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B2B, Brand, Branding, Business, Customer, Customer Service, Management, Marketing, Mission Statements, Social Media, Strategic Management, Strategy
A couple weeks ago in my Strategic Management class, we brought up the topic of mission statements. Our professor wanted us to answer the following questions in relations to an article by CUNNINGHAM entitled Lead by example, not words:
Do mission statements reflect reality? Why or why not? What are you experiences and can you provide other examples to support (or not) Cunningham’s views.
Cunningham argues that most mission statements are outdated and in need of a makeover. At first, mission statements sounded like a good idea, but it has lost its touch over the years.
The following quote from the article expresses his views:
“Somewhere between 1943 and 2011, mission statements lost their way. They went from a tool to guide entire organizations to something that you could slap on a marketing piece to get more people to buy your goods and services. Words like “excellence” and “best of breed” and other meaningless phrases started to infect mission statements. Plaques were hung and meetings were held, neither of which made a lick of difference in the behaviour of the people on the front line. Employees, of course, smelled the nonsense from a mile away. Executives ignored the gap between the words on their walls and the actions of their employees because nobody seemed to notice. In those days, brands were built based on the words you chose.”
He then goes on saying that the internet and search engines brought this issue out with a lot of companies. Dell was preaching about “best customer service” in their mission statement, but did not actually practice it.
I agree with Cunningham. Most companies nowadays only use mission statements as a fancy tag line on a marketing piece. They hope that this will help increase sales.
To be serious, if you slap “best customer service” on your mission statement to increase sales, you are setting yourself up for failure. As soon as someone gets bad customer service, they can spread it on the magical thing called the internet. This creates disconnect between your brand and its values. Practice what you preach. Words and logos are only part of a brand. The key word there is PART.
What the company actually does is really what the brand represents. Not some fancy buzz words on a mission statement. If you are going to create a mission statement, make it meaningful. Make it represent your brand, organization, company, employees, customers, etc.
Tim Horton’s uses: “Always fresh, in everything that we do”. What do you think about that? I think it’s great! It lets everyone know what they are about without using fancy buzz words.
Now, to keep the debate going, I will ask you the same questions as my professor asked us. Do mission statements reflect reality? Why or why not? What are you experiences and can you provide other examples to support (or not) Cunningham’s views.
Mission statements make a difference only if they summarize values the company truly lives out each and everyday. In that regard they serve as a valuable reminder of what should be happening already. If that is the case, then your customers and prospects are going to notice, whether your mission statement is on your website/print collateral or not.
Thank you for your comment Cathy!
I agree with what you are saying. If the mission statement reflects the company’s actions, your customers should already be aware of this.
If it does not reflect the company’s actions, you would be better off not using it as a marketing piece, as this would create disconnect and possibly confuse the consumers.
Anything that can’t be recalled and connected to daily work behaviors is useless. I’m a fan of organizations living by a purpose. Particularly one that is singular in meaning, and difficult for the organization’s competitors to claim.
Thanks for commenting Lawrence!
I absolutely agree with you. If the mission statement does not have a purpose, it is useless. It is just like any other tagline that you see on posters and commercials.
Melvin • Mission statements are indeed and should represent the values and beliefs of a company or organization. In addition to helping define a company’s culture they are provide the roadmap for the guiding principles. I have worked at some of the best corporations globally, I do believe that their missions still hold true to this day and their customers, key stakeholders and strategic partners make sure that these corporations deliver on their mission. I agree with Cindy, if a mission statement is not delivered upon customers will notice and react. In summary a great mission statement provides both intangible and tangible benefits for a corporation and brands. I recently went through this process most recently with a media company where I had to refine their corporate positioning strategy as well create new brand strategies for two iconic brands which included the development of mission and vision statements, for one a new brand logo, brand positioning, brand attributes, brand promise and brand essence. This process should always be taken very seriously because these branding elements and communication platforms will be used to creatively communicate who and what the company and brands represent and stand for long after we are gone.
Please check out my new blog, Strategy Is Everything, http://strategyiseverything.blogspot.com/ . I will promoting a 4 part social media series starting next week.
Thanks for the comments Melvin! I will check out your blog for sure! I’m looking forward to the social media insights (as I am a social media manager myself).