How closely should measurement align with mission?

Last week I showed this Venn diagram in a digital marketing class at Chatham University. We were discussing bottom-line business objectives and how they translate to measurement strategies and digital campaigns.

My argument: A business's digital measurement, or analytics framework, should not be designed in a vacuum without understanding its (offline) objectives and purpose for existence. Each should reflect the other. Measurement should

When a student asked how much the two circles, mission and measurement, should overlap, I gave them the universally disappointing answer: "It depends."

Why It Depends

These circles are rarely perfectly stacked or totally detached. To determine the appropriate correlation, these young marketers needed to understand how critical the site, app and owned media were to accomplishing the company's mission and vision. A theoretical fogginess filled their eyes. (To my credit, it's also a night class so the caffeine wears off about halfway through it.)

I pressed on.

If you are Chewy, a direct-to-consumer company whose mission is to be the most trusted and convenient online destination for pet food, your site and app are the way your accomplish your objectives. The mission and measurement should be nearly one in the same.

Heads nodded, albeit cautiously.

Compare that to Coca Cola, whose mission is to refresh the world. Can you buy a bottle of Coke or quench your thirst on the website?

Heads shook and fogginess faded, albeit cautiously.

From there, the discussion shifted to primary and secondary conversions (macro/micro) and the class continued.

Conclusion?

If you got this far assuming the question in the title was rhetorical, well, it's not. I gave them (and you) my opinion but I don't have the answer. That said, I would be curious to know your answer.

Please share your ideas here.