A couple weeks ago, I met with a group who was struggling over creating a mission statement. Corporate muckety-mucks love them but often I cringe at the cubicle-world, soul-crushing sound of them. I don’t think you can write a mission statement about where you are going without knowing who you are anyways, and that’s why I prefer building a BPS first when I create brands.
What a BPS is not:
• It’s not a tagline.
• It’s not a list of your products or services.
• It’s not long.
• It’s not manifesto for why the CEO is enslaving you.
So what is it? It’s a one-to-two sentence statement that basically sums up the following for your product or your service:
• What you do
• Target audience
• Why are you best/different
• What benefit is provided
Your finished statement has to be:
• Available
• Sustainable
• Defendable
My example is always Nike®. I’m sure their brand statement is not “Just Do It.” It’s probably (I’m guessing here) something like: We make superior quality athletic clothing and sporting equipment so professional and recreational athletes can keep their mind and body on what matters most to them about their game. We let the world play.
Words are chosen carefully. An adjective like “superior” adds a qualifier to “quality.” “Professional and recreational” defines the target audience. The benefit? Every player plays a sport for a different reason, so the “mind” and “body” of each athlete gets to just do it.