Strategy. Innovation. Brand.

vision and culture

Which Way to the Future? International Branding.

“Time flies like an arrow”, Arthur Eddington.

“Fruit flies like a banana”, Groucho Marx.

If it’s true that time flies like an arrow, which direction is it headed? Well, it depends on your culture. We’re all aware that different cultures have different attitudes toward time. In Sweden, people show up for a 7:00 dinner date at 7:00 precisely. In Mexico, people might show up half an hour to an hour later. You shouldn’t show up “on time” because your host might not be ready and that would be embarrassing.

But which way does time flow? Where, precisely, is the future? Somewhat surprisingly, it depends on how you read. People who read from left to right — as we do in English — see the future as being to the right. Indeed, good marketing charts always show trends up and to the right.  (I think I could make up most marketing charts without knowing the data).

People who read from right to left — think of Arabic and Hebrew – tend to see the future as being to the left. This has important implications for public speaking. I’ve given speeches to Arabic audiences and I’m sure that I pointed to the right as I indicated activities in the future. In other words, my body language conflicted with my verbal language and probably confused the audience.

The same holds true in graphic treatments that are used across cultures. My favorite example is the FedEx logo. (I discovered this in a Scientific American Mind article). Look closely at the English FedEx logo below. In the “negative space” between the E and the X, you’ll see an arrow in white. Which way is it pointed? Well … to the future, of course.

fedex english

Now look at the Arabic FedEx logo. Again, you’ll find an arrow in the negative fedex arabicspace between letters. Which way is it pointed? Well … to the future, of course. It’s a good example of how different cultures see things differently. It’s also a fairly rare example of a corporation showing cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity in its advertising. FedEx should be commended.

(For an example of how the Aymara Indians of Bolivia see the future differently than the rest of us, click here).

 

 

Improve Your Vision (Statement)

Several clients have recently asked me to help them craft their vision statements. So, what makes for a good vision statement? Let’s

My vision is improving.

My vision is improving.

start with a few of my favorites:

Google: To organize the world’s knowledge and make it useful.

Lawson: We make our customers stronger.

University of Denver: A private school dedicated to the public good.

US Air Force: Fly, Fight, and Win.

Denver Public Schools: Every Child Succeeds.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS): A World Free of MS

What can we learn from these? Here are a few pointers:
  • Keep it short — no more than a dozen words. You want it to be memorable. 
  • Put customer requirements first — too many vision statements start with what the company does. In my opinion, that’s a mission statement. The vision statement summarizes your impact on your customers or the world at large.
  • Know the difference between mission and vision. A mission statement is more about how we do things. A vision statement is about what happens to the world when we do those things.
  • Use the “so what/ so that” process to get to ultimate benefits — start with a statement of what your company does. Then ask yourself, “so what?” Answer with a “so that” statement. Repeat the process until you get to a logical conclusion — that’s probably the benefit you want to focus on. So, let’s say you provide services to hospitals. You start with:

We provide world-class services to hospitals…

So what?

…so that hospitals will be more effective …

So what?

…. so that hospitals can save more lives.

  • Imagine end states, even if they put you out of business — the vision statement of NMSS is, “A World Free of MS”. When we achieve that, NMSS will no longer be needed.
  • Verbs are good — I like the US Air Force statement: four words, three of which are verbs. Active verbs (and actions in general) are memorable.
  • The verb “to be” is not your friend — it’s lazy and verbose. None of my favorite statements include it.
  • Ditto for the verb “to strive” — in your vision statement, don’t strive to do something. Just do it. (Where have I heard that before?)
  • It’s not just words, it’s culture — you can develop elegant phrases but, if they don’t fit your culture, you’ll just create cynicism.
  • Live it —  it’s good to write a statement, it’s better to have it absorbed into your employees’ hearts, and minds, and actions. The only way to do that is to set the example and live the words, even when it’s painful to do so.
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