Gone are the days when your business could satisfy customers by simply offering a good product for a reasonable price.
Today, brand values are a game-changer. A well-thought-out combination of emotional and logical factors is what makes customers stick to a brand even when more affordable options are available.
This is why a well-designed mission and vision statement can contribute to brand loyalty.
However—
How to create a mission and vision statement? And what’s the difference between the two, anyway?
Let’s find out the answers with some of the most inspiring mission and vision statement examples.
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What is a mission statement?
A company mission statement is a message that communicates the purpose of the organization to its audience. It’s supposed to be concise, action-oriented, and empowering to portray a general view of the company and its goals, values, culture, as well as strategic plans.
Of course, as the company grows and develops, its values and the approach to culture might change. Thus, at some point, the organization might have to sit down together and revise the mission statement. It’s a natural process that every business goes through as it grows.
Okay—
But how do you actually write a great mission statement? And how to make it concise while also conveying an empowering and inspiring message at the same time?
Let’s find out the answer, shall we?
How to write a mission statement?
Now that the importance of a good mission statement is clear, it’s time to learn the basics of writing a perfect mission statement for your business.
Here is a step-by-step guide:
1. Emphasize your company’s products and services
To put it shortly, if your mission statement doesn’t explain what your product is and what your company does, it’s a waste of words. You have to think about how to explain the products and services you offer in a concise and simple way. Everyone should understand what you are offering just from one simple statement.
Things to consider here include:
- If you are selling a product or a service
- Why your customers need to buy your product or service
- What customer pain points your offering solves
Carefully craft your answers and take into account the value that your products and services bring to your customers. Also add how your offering impacts the shopper’s overall customer experience, and what makes you stand out.
2. Think about your core values as a business
As previously mentioned, a good product or service sold for a reasonable price is simply not enough to satisfy modern-day customers.
Nowadays, every offer has to be supported by a set of values that will make your clients fall in love with your brand and shop with you repeatedly. Values are an essential component of any mission statement. Identifying and emphasizing them in your mission statement will inevitably attract your target audience to your brand.
3. Build a connection between your products and the values you stand by
This step is an essential conclusion flowing from the first two:
- Figure out how your values accompany your offering and vice versa
- Make the statement simple and clear for your customers to feel the connection
For instance, if one of your core values revolves around dependability, you should emphasize that your products are extremely reliable, timeless, and low-maintenance. To put it shortly, you describe how your product solves your customers’ problems in an inspiring and empowering way.
4. Make a statement out of your findings
It’s a logical result of all previous steps combined. You need to formulate your statement from your ideas and keywords, answering the following questions:
- What do you offer?
- Who do you offer it to?
- Why do you offer it (your core values)?
The only rule here is to make it work for your business. A highly relevant and unique mission is key to building brand loyalty and establishing your brand voice. Thus, do spend a lot of time polishing, rewriting, and reformulating your mission until it’s just right.
5. Make sure it’s short and sweet
The very last and probably the hardest step is to ensure that your company’s mission statement is concise, simple, and to-the-point. Generally, there are no strict length requirements: your statement can be one sentence or one paragraph. The most important thing is how you use this sentence or paragraph to convey your message.
Take some time together with your team members and, possibly, stakeholders to brainstorm all possible mission statement options. Then, put your effort into choosing one that will best serve your organization. Make sure to include as many relevant people in your decision-making as possible.
We have compiled a list of the best mission statements out there for some inspiration. Having some examples to go by is useful whether you are a small business or a huge corporation, right?
Read more: Want to discover more tips to grow your business? Take a look at this guide by Tidio on how to add a live chat to your website for exceptional customer experience.
Best mission statement examples
Here are some of the best examples of a mission statement—
Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Patagonia: We’re in business to save our home planet. Disney: To entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company. T-Mobile: Redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. Dunkin Donuts: To be the leading provider of a wide range of delicious beverages & baked products in a convenient, relaxed, friendly environment that ensures the highest level of quality product and the best value for money. PayPal: To democratize financial services to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or economic standing, has access to affordable, convenient and secure products and services to take control of their financial lives. Hubspot: Helping millions grow better. Ted Talks: Spread ideas American Express: To become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations. Target: To help all families discover the joy of everyday life. Google: To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Zappos: To provide the best customer service possible. Deliver WOW through service. J&J: We bring the science and sense of sight to life through world-class innovation and patient experiences. Life is Good: To spread the power of optimism. Red Bull: Giving wings to people and ideas. Nordstrom: Provide a fabulous customer experience by empowering customers and the employees who serve them. Apple: To bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons, and consumers in over 140 countries around the world. Asana: To help humanity thrive by enabling the world’s teams to work together effortlessly. |
Now, let’s dive deeper into what makes those so empowering. Read on for elaborate explanations of why these statements made it into our selection.
1. Tesla
“To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Tesla’s mission statement truly stands out from other car companies’ statements, simply because it’s not just about cars. Tesla prioritizes sustainability as its core value and greatly conveys this fact through its mission statement.
However, by using the word ‘transition’, Tesla emphasizes a long way to go towards sustainability and its commitment to contribute to it. This promise for a better world is what makes it a perfect example of a good mission statement.
2. Patagonia
“We’re in business to save our home planet.”
Patagonia is a company that makes environment preservation its biggest priority, which is nicely communicated in its mission statement. Patagonia’s mission statement explains why the company exists in the first place and what it aspires to do in the form of one short but powerful sentence.
What’s important for any mission statement is to be integral and ensure that your walk matches your talk. This is true in the case of Patagonia that directs 1% of all its sales to environmental protection groups.
3. Disney
“To entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.”
This mission statement communicates a few angles important for Disney.
First, it talks about entertainment that is an inseparable part of Disney operations. At the same time, it mentions being “the world’s prenatal entertainment company”, which is a big and ambitious goal.
Disney’s mission statement is all about growth and improvement, positive change, and the way Disney views itself as an organization. All factors here create an organic mixture that makes this mission statement stand out and inspire.
4. T-Mobile
“Redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation.”
It’s a simple and concise statement that does a great job of communicating T-Mobile’s priorities to its customers and the world. They use bold words like “redefining”, “leading”, “innovation”, which is a great choice for a telecom company that wants to stand out in the eyes of its customers.
The business aims to change the world of wireless services, and thanks to its mission statement, people are more likely to believe they can.
5. Dunkin Donuts
“To be the leading provider of the wide range of delicious beverages & baked products in a convenient, relaxed, friendly environment that ensures the highest level of quality product and best value for money.”
Dunkin Donuts’ mission statement focuses on the things the company wants to be recognized for: deliciousness, friendliness, convenience, and high quality. These values are what makes customers loyal to Dunkin Donuts, and they are happy to prioritize shoppers in this concise and easy-going mission statement.
Dunkin doesn’t just share that they want to be leaders in their field, but effectively explains how they can do so, which makes their mission statement particularly successful.
6. PayPal
“To democratize financial services to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or economic standing, has access to affordable, convenient and secure products and services to take control of their financial lives.”
PayPal makes the emphasis on how they want to improve lives by changing the way payments are handled. It’s great how they point out the fact that their service and their democratization is not just for the affluent. It is for everyone who wants to lead a better, more secure and convenient financial life.
The emphasis on equality and fairness makes PayPal’s mission statement particularly powerful. Hence, you should consider learning from the example they set.
7. HubSpot
“Helping millions grow better.”
HubSpot’s mission statement consists of just four words. However, it comes across as very powerful.
By using the word “millions”, HubSpot highlights its wide reach and influence in their field, from ecommerce businesses to SaaS companies. They help brands grow and with this mission statement, it becomes easy to trust their services.
8. Ted Talks
“Spread ideas.”
TED’s mission statement is a winner when it comes to being concise and to the point. In just two short words, it conveys the whole essence of such an influential platform as TED Talks.
TED’s mission to spread ideas is present in every single talk recording they have ever made. And every TED Talk out there, in fact, does spread ideas. This mission statement is unique and highly efficient in its simplicity.
9. American Express
“To become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.”
American Express prioritizes something it really wants to be recognized for: being a necessity for customers to achieve their unique goals through great services and customer experience.
This prioritization works wonders for them and their mission statement is undoubtedly effective – in 2020, for example, there were more than 112 million American Express users worldwide.
10. Target
“To help all families discover the joy of everyday life.”
Target positions itself as a reliable, evergreen brand. This attitude shines through their mission statement. They promise to “help all families” no matter their background to enjoy and cherish the simple pleasures of everyday life by satisfying more than just their basic needs.
By reading this mission statement, one does start wanting to go to Target, which is the ultimate purpose of any mission. Target managed the task of conveying their values and attitude truly well.
11. Google
“To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Being the biggest and the most successful company that actually does the job of “organizing information”, Google mission statement comes across as very relevant.
Prioritizing its organizing capacities and global accessibility, Google highlights that absolutely anyone can use their products and services. This puts them ahead of any competition and grows the number of their users every day.
12. Zappos
“To provide the best customer service possible. Deliver WOW through service.”
Zappos decided not to stop with just one sentence describing how good their customer service is. The word “WOW” is in the second part of the mission statement, as if to make it final once and for all: their customer service is truly exceptional.
Delivering such WOW emotions through service is a continuous task for Zappos. It’s great if they manage to always ensure their walk matches their talk.
13. J&J
“We bring the science and sense of sight to life through world-class innovation and patient experiences.”
Johnson & Johnson use highly relevant and strong words in their mission statement.
It focuses on science, sense of sight, innovation, and patient experiences.
At the same time, it also circles around the company’s area of expertise, health care, in a concise and simple way. Such a statement makes people trust the company, which is exactly what J&J aspires for.
14. Life is Good
“To spread the power of optimism.”
Both the name and the mission statement of Life is Good shine with the company’s personality and its uplifting mood. Life is Good is a T-shirt company, and the competition in this field is more than fierce. However, its mission statement is what actually makes it stand out from the crowd.
Additionally, it’s quite rare to find a mission statement that also highlights the social activities a company is doing. This is exactly the case of Life is Good. They participate in a lot of charity work, and, though not so openly, their mission statement lets the world know.
15. Red Bull
“Giving wings to people and ideas.”
The company’s primary product is soft drinks. However, Red Bull wants to be known and recognized for more, which is obvious from their statement.
As an organization, Red Bull supports multiple sport activities and teams around the world. Hence, with their sponsorship, they do “give wings to people and ideas”. We like how nicely Red Bull reflects what they do in a simple one-sentence mission statement.
16. Nordstrom
“Provide a fabulous customer experience by empowering customers and the employees who serve them.”
What makes Nordstrom’s mission statement so special is that it doesn’t mention the primary product Nordstrom sells—clothes. Instead, it focuses on highly exceptional retail customer service that the brand provides and highlights empowering not just customers, but also employees.
Being so customer-centric and focused on well-being as Nordstrom is, there was no better decision than emphasizing it in their mission statement. Just by reading it, one wants to go and do some shopping in their store, which means a lot.
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17. Apple
“To bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons and consumers in over 140 countries around the world.”
Apple is fully aware that they are changing the world, which is nicely reflected in their mission statement.
Moreover, they often point to their mission when addressing concerns in the global market or introducing their revolutionary products. By highlighting both their innovation powers and their global reach, Apple makes a strong statement out of their mission.
18. Asana
“To help humanity thrive by enabling the world’s teams to work together effortlessly.”
It’s an inspiring mission statement focusing on how teamwork can become easier and smoother by using Asana.
Team empowerment, boosting productivity, and effortless collaboration are the values that Asana successfully reflects in its mission statement. It seems obvious that it can truly “help teams thrive.”
Read more: Need more business growth inspiration? Check out our case study on how a business grew by $100K/year using automations.
What is a vision statement?
Now, moving on to vision statements. While a good vision statement is equally important for the company as a mission statement, the difference between them remains unclear for many people.
So, what is a vision statement?
A company vision statement is a sneak peek into the company’s future. It’s a statement describing the bigger vision of the organization, an aspiration for the future, and a manifesto to what the brand aims to become for its customers and the world.
Additionally, a well-formulated vision statement makes employees more engaged. According to research, employees who think their company’s vision is meaningful have engagement levels of 68%, which is 18 points above average.
Now you are probably wondering “how to write a vision statement that stands out from the rest, supports the mission, and highlights the brand voice?”
Here’s a short guide you need.
How to write a vision statement?
Now—
Let’s dive into each step in detail.
1. Think about your future projections
It’s a great idea to dream a little and imagine a perfect future for your business before creating a vision statement. Ask yourself questions like:
- What does the world look like?
- What is your target audience doing?
- How can you get there?
Think carefully and try to visualize all details. Picture the success metrics you are using, the range of products and services you are offering, as well as the new markets you are expanding into. For a less vague vision, try to project five to ten years into the future.
2. Understand your purpose as a company
This step is as essential as recognizing your company values. Think about why you exist as a company, what problems are you solving right now for your customers, and what is your bigger purpose in the world.
This is especially important as it is estimated that 64% of consumers see brands as more attractive if they actively communicate their brand purpose. Hence, a great vision can be built only on the basis of a well-formulated purpose.
3. Describe what success means for your company
Your vision is, essentially, your understanding of success for your company. Think about what conditions should exist for your ultimate success.
But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it?
Well—you can start by completing the sentence “We are successful if we…” in as many ways as possible. The answers should be concise and action-oriented, giving you a common definition of success for the whole company.
4. Put it all on paper
After completing all previous steps, it should be fairly easy to draft your vision statement. Brainstorm together with your colleagues the best ways to combine your future projections, purpose, and ultimate success vision.
And do put it down in the notebook—research states that writing something down on paper increases brain activity by 25%, which could lead to an original and creative vision.
5. Separate the wheat from the chaff and formulate your vision statement
Just like with your mission, it’s crucial to be as concise and to-the-point as possible. Make sure every word in your statement has its own purpose.
It’s easy to get carried away, but try not to. This will help you to create as powerful a statement as your belief in your business is.
Want to hear some empowering examples of vision statements?
Best vision statement examples
Take a look below to learn from the best.
Microsoft: We strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world. JetBlue: Continual emphasis on providing competitive rates for customers for all of our destinations. Puma: To be the most desirable and sustainable sport lifestyle company in the world. Taco Bell: To grow into the largest fast-food provider of Mexican style cuisine in emerging markets. Ikea: To create a better everyday life for the many people. Samsung: Inspire the world with our innovative technologies, products and design that enrich people’s lives and contribute to social prosperity by creating a new future. LinkedIn: To create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Meta: To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Netflix: Becoming the best global entertainment distribution service. Amazon: To be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Zoom: Video communications empowering people to accomplish more. BBC: To be the most creative organization in the world. Uber: Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone. Coca-cola: To craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit. Harvard University: Creating and sustaining the conditions that enable all Harvard College students to experience an unparalleled educational journey that is intellectually, socially, and personally transformative. Nike: To bring inspiration to every athlete in the world and to make sport a daily habit. Oceana: To make our oceans as rich, healthy, and abundant as they once were. |
Now—let’s dive in deeper into our selection. What makes a good mission statement? And why are they so powerful?
Read on for the elaborate explanations.
1. Microsoft
“We strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world.”
Microsoft seems to have a pretty clear vision for their future—they want to provide growth and opportunity on both local and global levels. With Microsoft being one of the most influential tech companies in the world, it’s hard to doubt that they will fulfill their purpose.
2. JetBlue
“Continual emphasis on providing competitive rates for customers for all of our destinations.”
The most important aspect of this vision is prices that JetBlue stands by. They promise to stick to a wide range of destinations for a competitive rate, which is a great vision for the future. It feels like a promise for stability in our highly unstable times.
3. Puma
“To be the most desirable and sustainable sport lifestyle company in the world.”
Puma chose to have a highly ambitious vision. They want to be not just the most desirable, but also the most sustainable company in the world. It’s a great goal focusing on Puma’s own wish for fame and success. However, the company also prioritizes its corporate social responsibility initiatives and contribution to a more sustainable sports equipment.
4. Taco Bell
“To grow into the largest fast-food provider of Mexican style cuisine in emerging markets.”
Taco Bell aims to conquer the fast-food industry by becoming the best at what it does—Mexican cuisine. It spreads not just locally in the USA, but also globally. This company also constantly improves its standards and works towards its ambitious vision.
5. Ikea
“To create a better everyday life for the many people.”
Ikea is known as a reliable, predictable, and simple retailer. Their vision goes beyond simply being a leader in the home furnishing industry. They want to make lives better, offer people more comfort, and be accessible to all.
6. Samsung
“Inspire the world with our innovative technologies, products and design that enrich people’s lives and contribute to social prosperity by creating a new future.”
In its vision, Samsung focuses on its aspiration to inspire, innovate, and enrich people’s lives. These goals together with their promise to contribute to social prosperity make it an ambitious and well-formulated vision with a clear look into the future.
7. LinkedIn
“To create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”
In its vision, LinkedIn does a great job of prioritizing their aim for equal economic opportunity for workers of any level and background. This promise for a chance to network and do efficient job search is what makes this vision so special.
8. Meta
“To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
Meta, the social media company that evolved from Facebook, has a brand-new vision that perfectly reflects the changes that came with the famous rebranding. Aiming to help build a global community and connect people even more, Meta is working on offering more and more innovative solutions.
9. Netflix
“Becoming the best global entertainment distribution service.”
Netflix deals in entertainment, and is extremely successful in it. Their ambitious vision to be the best entertainment distribution service shines with confidence and determination for which Netflix is to be applauded.
10. Amazon
“To be earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
Amazon mentions customer centricity and their extremely rich range of products. It aims to allow anyone to find anything they might want to ever purchase. These two things combined allow this vision to really communicate the message Amazon has put into it.
11. Zoom
“Video communications empowering people to accomplish more.”
Zoom chooses to empower people and make their lives better by allowing its users to smoothly communicate through video conferencing. The company wants people to accomplish more by achieving more itself.
12. BBC
“To be the most creative organization in the world.”
Aspiring to be the most creative organization globally is a challenging task that BBC puts in front of itself. However, the whole essence of the company is conveyed through their vision statement, which makes it so effective.
13. Uber
“Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone.”
Uber makes perfect use of the metaphor by saying “transportation as reliable as running water”. In general, using word-play, metaphors, and comparisons is a great idea to create an eye-catching vision statement. Uber managed really well and thus made it into one of the top platforms used for transportation/commute and food delivery.
14. Coca-cola
“To craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit.”
Coca-cola aspires to be loved by everyone and to continue being the leader in the beverage industry. Their vision statement is not pushy but, at the same time, it’s very effective in conveying their vision of a perfect future with Coca-cola in it.
15. Harvard University
“Creating and sustaining the conditions that enable all Harvard College students to experience an unparalleled educational journey that is intellectually, socially, and personally transformative.”
Harvard is one of the top world universities, which is reflected in its vision. Harvard wants to be a change-maker and to provide unique education that makes lives better. Its vision is simple and powerful, which is a perfect combination.
16. Nike
“To bring inspiration to every athlete in the world and to make sport a daily habit.”
Nike’s vision statement is simple yet powerful, even poetic. It doesn’t just say that it wants to be the best sport’s goods company. Instead, it seeks to bring inspiration to athletes around the world and to further promote sport in all its forms.
17. Oceana
“To make our oceans as rich, healthy, and abundant as they once were.”
Oceana’s vision statement makes people feel emotions. In particular, sorrow and a tint of shame for turning the world’s oceans into what they are today and contributing to the environmental crisis. This feeling of slight guilt together with Oceana’s promise to fix the situation is what makes this nonprofit vision statement so great.
Now, back to the theory. Let’s recap the most important differences between mission and vision statements.
What’s the difference between a mission and vision statement?
In short, the mission statement claims what the company wants to achieve. Its vision statement digs deeper into where and how the company wants its customers and the world to be as a result of its existence and activities. A mission statement is an essential guideline for the vision statement, and one is impossible without the other.
To summarize what we have just discussed:
- A mission statement is a declaration of the company’s current offering, company’s core values, and aspirations.
- A vision statement is a preview of the company’s future, so to speak. It can include similar or the same points as a mission statement. However, they will be written in the future tense.
It should also be mentioned that sometimes companies decide to combine their mission and vision statements into one. Then, it becomes a roadmap for the company’s present and future activities.
Now that the difference is clear, and you are inspired by our great examples, let’s sum up what we’ve learned about mission and vision statements.
Mission vs. vision: summary
It seems like a good mission and vision statement is an absolute must for business growth, customer loyalty, and a positive brand image.
But, crafting your own great mission and vision statement is truly an art that requires patience, team effort, and practice.
Don’t worry, though—by following the examples from above, you can reach your full potential and write a powerful statement conveying the whole essence of your business.
Just remember, stay true to your values and express what’s most important for your business. The right audience will resonate with your message and the statement you put forward. Looking at examples is a great idea to gain inspiration but, at the end of the day, you should try to be original.
We hope you found inspiration in our list and feel ready to brainstorm a perfect mission and vision statement for your company.