the world. This can be especially important for expansion stage companies, like those in our portfolio, that are focusing on growth. A sturdy foundation will set you up for success.

For more on the importance of aspirations, please reference Scott Maxwell’s blog post “How important are aspirations to your company’s success?”