To have 20/20 vision is to be able to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet according to the American Optometric Association. A brands' vision needs to be measured by much the same principles - accurate results on strategic visions or goals and outcomes.
There are so many different resources, content to encourage and processes suggested across the net about how to define these goals, what personal or business questions to ask yourself and how to realise these goals within a certain period of time. One important misunderstanding is to understand the difference between a brand goal and a brand objective. The goal is always the final destination and tend to take longer whereas the objectives tend to be the way in which you reach the goal and can be accomplished in shorter time frames.
Who are you ?
Identify who you or rather, your brand is? Find words that best describe the characteristics of your brand or service and write them down. Ask colleagues, friends and family if they believe that the characteristics you've given your brand make sense and ring true
What do you want to achieve?
Yes sure, you can visualise that Leonardo DiCaprio meme where he's dishing out the dollars, but more than that, what do you want to achieve from a a) growth perspective, b) product or service perspective, c) team perspective and d) community perspective?
By identifying these four [let's call them] sub-goals, you're already engaging the different parts of your organisation that you'll need to reach your target
Be SMART!
All your goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based. How else will you know whether you've actually done what you set out to do? It's important to be able to check in with these goals on a regular basis to be able to attain how far either on or off the mark you are. Often (and with my ADD brain), I tend to veer off on some random tangent but I'm lucky enough to have a team of sanity checkers who are not afraid to push back and remind me to focus
Be dogmatic
This is a tough part of the process unfortunately. I have an 11 year old daughter and at her age, she sometimes needs to deal with school yard bullying and let's be honest, it's not pretty (seriously, where little girls come up with some of the things that come home leaves my mouth gaping open). We've researched and given her a 'strategy' to deal with these situations. SEAL - Stop; Evaluate; Assess; Let Go or Lift Up. This principle can also be applied to your business or brand goals too. When you hold on to something so tight, releasing not only gives your hand a break but opens it for something new. It's OK to let go, you'll be surprised at the opportunity/ies a brave move like this could offer you
Be adaptable
Now this one can be a bit tricky. How often have you planned something to such meticulous precision that you're sure there could be no possible loop hole - until there is one.
A triathlete can train for months in a pool, in the gym and on the road. The terrain they train on could change weekly so they're able to gain experience across different course types, road and profile types but they never know which way the wind will blow or how heavy the sea conditions are until the day of the race. Although the goal never changes, they will need to adapt to those conditions using their skills learnt in the preparation phase of their training