8 Great Mission Statements

A good mission statement is critical to the success of your business. It serves as a centralized, unified, public declaration of your company’s purpose, speaking to all stakeholders. At its core, it succinctly conveys what, how, and why your business exists. While a mission statement may sound like just a formality, it serves an underlying goal of inspiring connection to your brand.  

The best mission statements leap off the page and create an emotional connection with every reader, moving people to participate as customers, employees, board members, brand promoters, donors, investors, and so on. They capture a brand’s personality, speak to its differentiators, point to its credibility, and hint at its greatest aspirations. A mission statement that encapsulates your full brand story in such an effective and inspirational way will guide your organization towards consistent and long-term success. Here are my top 8 favorite mission statements which do just that.

1. Patagonia

Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

Patagonia’s mission statement is so effective because it perfectly encapsulates the brand’s core values. Quality outdoor gear, produced sustainably, by a company that gives back to the environment. The mission statement and the values it articulates demonstrate an underlying respect and concern for the planet and the great outdoors. A customer shopping for outdoor gear probably shares that same underlying respect and identifies strongly with those core values. Since they’re articulated so clearly in Patagonia’s mission statement, it creates an automatic connection between the customer and the company. The customer can immediately recognize that the store is run by people just like them, and they can feel good about where their money is going.

2. TED

Spread ideas.

TED’s brilliant two-word mission statement perfectly captures the organization’s goals and culture. First, the fact that it is 2 words aligns it with the organization’s focus on brevity and accessibility. Secondly, the statement essentially removes itself from the equation. TED is a platform and their goal is to spread ideas openly without serving as an intrusive middle-man. They distinctly drop the “why” and “how” portion of the traditional mission statement because they don’t exist. The ideas are meant to be shared by virtue of their existence – without an ulterior sales, pitch, motive, or angle.

3. Jet Blue

To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground. 

Jet Blue’s mission statement stands out because of its ability to trigger an emotional and aspirational connection. It goes beyond the airport-to-airport experience to evoke our innate fascination with travel and adventure. They don’t want their audience thinking about the details of the transaction, or the hassle of airport check ins and wait times; they want you thinking big picture about what motivates you to explore and experience life. Whether your perfect trip is a lively city getaway or a week on a sandy beach, they want to enrich your travel and your life.

4. IKEA

To create a better everyday life for the many people.. 

I love Ikea’s mission statement because at first glance, it looks like it breaks all the rules. The what, why, and how have nothing to do with furniture manufacturing or sales! This is because Ikea wants to be about something bigger. Yes they sell furniture; yes they offer affordable products; yes they are accessible to a broad market - but none of these components of their business get at their mission. Their mission is the outcome these components – a better life for the many people. Ikea has you skip the whole middle part of the business and go straight to envisioning how they improve quality of life. It is big picture, vision oriented, and hopeful. 

 5, Starbucks

To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time..

Starbucks’ mission statement blends a pragmatic tone with an aspirational one to maximize its impact. It follows a pretty formulaic approach to mission statements – the what being the cup of coffee, the how being one cup and neighborhood at a time, and the why being the desire to inspire and nurture the human spirit. The last component of the mission statement – the why – powers the greatest punch with its aspirational tone. Coffee is not just coffee, it is fuel and nourishment and an inspirational environment. These is reinforced by the physical environment they strive to create in their stores – fostered by music and friendly baristas.

6. Tesla

To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

Like Ikea, Tesla’s mission statement goes beyond the products it directly produces and speaks to the outcome it wants to achieve. While Tesla sells cars, their real mission is to move the world toward ecological sustainability. This keeps the door open for potential corporate venues in sustainable development beyond just automobiles. Moreover, it welcomes connection with people that are not in a position to buy Tesla cars but identify with the core mission of sustainability. Perhaps at some point in the future they will become Tesla customers or stakeholders but today they do the job just as well serving as brand ambassadors.

7. Walmart

We save people money so that they can live better.  

Walmart’s mission statement surprised me quite frankly. Low prices are known to be at the core of its brand pitch. This has been a topic of economic and cultural conversation for several decades drawing significant criticism for the purportedly low wages and lower quality products that enable their low prices. BUT the mission statement’s emphasis on living better speaks to the outcome of those prices in a powerful way. By offering low prices, Walmart enables consumers to live better. Consumers have access to goods they would not otherwise be able to afford. While the economics and ethics behind these arguments are still debated, you can easily see how the positive angle of the mission statement lays the groundwork for Walmart to launch successful marketing and public relations campaigns.  

8. Coca Cola

To refresh the world…To inspire moments of optimism and happiness…To create value and make a difference. 

Coca Cola (“coke”) is the gold standard in every aspect of its marketing from 1886 to today. The brand is recognized in every country around the world and its mission statement is at the center of that success. Like many of the companies on this list, Coke goes straight to discussing the big picture outcomes it wants its products to achieve. Refreshment. Optimism. Happiness. Coke’s mission statement, and its marketing overall, create an emotional connection with the audience. That’s why, when it comes to cola beverages, Coke continues to outperform Pepsi. Coke is not selling a beverage, it’s selling a feeling. The company established that mission when it put this statement on paper and it has successfully guided its marketing decisions from that moment on.