Here at Envision, we are secure enough in ourselves to begrudgingly admit that we aren’t the only ones to have great ideas. In fact, we sometimes come across something on the web that describes the exact ideas we find ourselves explaining to clients again and again… and sometimes more clearly than we have been able to do ourselves.
A perfect example would be the Liquid Agency’s strategic pyramid (seen to the left).
It’s not a complicated graphic, but it so cleanly illustrates many of the concepts that we think are so important to great design and branding. Here are a few that we think are most important, and that we try to make central to every online and offline marketing campaign we work on:
Every organization should have a purpose. It doesn’t matter if you have one employee or enough to fill a thousand different offices; your company should have some purpose that involves changing the world, bringing something new to the market, or otherwise moving forward. Just as people need a mixture of personal and professional goals to “self-actualize,” so do leading organizations at every level. What does your business really stand for… other than making money?
Success is about more than financial figures (although these matter). Although this is a related point, they aren’t quite the same. On the surface, companies need to make more money than they spend to be successful. On a deeper level, however, that success can feel a bit hollow if the bigger goals – the ones that represent your purpose – aren’t being met and addressed.
Your vision for the future should be clear and actionable. Now we get to the real question: How do you get closer to that vision of the future you set for your organization? Although we tend to talk in terms of things like “marketing,” and “branding,” these are really just tools to help our clients answer this question. The real formula is often a combination of new products, better service, more customers, and even renewed leadership. Before any of these can be helpful, you have to have a clear set of targets, and an actionable plan to reach them.
Great design should help you meet your goals and communicate your purpose. Once you have established these goals – either by yourself or with the help of a marketing strategist- presenting your company to the public is an important part of the process. Great design doesn’t just make your products more salable, but helps customers, colleagues, and even vendors to better understand who you are, what you do, and why you do it.
In that way, great design and marketing can help you bridge the gaps between your current situation and your most important goals at every step of the way.
Things like web design and online marketing creativity can take you a long way, but to make the most of them, you have to have the other pieces in your strategic pyramid. Does your organization have a clear direction for moving forward?