How Owning Your Company Mission Statement Stimulates Brand Loyalty
This is for the people who spend 5 minutes deciding what eggs to buy based on the perceived nice-ness of the chicken pastures. Are they free-range or just cage-free? Does the carton include information on the well-being of the chickens? Extra points in they mention they name the chickens. Ultimately, the product that wins is the one that includes a “chicken of the month” leaflet inside. (Carol is chicken of the month this month because she shared her corn kernels with Dorothy!)
This is the thought process of a conscious buyer, and it is not to be ignored. There has been a widespread movement of consumers increasingly prioritizing Corporate Social Responsibility as important as product aspects like convenience and price. 86 percent of consumers believe that companies should take a stand for social issues.
This trend is only going to get increasingly important to focus on because younger consumers are even more likely to pay attention to the social stance of the brands they support. Nearly two-thirds of millennials and Gen Z express a preference for brands that have a point of view and stand for something. Younger consumers are less likely to choose a brand just because it is the popular choice or convenient.
On the flip side, 64 percent of consumers would switch, avoid or boycott brands based on their stand on societal issues. Companies that don’t prioritize Corporate Social Responsibility will eventually feel it in their bottom line.
All of these stats prove one long-term trend: if you impress a conscious buyer with your message, product, and values, you could have a brand loyal customer for life.
How do you prove to these belief-based consumers you support causes just as they do? Your company’s mission statement is your brand’s heart. Corporate social responsibility should course through your brand like blood through veins, closely connected to the heart of your brand.
What is a company mission statement?
Company mission statement: A sentence describing a company’s function, markets and competitive advantages; a short, written statement of your business goals and philosophies. A mission statement defines what an organization is, why it exists, its reason for being.
Your company mission statement should be the first thing you see on an ‘about’ page. It should demand to be noticed and practically punch the viewer in the face. However, this idea of a mission statement loses its power if it is just a sentence on the website and the buck stops there. When we say ‘own’ your mission statement, we mean that you should be able to connect every campaign, business decision, and partnership back to your mission statement.
Writing the right mission statement for your company
If should be free of buzzwords, jargon, and fluff. Your mission statement is just as much for you as it is for your audience. Don’t try to overpromise or impress.
A good mission statement will hold steadfast. No matter how your company grows and changes throughout the years, your original mission statement remains unchanged and relevant to your company.
Mission statements should be connected to something bigger than financial gain. What good do you do for your audience? Your community? The environment? The world? Think back to the reason this business was created in the first place. Whether you started it or not, find that original passion and purpose.
Keep it simple. It should be pared down to one or two impactful sentences. If you can’t make it one or two sentences, chances are you are either using too many fluff words, or you are taking on too many causes for one powerful mission.
How does owning your mission statement stimulate brand loyalty?
Passionate people support passionate companies.
The people who care about causes are the people most likely to promote your company on their own time. Word-of-mouth marketing, as we all know, is the most influential form of marketing. If you have a strong mission, your audience can back your brand with the same pride and volume that some people back nonprofit causes.
For example, WildFang is a clothing company that took this passion and activism and used it to build a brand. Wildfang is not shy about stating exactly what they believe in. This message of unapologetic feminism has been integral to their business growth. It grabbed the attention of influential figures for their target market, like US National Team’s Megan Rapinoe and comedian Cameron Esposito. The strategy behind living at the intersection of their beliefs and their products can protect their product from being seen as a temporary trend – because they believe wild feminism is anything but temporary.
Our store may be founded upon a woman’s right to menswear, but our core is founded upon a woman’s right to rights.
The ‘Our Story’ page of Wildfang
Connecting business strategy to your mission statement keeps you accountable and dependable
Staying true to your mission statement through every decision making process keeps you accountable to always prioritize Corporate Social Responsibility. In turn, this decreases the chances of scandal and bad publicity.
When mission statement and business decisions are consistently in line with each other, customers know they can trust you and your product long-term.
Why is Patagonia such a powerful example of this concept? They truly prioritize their values over their bottom line and are constantly proving this with their major business decisions. Patagonia runs a program that promotes the upkeep of old clothing over buying into ‘fast fashion’ by offering to fix any outdoor apparel free of charge. Are they essentially telling people not to buy more clothes from them? Yes. does this strong backing of their mission statement stimulate total brand loyalty? Yes, x10. This is just one example of how Patagonia’s values have created a movement behind promoting sustainable habits.
Having a specific cause connects you to a like-minded audience
All the company examples in this post stay true to this idea. Because the best way to build a relationship with your customer is to prove you’re after more than their wallet. and you are willing to back your beliefs up with action.
Connecting with your audience through a shared cause is the most organic way to build customer support. Find related charities, celebrate local and general wins, promote related current events… All of this content is small opportunities to start a conversation and emotionally connect with your audience. Not to mention, content surrounding a similar cause is much more sharable and repost-able than sales pitch after sales pitch.
Example mission statements to inspire you
Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
We’re on a mission to Get the World Moving, because we believe Doing Things — moving your body and having fun with friends — is the surest way to a happy and healthy life.
To provide comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual
Are you ready to take steps towards owning your mission statement? Reach out to the dowitcher team to explore your CSR possibilities!
