Mission Statements – Our Dirty Little Secret

Mission Statements make me cry.

They are typically misunderstood, impractical, and poorly facilitated. Nobody remembers them except those that have the misfortune of having them mounted on a plaque in their lobby. And frankly, even then they don’t remember it.

So what do we do when someone comes to our firm and says they need a Mission Statement? We sell them a brand promise, brand positioning and brand personality instead.

 

Unlike Mission Statements, brand connects with teams

• The brand promise is the fusion of the customer’s need and your team’s passion.
• The brand position is why the customer should resolve their need with your brand, instead of the competition.
• The brand personality is how you deliver.

Make Mission Statements the exception, not the rule

Use Mission Statements infrequently and use them well for organizations that are so large they need to institutionalize common sense. But for everyone else? For you? Seriously, is it what you really need?