Brand foundation: mission, vision, values and more, in one place
Your brand is more than its logo. Melon Cut Guidelines gives you 16 kinds of brand foundation to write - from mission, vision and values to positioning and legal wording - and publishes them on a Foundation page where anyone can read and copy them.
- kinds of foundation value
- 16
- note priorities, from Low to Critical
- 4
- Copy button on every value
- 1
Brand foundation, step by step
Pick what to write
In the Foundation tab, choose from 16 kinds - About, Mission, Vision, Values and the rest - and write each one in rich text.
Add notes and markets
Attach notes with a priority, a usage note on where the value applies, and the markets it is for. Write a variant for any market that needs different words.
Publish
Your foundation appears on its own Foundation page and can be placed as a block in your Usage sections.
16 kinds, so nothing is forgotten
Most brand documents cover mission and values, then stop. The foundation covers the whole of what a brand stands for and how it speaks, each kind in its own entry so people find the one they need.
- About, Story and Objectives
- Mission, Vision and Values
- Audience, Positioning and Brand Promise
- Taglines and Key Messages
- Personality, Voice & Tone and Terminology
- Legal & Compliance, and Other for anything else
Notes that say what matters
Each value can carry notes, and each note has a priority - Low, Normal, High or Critical - so a rule nobody may break stands out from a helpful hint. A usage note says where the value applies, for example only in investor material.
One brand, several markets
A value can be limited to the markets it is meant for, and can have variants written for other markets. Your brand promise can read one way at home and another abroad while it stays one brand.
Copied, not retyped
Every value on the Foundation page has a Copy button. Whoever writes a press release, a website or a pitch takes the approved words exactly as they are.
Brand foundation: the details
- Kinds
- 16, from About to Other
- Text
- Rich text
- Notes
- With a priority: Low, Normal, High or Critical
- Markets
- Per value, with per-market variants
- On the page
- A Foundation page, plus foundation blocks in Usage
- Copy
- A button on every value
What is a brand foundation?
It is the written core of a brand: why it exists, where it is going, what it believes, who it serves and how it speaks. The logo, the posts and the website should all follow from it.
What is the difference between mission and vision?
A mission says what the brand does and for whom, today. A vision describes the future it is working towards. Melon Cut Guidelines gives each its own entry.
Can different countries have different wording?
Yes. Write a variant of any value for the markets that need it, with its own usage note, and assign the original to the markets it fits.
Works well with
- Brand guidelines Brand voice and tone Voice, personality, terminology and key messages, written down.
- Brand guidelines Brand guidelines maker Build guidelines on the page itself, on the web or in the apps.
- Brand guidelines Brand guidelines website Logos, colours, fonts and rules at meloncut.com/yourbrand.
- On-brand content AI brand identity generator Logo, colours, fonts and guidelines from a description.
People also ask
- Brand guidelines What is a brand foundation (mission, vision and values)? A brand foundation is the written core of a brand: why it exists, where it is going and what it stands for. It usually includes the mission (what you do and for whom), the vision (the future you are working towards) and the values (how you behave), plus the audience, positioning and brand promise. Logos, campaigns and messages should all follow from it.
- Brand guidelines What is brand voice and tone? Brand voice is the consistent personality in everything a brand writes - for example warm, plain-spoken and confident. Tone is how that voice adjusts to the moment: more upbeat in a launch post, calmer in an apology, more precise in a help article. The voice stays the same everywhere; the tone changes with the audience and the situation.
Put your brand at one link
16 kinds of foundation, with notes and per-market versions.