When you are in the process of building your brand from scratch, re-branding your company, or overhauling your digital marketing strategy, there are a few pivotal elements to consider.
One of them is, of course, your “brand mission.”
Chances are that you have heard of a brand mission, but do you really know what it is? Most importantly, do you know how to define yours?
In this comprehensive article, we’ll guide you through the ins and outs of brand missions.
Trust us: creating your own brand mission will no longer feel like mission impossible!
What is a Brand Mission?
Let’s begin by clarifying the meaning of a brand mission.
A brand mission is a short, punchy, action-oriented statement that includes a series of crucial elements that define your brand and make it unique.
Its main aim? To build an emotional connection with the audience, whether it be potential customers, stakeholders, or even direct competitors.
The main elements that feature in a typical brand mission statement are:
- The company’s organization.
- The company’s goals, purpose, and future plans.
- The company’s ways to serve its customers.
The tricky bit is to fit all of this into a short description, usually containing only a few impactful sentences.
Still unclear?
Let’s look at a few examples from some of the most successful companies in the world:
Search engine giant Google states:
➜ “Our mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
See? Short, simple, and succinct.
By using some well-targeted keywords (“organize,” “world,” “information,” “universally,” “accessible,” and “useful”), Google has put together a mission statement that clearly tells what the company is all about.
Walmart
Leading retailer Walmart chooses an even shorter way to communicate its brand mission:
➜ “To save people money so they can live better.”
Now, that is the very definition of short and sweet!
TED
Think brand missions couldn’t possibly get any shorter than Walmart’s?
Well, TED is there to prove you wrong, with its famous, two-word mission statement:
➜ “Spread ideas.”
If something so incredibly punchy feels a bit unattainable, you don’t need to worry.
There are plenty of successful companies that created brand mission statements that are a bit longer, yet still effective.
Universal Healthcare Inc.
Take Universal Healthcare Inc., for example, whose mission is:
➜ “To provide superior quality healthcare services that: PATIENTS recommend to family and friends, PHYSICIANS prefer for their patients, PURCHASERS select for their clients, EMPLOYEES are proud of, and INVESTORS seek for long-term returns.”
There really are many ways to convey what your company is all about — you just need to find your unique, authentic way to do so.
Why Are Mission Statements Important?
Brand mission statements are one of the pillars of a successful, competitive brand. Let’s look at a few reasons why this is true.
Unique Elevator Pitch
Having a one-of-a-kind brand mission statement can help you create the perfect elevator pitch when you are in the process of presenting your brand to a new audience of potential clients or stakeholders.
By conveying what your brand’s values, purpose, and future goals are in a concise, impactful way, your audience will instantly understand whether or not you are a good fit.
Targeted Strategy
How many times, during your business career, will you be faced with new projects that seem captivating and interesting? And, how many times will these projects fall through?
If you want to avoid embarking on projects that do not align with your brand (and that only end up wasting your time and money), having a clear brand mission can help.
Whenever you’re presented with a new business opportunity, you can go back to your mission and figure out whether it ties in nicely with your brand.
Communication with Customers
One of the main goals of a brand mission is to represent your unique essence and your authenticity as a company and a provider of products or services.
This means that by reading what your company is all about and how it can help make a tangible difference in their lives, your customers will feel emotionally connected to it — and more invested in making a purchase from you.
Cultural Framework for Employees
Last but not least, did you know that your brand mission can also be vital to your employees?
Because it contains all your brand’s values, objectives, and unique characteristics, your brand mission can act as a cultural framework for your entire workforce.
This means that your employees will be able to make decisions, speak on behalf of your company, and generally be a great advocate for you based on what your brand mission statement indicates.
Brand Mission VS Other Brand Elements
At the beginning of our guide, we mentioned that a brand mission statement is one of the most pivotal aspects that define a successful brand.
But what are the other ones? Let’s dive right in.
Brand Identity
When we talk about “brand identity,” we mean all those visual aspects that define — or, better, identify — a brand, literally at first sight.
These can include:
- Brand logo
- Brand typeface
- Brand colors
Most brands include all these elements in a specific document called a “brand manual,” “brand book,” or “brand style guide.”
Brand Vision
They may sound pretty much the same, but brand missions and brand visions are in fact quite different.
A brand vision is a statement that focuses on the goals, ambitions, and future plans of a company.
It imagines what the world will look like if the company serves its purpose. Pretty powerful, right?
Brand Voice
Lastly, the brand voice refers to the specific style that you use when communicating with your audience.
It doesn’t matter too much whether you choose to be fun and informal, or authoritative and professional.
What matters is that your voice is authentic to YOU and to the way you want your audience to perceive you (and relate to you).
And remember to always stick with your voice across all your communication touchpoints for consistency and memorability.
The Best Practices for Creating Your Brand Mission Statement
Now that you have all the information and knowledge you need to start crafting your brand mission, it’s time to get down to business.
If you’re still feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure of how to tackle this all-important task, then this next section is a must-read.
1. Watch and Learn
It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the first steps to take when you are in the process of building your brand mission is to look at what other companies in your industry have done.
Of course, we don’t mean to copy them!
But if you feel like you need a bit of inspiration, then researching the mission statements of some of your most successful rivals can help.
2. Ask the Right Questions
Another crucial step is to understand what, exactly, you want to convey through your brand mission statement.
A great way to determine this is by writing a list of questions that you want your brand mission to answer. As a start, you could ask questions like:
- Who is my audience? Who are my customers?
- What are the core values of my brand?
- How do I think my brand is going to positively impact the world?
- What is the one thing that differentiates my brand from my competitors?
Once you have completed your list, start writing some simple, clear, and concise answers after each of your questions.
Then, proceed to the next step.
3. Keep It Short and Sweet
You probably have a fairly long paragraph, right?
Then, this is the time to summarize your brand mission by consolidating it into a couple of sentences — maybe even less.
For example, let’s imagine that you run a San Francisco-based healthy food e-commerce business and that you answered the previous questions as follows:
- My customers are health-conscious, budget-savvy consumers in the San Francisco area.
- My core values are affordability, quality, and sustainability.
- My brand is going to positively impact the world because it will make healthy, organic, nutritious food more easily accessible to people.
- My key differentiator is price: I aim to offer great-quality products that don’t break the bank.
Based on this, your brand mission could read something along these lines:
➜ “We make San Francisco healthier with great-quality, sustainably-sourced, organic food that doesn’t break the bank.”
4. Rope in Your Team
Another great idea, when creating your brand mission, is to involve people from different departments of your company.
The input that, for example, your logistics, sales, and social media teams can offer might make a much bigger difference than you expect.
Plus, getting everyone on board helps strengthen an internal company culture of mutual collaboration and engagement where every employee feels valued and involved in important decisions.
Wrap Up
If you thought that creating a brand mission statement was mission impossible, hopefully our guide showed you that it’s actually a lot more achievable.
And if you are ready to get started with creating your brand mission but need a bit of a hand, then make sure to get your FREE Brand Guidelines Bundle!
