Never have I ever had
A desire to join the British Royal Navy.
But if you’d looked at my library record circa 2010? You wouldn’t have known that.
I picked the shelves of the Young Adult fiction section clean of any book featuring a female protagonist who ended up at sea prior to the year 1900.
I could tell you the difference between starboard and leeward.
I actually knew what the phrase “hoist the mainsail” meant.
When I visited Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum and saw the coat that the ACTUAL Lord Nelson wore at the ACTUAL battle of Trafalgar — a lump rose in my throat.
But, like I said: it wasn’t that I wanted join the British Royal Navy.
At that point, I hadn’t even seen Pirates of the Caribbean. The reason for my unhealthy nautical fascination was named Ioan Gruffudd.
He was the star of the relatively unknown BBC adaptation of C.S. Forrester’s “Horatio Hornblower” books.
15-year-old me was. all. in.
In a series of eight feature-length films (nope, not kidding) I watched Horatio rise from the rank of humble Midshipman to Admiral, fighting the French and narrowly escaping peril at every turn — all while wearing very well-tailored white sailor pants.
Alas, Horatio married elsewhere (as did I).
All I have left to show for my brief nautical career are some darn good metaphors.
And today? We’re going to need those metaphors.
It's time to reframe some notoriously unwieldy corporate buzzwords into meaningful, essential messaging tools.
Starting with the most corporate-coded and buzzwordy terms of them all:
Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Core Values.
THOSE THREE PHRASES ARE MAGIC — that is, they have a magical ability to transport me right back to my last All-Hands meeting.
In no time I'm all, I'm sitting in from of a marketing director who is desperately trying to get me excited about the core value of “Consciously Evolving” after I’ve just survived a half hour of EBITDA and go-to-market strategies.
But corporate trauma aside, the data is overwhelmingly clear.
Consumers, especially Millennial and Gen-Z consumers, really do care why you are in business, and how you intend to conduct it.
So when I work with my clients, I keep it simple.
I call this section of my brand messaging guides "Motivation."
Because your brand is a character.
And great characters need clear and genuine motivations.
Your mission, vision,
and core values are the written building blocks of your brand’s motivation
AND TO ILLUSTRATE THIS, let’s use (for no reason at all!) a tasteful nautical metaphor.
If your business is the ship.
Your mission sets your course.
Your vision is what will happen once you arrive.
Your values determine how you sail,
no matter the weather.
Mission Statement
What it is
The answer to the question “why does your business exist?”
What it’s not
A sweeping statement about your brand’s higher calling.
Why it's important
Defining your mission holds you accountable and keeps your brand focused over time.
Who needs to read it
Everybody who works for you. Everybody who works with you. Anybody considering partnering with you. Probably not your clients.
MISSIONS CAN BE AMBITIOUS, but they have to be achievable. If they’re not achievable, they’re just performative.
There is an epidemic of brands who feel the need to sprinkle the phrase “our mission is” throughout their copy. And on the other side of their screen, their audience is yawning.
Clients DO care about your mission. But they don’t want you to tell them about it — they want to see it in action.
A mission statement is well-crafted, but that doesn’t mean it’s client-friendly. So your mission statement does not need to go on your About page, or get tucked into a packaging insert. I certainly would not recommend publishing it in a blog post somewhere.
We pave the way for clients, colleagues, and collaborators to disrupt the silo of their industries with an ecosystem of brand messaging that captures, keeps, and cultivates a perennial connection with an audience.
Vision Statement
What it is
The answer to “How will the world or the lives of our customers change if we achieve our mission?”
What it’s not
A detailed roadmap.
Why it's important
Your vision is the outcome we’re all working towards. It’s the happy ending.
Who needs to read it
Again. Everyone who works with you, and maybe your clients.
APOLOGIES TO THE LAST MARKETING PODCAST YOU LISTENED TO, but Patagonia’s “We’re in business to save the planet” is NOT their mission statement. It’s a vision statement stuffed into a tagline suit.
If you tear open your Brand Character Synopsis, and you’re just ITCHING to share some internal language with the world (again, not advisable), your vision is an okay thing to leak. It’s an inherently motivating statement.
Most of the time when a brand says “We’re on a mission to [blank],” they’re really just sharing their vision. Your vision statement doesn’t talk about how you’re going to get there. It’s the vision. So don’t harsh its vibe by weighing down with how-tos.
Your mission and vision can pivot slowly over time. Slowly. Because if you’ve told the crew you intend to make landfall in the bay of Cadiz, you cannot then announce your intention to turn around and sail for the West Indies.
(I think we all know what I’m talking about.)
But your core values? Those don’t change. And more than that, they’re public. Very public.
Lexicon Copy Co.’s Vision:
Human-centered brands that break their fourth wall, balance ethics with artistry, and demonstrably improve the lives of others.
Your Core Values
What it is
The non-negotiable principles that dictate how you run your business.
What it's not
Feel-good phrases that describe how you'd like your brand to come across.
Why it's important
Your values are your code of ethics. Your brand’s reputation is built on how well you adhere to them.
Who needs to read it
Everyone. Ev-er-y-one. Hand these out at the door. Scatter them from a blimp.
EVERY MESSAGING STRATEGIST ADDRESSES THESE DIFFERENTLY. When I create them for my clients, they come out as a cross between a core value (a goal or standard) and an operational principle (a standard put into practice.)
We set these early, we follow them even when it’s inconvenient, and changing them is a Very Big Deal.
(Remember when Victoria’s Secret - a female clothing line - had to quickly insert “inclusivity” into its core values? And it didn’t work?)
I call these your "defining values." If you adhere to them, these are the qualities that will come to define your brand.
I’m going to put a razor edge on this one. If you choose “trustworthiness” as a defining value, you’re NOT saying that you want people to think that you are trustworthy.
It means you are committing to earn and keep the trust of your clients, your employees, and your business partners by being honest and dependable.
Values draw aligned clients. Even better, they help you form like-minded business communities that enhance your brand’s reputation and extend your reach.
I won’t be naive and tell you that consumers always buy with their values.
But I will say that value-driven buyers tend to keep coming back.
You won’t find Lexicon’s Defining Values in this post, because they are proudly displayed on its About Page
If you need help writing your mission, vision, values (and a whole lot more) - start with Vol. 1 in the Service Library.
