I have discovered that there are three steps that most ventures, companies, partnerships, and brand marketing campaigns use and if these three simple steps are followed it can lead to extreme success. Here is an overview of the steps with an example of someone who used them most effectively.

Step #1: Vision
Before Fred Smith founded the Federal Express Company he was a marine and had the opportunity to observe the military's logistics system first hand. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, flying with pilots on over 200 combat missions. He was honorably discharged in 1969 with the rank of Captain, having received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. While in the military, Smith carefully observed the procurement and delivery procedures, fine-tuning his dream for an overnight delivery service. Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_W._Smith

Step #2: Strategy
It was June 18, 1971, that Fred Smith founded Federal Express with his $4 million inheritance (about $21 million in 2008 dollars) and raised $91 million (about $484 in 2008 dollars) in venture capital. The company was started with an idea that led to one of the most successful brand marketing campaigns of all time: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight!” based upon a new overnight package delivery system.

Step #3: Innovation
Fred Smith wrote later, “I was a student at Yale and wrote a paper about the computerized society that was on the horizon. It was pretty clear then, with IBM installing the big computers around, which the world was going to change. And the paper was about how this was going to change a lot of things, and in particular it was going to change the way things had to be distributed and moved to support those automated devices.

From this information and resources he gathered, Smith went on to found one of the most successful companies of all time using this simple three-step process. One that can be applied to any product-marketing launch, corporate retooling or brand marketing campaign.