13 of the Best Mission Statement Examples To Inspire You

A mission statement is a brief statement that declares the purpose and values of your brand to your audience.

Action-oriented, mission statements are usually short and sweet and sum up the core work and goals that your brand plans to focus on. 

Your mission statement should be the foundation for your wider brand strategy and business plan and should underpin every aspect of your brand including communications, products, and how your staff interacts with customers. 

A great mission statement captures the core beliefs and values of your organization and can provide you with a variety of benefits. Take a look below at some of the benefits a good mission statement can bring to your business:

• A mission statement clarifies the direction you want your business to move in and can help to guide the creation of other important elements such as your business plan, financial model, and brand strategy.
• Mission statements help to inspire employees and offer guidance on how they should approach their roles. 
• A mission statement can provide a framework for decision-making.
• A good mission statement immediately puts your company’s values and ethos at the heart of your brand and at the forefront of customers’ minds. 

A great mission statement should not only explain the purpose behind your brand but should also form a connection with your audience. 

Combining physical, emotional, and logical elements, your mission statement should create connections with both customers and employees in order to ensure they stay loyal to your brand. 

A great mission statement is concise, clear, and different from those already out there. Your mission statement should be unique to you and help your brand to stand out from the competition. 

These 13 examples of mission statements all showcase how, when done correctly, a great mission statement can have a major impact on the success of your brand. So, let’s take a look.

“We’re in business to save our home planet.”

Patagonia is an outdoor clothing and equipment brand that puts the planet at the heart of everything it does. 

Patagonia’s mission statement spotlights the company’s main business aim, to save the planet and operate a sustainable business. 

The guiding ethos behind the brand is that one of the best ways to save the planet is to use products that don’t damage it. This mission was born after Patagonia realized the steel pitons for rock climbing they originally sold were causing damage to the rocks. 

The brand uses its mission statement as a guiding light through everything it does, committing time, money, and resources to environmental causes and projects worldwide. 

If you have similar beliefs, ensure your mission statement focuses on the value you bring to customers as well as the value that using your brand will allow them to spread too. 

Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. 

Google’s mission statement couldn’t make its business goals more clear. 

As the world’s largest search engine, Google’s job is literally to collate and distribute information to users. Centered around its own algorithms, a system for organizing information, Google has nailed a simple and clear mission statement.  

Despite its success, Google is incredibly simple to use, meaning the search engine is “universally accessible and useful” just like its mission statement claims. 

If you have a strong idea about the purpose of your brand, a simple and clear mission statement that literally spells it out to users could be a good option. 

Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body you are an athlete. 

Nike is an athleisure brand focusing on bringing everyone the latest technologies and styles. 

From professional athletes out on the field to the everyday person running errands, Nike is designed for everyone. 

While its mission statement doesn’t use the word, this is one of the most inclusive mission statements out there. 

If you want to position your brand as accessible to everyone, using Nike as your main source of inspiration is a good place to start. 

Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations. 

American Express uses its mission statement to set it apart from other credit card companies. 

The key focus for American Express is providing excellent customer service and its mission statement refers directly to what the brand offers customers. 

What makes American Express the leading credit card company is that it takes care of its customers in an industry that can often be tarnished by the idea that credit card companies prey on vulnerable customers. 

American Express uses its mission statement to distance itself from this idea. If you want to emphasize the quality of your customer service, including it within your mission statement will ensure it remains one of your key values. 

To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. 

IKEA opted for a vision-based mission statement that focuses on what it can offer customers and why customers should choose its brand. 

While many furniture brands may focus their mission statement on providing great furniture, IKEA chooses to go one step further and showcase the importance of ensuring its prices are low and accessible to all. 

IKEA’s mission statement is another great example of promoting inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring the brand is positioned as putting the needs and context of customers first. 

Spread ideas.

The shortest of all our mission statement examples, TED has made its mission statement as simple as possible. Despite its simplicity, the mission statement shines through in every single TED Talk the brand publishes. 

TED is a company that focuses on spreading ideas, just like the mission statement says. 

This mission statement is a great example of being broad while still aligning with your company ethos and goals. Spread ideas isn’t specific, it could refer to anything, and yet despite the brand’s success, everything TED publishes does exactly that, spread ideas. 

TED is a great example of a brand that, in spite of its success and popularity, knows exactly what it wants to do and does it. 

To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

Car company Tesla may include a clever pun in its mission statement (accelerate, get it?!) but that’s not the only reason why it’s such a good mission statement example.

What makes Tesla’s mission statement stand out is that it puts its aims and ethos into an industry context. 

Rather than claiming to have all the answers or to have already solved a problem, Tesla admits with its mission statement that moving to sustainable energy, particularly in the car industry, is still very much a work in progress. 

The mission statement positions Tesla as leading the charge but makes no false claims that the brand has already succeeded with its core mission. 

Putting your mission and goals into context is important, especially if like Tesla you operate in an ever-evolving industry. 

To give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.

Nordstrom’s mission statement firmly puts customer experience at the heart of everything. 

While the brand could follow the lead of many clothing brands and have a mission statement focused on offering quality clothing or the leading fashion trends, Nordstrom instead uses its mission statement to connect directly with its customers. 

This mission statement is an excellent example of how a brand can use its mission statement to connect with not just its customers but also its employees. 

Nordstrom employees are able to use the brand’s mission statement as a guide for customer interaction, ensuring they are upholding the brand’s values by offering the best customer service possible. 

Nordstrom is the perfect inspiration for brands looking to create a mission statement that connects with staff and provides them with a framework for their own communications. 

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

Starbucks’ mission statement is a perfect example of being ambitious (nurturing and inspiring the human spirit doesn’t sound like an easy task to us) while still being relatable and using approachable language. 

While the start of the mission statement is grand and inspiring, the second half refers to tangible aspects that every customer can relate to. 

Starbucks is a great example of a mission statement that includes lofty goals and aspirations without being unrelatable and more importantly, unattainable for the brand. 

To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Microsoft is a software company and yet its mission statement makes no reference to software of any kind. Why? To keep it accessible. 

Let’s be honest, software and IT can be hard to get your head around if you’re not an expert and the last thing Microsoft wants to do is alienate potential customers. 

Microsoft’s mission statement focuses on the why behind the products, the reason the brand provides them, as opposed to the what. 

As Microsoft operates in such an evolving market, this is a great way to keep the mission statement flexible and open to change. No matter what area the brand branches out into, the mission statement will still be appropriate. 

Bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love. 

Pinterest is all about inspiration so it should come as no surprise that its mission statement strikes an inspiring tone. 

Like Microsoft, the platform chooses not to go into specifics of what it offers and instead focuses on the value and emotions it’s hoping to prompt in users. 

Pinterest is a platform that’s used by users for both personal and business use so it’s important that its mission statement encompasses both. 

By focusing on emotions and inspiration, Pinterest is able to adapt to users’ individual needs for the platform. 

To build the web’s most convenient, secure, and cost-effective payment solution. 

PayPal’s mission statement is clear and concise – after reading it users should be in no doubt about what they offer and why. 

The online payment platform has always put three goals at the heart of its offering: being accessible, affordable, and secure. 

The PayPal mission statement focuses on the service it offers and the benefits that come with that service. It accurately acknowledges what users will be looking for and ensures the mission statement reflects this. 

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

JetBlue is another brand that includes the word “inspire” in its mission statement (can you notice a theme yet?!)

The airline uses its mission statement as a key way of differentiating itself from fellow airlines, of which there are many. 

JetBlue is dedicated to not only offering a great airline experience in the air but also giving back to community projects on the ground too. 

This mission statement is a great example of combining your work and services with your philanthropic efforts. 

As you can see from these mission statement examples, there are various ways your brand can use your mission statement to inspire audiences and employees and lay the foundations for your wider business strategy. 

From Nike’s inclusive and accessible mission statement to Patagonia’s statement that closely mirrors its ethics and values, there are plenty of things you can take from the examples in this article to inspire your own mission statement.

Be sure to let us know in the comments which mission statement is your favorite and now you’ve finished this article, why not take a look at our guide to rebranding your business next?