A mission statement is a succinct sentence about your company or brand’s purpose. It leaves a lasting impression in the consumers’ minds and encourages them to choose your product or service over other vendors in the market.
Gallup believes that companies with sincere mission statements can improve customer engagement, employee alignment, and loyalty. This is enough reason for any company or brand to create a mission statement that works for them.
Mission statements also show that your business values and understands its target audience. By appealing to their emotions, your mission statement could be what gets people to make their next purchase decisions.
Whether it’s your local airline, coffee shop, grocery store, nonprofit organization, or charity, there’s a reason why you choose to buy from or support the companies or brands that you do.
A mission statement communicates the values of the company or brand. Ideally, it combines the emotional, physical, and logical elements into an exceptional experience that customers and employees value more.
Once you create a connection with them, they’re more likely to stay loyal to your brand or company for life. In turn, this builds a solid foundation of brand promoters while increasing your overall profitability.
If you’re struggling to craft the perfect mission statement for your company or brand, we’ve listed some of the best mission statement examples to inspire you.
Difference Between A Mission And Vision Statement
It’s easy to confuse between a mission and vision statement, but the main difference is in the purpose each statement serves.
A mission statement is action-oriented and communicates the purpose the company currently serves to its target audience. The statement has a general description of the company, its objectives, and function.
These objectives and goals are reachable, but they can change. That’s why you need to revise your mission statement where necessary to reflect the new culture change as you meet other goals.
On the other hand, a vision statement declares the company’s aspirations once it achieves its mission. It’s a glimpse into the future that reveals the direction the company wants to go and the impact they want to leave.
Best Mission Statements Examples
With that out of the way, let’s dive into some of the best mission statement examples in different industries.
1. YMCA
YMCA is a Christian organization whose mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.
2. Salvation Army
Salvation Army is another Christian organization that speaks to helping people without judging them. The mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
3. Zappos
Zappos is famous for selling shoes to the world, though you won’t find that in their mission statement.
Their mission is to provide the best customer service possible. Deliver WOW through service. The company actually lives up to its mission statement because they’re known for the best customer service experience around the world.
When you order shoes, they send a confirmation email about the delivery and if you wish to exchange or return, you’ll get a second pair or refund asap.
4. Uber
Uber is a taxi-hailing service whose mission statement reads: “We ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion.” And true to their word, the rideshare app ensures that once a user requests a ride, they’ll get a cab picking them wherever they are and be dropped off wherever they’re going.
The mission isn’t just about getting you from one point to another. Their technology is designed to bring new opportunities for you and help you explore new places and meet new people.
5. Squarespace
Squarespace is popular for its beautiful website themes and templates. The company’s mission statement reads: “Squarespace empowers people with creative ideas to succeed.”
Squarespace strives to empower millions of its users by providing a platform where they can share and distribute their creative ideas. This way, they can help them build a successful online presence.
6. L’Oréal
L’Oréal is a leading beauty and cosmetics brand or company whose mission statement is to provide the best cosmetics innovation to women and men around the world with respect for their diversity.
The statement outlines their dedication to inclusivity while offering the best in cosmetics innovation. This way, they include people from all over the world, which in turn contributes to their long-term success.
7. Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market focuses on selling the highest quality natural and organic products. It acts as a buying agent for its customers while maintaining a list of acceptable and unacceptable ingredients that it won’t sell.
The company’s mission reads: To nourish people and the planet. We’re a purpose-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers. Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market.
You can see its dedication to providing quality food options and setting a high example for other food retailers. They also draw from their six core values to inspire their efforts toward fulfilling their purpose.
8. Honest Tea
Honest Tea’s mission statement is to create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages. This way, they connote that the tea is pure and real, so customers won’t find any artificial chemicals.
The brand thus speaks to an audience that wants organic, pure, and natural teas without complicated ingredients in its composition and tea that is what it says it is.
Clearly, the brand name is also centered around the mission. They even publish mission reports annually to be transparent about their practices and live up to the company’s mission.
9. Starbucks
Starbucks is a favorite place for many coffee lovers. The company’s mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.
The statement details the company’s intentions so it’s more than just a cup of coffee. It also uses its main values to promote progress towards achieving its own goals.
Starbucks also aspires to challenge the status quo, create a warm environment, be respectful and transparent, and deliver their best in anything they do. Ultimately, they want to nurture and inspire their customers and anyone who comes into their shops.
10. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a popular social media platform created with professionals in mind so they can network, build their careers, and grow professionally. Its mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
You can see how the company’s activities are designed around the mission statement. If you’re on LinkedIn, you know how they make it possible for you to build connections and discover thought leaders.
11. IKEA
IKEA is known for its beautiful and affordable furniture, which the company buys in bulk through deals from all over the world.
Their mission statement is to create a better everyday life for many people, and they live up to this statement in what they do. They choose furniture, pick it up, and stock it for their customers.
IKEA’s business idea supports their mission in such a way that many people would be able to afford the furniture. This also makes IKEA appealing to more people and accessible to many customers.
12. ASOS
ASOS is a fashion-forward company whose mission is to become the world’s number one online destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings. The company solidifies their purpose in their mission by being specific about what they aim for.
They want to focus on fashion as a force for good and inspire youth to express their best selves by achieving great and amazing things. This helps them showcase their passion for expression and individuality, as well as their brand image.
13. Microsoft
Microsoft is an established tech giant whose mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
The company makes top-of-the-line consumer products but also strives to lead the way in promoting diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and encouraging workplace transparency.
Their mission expresses their beliefs and values, which are directly translated into their corporate culture and their products.
14. Nordstrom
Nordstrom is another leading fashion retailer that provides compelling shoes, clothing, and accessories for men, women, and kids. The company has been in existence since 1901 and its mission is to give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.
When you go into a Nordstrom store, the staff want you to get the best experience possible with an excellent selection, quality, service, and value.
Nordstrom’s philosophy of superior customer service keeps improving every day. The employees work to give its customers things like one-on-one service, quick responses to questions, walking you to what you’re looking for, and more.
15. Cradles to Crayons
From birth through to age 12, Cradles to Crayons – a nonprofit organization – seeks to improve the lives of the homeless or impoverished.
This forms the basis of their mission along with providing essential items and resources including school supplies, clothing, and more to help the children thrive wherever they are, and help them feel safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued.
16. Warby Parker
Warby Parker is a leading online retailer of designer eyewear and prescription glasses. The company is based in New York City and primarily sells its products online, but also has physical stores in the US and Canada.
The company exists to provide designer eyewear at revolutionary prices and lead the way for socially conscious businesses.
The statement takes us back to why Warby Parker was founded while revealing their vision for a better future. In fact, the longer mission statement outlines what they believe in, further showing that they don’t hold back on letting their uniqueness shine through.
17. Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is a leading airline that believes their employees make them different. The company’s mission is to connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.
They make sure you enjoy their flights and strive for top-quality customer service. They do this by showing off their company spirit with a smile and being friendly.
Plus, they follow the mission statement with a commitment to their workers in terms of providing a stable work environment, equal learning and growth opportunities, creativity, and innovation to improve their effectiveness.
They also promise to provide the same respect, concern, and caring attitude in the workplace as that which they’re expected to share with the airline’s customers.
18. American Red Cross
American Red Cross is another volunteer-based, nonprofit organization that helps areas with crises in their time of need. The organization is driven to prevent and alleviate human suffering during emergencies through mobilization of volunteers and donor generosity
The organization pushes their partners, donors, and volunteers to work harder to accomplish the mission while helping those in need.
19. Google
Google is the world’s largest search engine with billions of searches performed on the platform every day. They make it easy to search and find answers to what you’re looking for.
The company’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Whatever they do revolves around this statement, and they want to put all information into a platform that you can use to find the information you need.
20. Patagonia
Patagonia is a clothing company that was founded in 1973, which markets and sells outdoor clothing. The company’s mission reads: We’re in business to save our home planet.
As an outdoor equipment company, Patagonia is still working to make our environment healthy and safe for future generations. Its mission combines the values that contribute to a better world and bring market success.
21. Kickstarter
Kickstarter is the largest crowdfunding platform whose mission is to help bring creative projects to life. The platform has helped thousands of projects come to life via donations and community support.
They measure their success based on whether they’ve accomplished their mission or not – so it’s not just about making money.
As a Benefit Corporation, they strive to create a positive impact on society – not just for their shareholders.
22. The Coca-Cola Company
Coca-Cola is a household name whose mission is to refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions.
You can tell their mission from their advertising through to their taglines, and even the refreshing taste of their beverages, especially Coke. The company always wants you to know how it feels to drink a Coke, and aims to bring positivity and happiness to their customers.
23. TED
TED is popular for its talk shows, which have since become worldwide in terms of chapters. The company was founded in 1984 with a mission to spread ideas. It has since grown into a large nonprofit that uses speeches and talks to spread ideas.
They incorporate their mission statement into all their business activities including TED-Ed lessons and TEDx, conferences, and more.
24. Spotify
Spotify is a leading content and media streaming service whose mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity – by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.
The company’s mission is both for listeners and artists, but ideally, they want to spread inspiration to others and foster creativity.
25. JetBlue
JetBlue Airways is a leading low-cost airline that’s known for its ample in-flight entertainment options. The company’s mission is to inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.
The company is committed to its founding mission through influential programs, lovable marketing, and charitable partnerships, all of which are tailored to what it does.
26. Tesla
Tesla is a car company whose main interest is in promoting sustainable energy. The company’s mission is pegged on accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Their main focus is on enhancing the use of this energy across the world to provide clean energy electric vehicles to the public.
27. Invisible Children
Invisible Children is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness around violence that affects communities in Central Africa. The organization’s mission is to end violence and exploitation facing our world’s most isolated and vulnerable communities.
28. PayPal
PayPal is a payment processing gateway that’s popular across the world. The company’s values center around being a FinTech leader and democratizing financial services for everyone.
Its mission is to build the web’s most convenient, secure, and cost-effective payment solution.
29. Prezi
Prezi is a company in Hungary that provides video and visual communications software to over 100 million users so they can create excellent and engaging presentations.
The company’s mission is to reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.
30. Amazon
Amazon is the world’s leading and largest eCommerce company and cloud services provider.
Their mission revolves around being a customer-centric company where customers can find or discover what they may want to buy online. Amazon also endeavors to provide these items to its customers at the lowest possible price.
Wrapping Up
For your company or brand to become a runaway success, you need a uniting and inspiring purpose. That’s because people buy why you do what you do – not what you do.
With a mission statement, you can unify and keep your team focused on what matters, so your business can grow and your profits soar.
