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Think about the brands you purchase from over and over. Why do you choose the ones you do, even when cheaper options exist?
Do you usually fly with a particular airline? Do you buy your coffee from the same place every morning? Do you recommend a specific restaurant whenever out-of-towners ask for suggestions?
Well, there’s a good reason for it.
The reason we stay loyal to brands is because of their values. The best brands combine physical, emotional, and logical elements into one exceptional customer (and employee) experience that you value as much as they do.
When your brand creates a genuine connection with customers and employees, they’ll stay loyal to your company. This helps you increase your overall profitability while building a solid foundation of brand promoters.
Achieving this type of connection is no easy task. The companies that succeed at this stay true to their core values and create a brand that employees and customers are proud to associate with.
That’s where company mission and vision statements come into play. This article will explain what makes them different and provide you with examples of vision and mission statements from growing companies.
If you’re in a bit of a time crunch, use this table of contents to find precisely what you’re looking for:

As a company grows, its objectives and goals may be reached, and in turn, they’ll change. Therefore, mission statements should be revised as needed to reflect the business’s new culture as previous goals are met.
Both mission and vision statements are often combined into one comprehensive “mission statement” to define the organization’s reason for existing and its outlook for internal and external audiences — like employees, partners, board members, consumers, and shareholders.

The difference between mission and vision statements lies in the purpose they serve.

A mission statement is a literal quote stating what a brand or company is setting out to do. This lets the public know the product and service it provides, who it makes it for, and why it’s doing it. A vision statement is a brand looking toward the future and saying what it hopes to achieve through its mission statement. This is more conceptual, as it’s a glimpse into what the brand can become in the eyes of the consumer and the value it will bring in longevity.
In summary, the main differences between a mission and vision statement are:

Mission statements describe the current purpose a company serves. The company’s function, target audience, and key offerings are elements that are often mentioned in a mission statement.
Vision statements are a look into a company’s future or what its overarching vision is. The same elements from the mission statement can be included in a vision statement, but they’ll be described in the future tense.

Now that we know what they are, let’s dive into some useful examples of each across different industries.

Free Guide: 100 Mission Statement Templates & Examples

Need more examples to build your mission statement? Download our free overview of mission statements – complete with 100 templates and examples to help you develop a stand-out mission statement.
1. Life Is Good: To spread the power of optimism.

The Life is Good brand is about more than spreading optimism — although, with uplifting T-shirt slogans like “Seas The Day” and “Forecast: Mostly Sunny,” it’s hard not to crack a smile.
There are tons of T-shirt companies in the world, but Life is Good’s mission sets itself apart with a mission statement that goes beyond fun clothing: to spread the power of optimism.
This mission is perhaps a little unexpected if you’re not familiar with the company’s public charity: How will a T-shirt company help spread optimism? Life is Good answers that question below the fold, where the mission is explained in more detail using a video and with links to the company’s community and the Life is Good Kids Foundation page. We really like how lofty yet specific this mission statement is — it’s a hard-to-balance combination.
2. sweetgreen: To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.

Notice that sweetgreen’s mission is positioned to align with your values — not just written as something the brand believes. We love the inclusive language used in its statement.
The language lets us know the company is all about connecting its growing network of farmers growing healthy, local ingredients with us — the customer — because we’re the ones who want more locally grown, healthy food options.
The mission to connect people is what makes this statement so strong. And, that promise has gone beyond sweetgreen’s website and walls of its food shops: The team has made strides in the communities where it’s opened stores as well. Primarily, it provides education to young kids on healthy eating, fitness, sustainability, and where food comes from.
3. Patagonia: We’re in business to save our home planet.

Patagonia’s mission statement spotlights the company’s commitment to help the environment and save the earth. The people behind the brand believe that among the most direct ways to limit ecological impacts is with goods that last for generations or can be recycled so the materials in them remain in use.
In the name of this cause, the company donates time, services, and at least 1% of its sales to hundreds of environmental groups worldwide.
If your company has a similar focus on growing your business and giving back, think about talking about both the benefit you bring to customers and the value you want to bring to a greater cause in your mission statement.
4. American Express: Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.

Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.
— Simon Sinek (@simonsinek)
The tweet above is from Simon Sinek, and it’s one that we repeat here at HubSpot all the time. American Express sets itself apart from other credit card companies in its list of values, with an ode to excellent customer service, which is something it’s famous for.
We especially love the emphasis on teamwork and supporting employees so that the people inside the organization can be in the best position to support their customers.
5. Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.
This “objective” statement from Warby Parker uses words that reflect a young and daring personality: “rebellious,” “revolutionary,” “socially-conscious.” In one sentence, the brand takes us back to the root of why it was founded while also revealing its vision for a better future.
The longer-form version of the mission reads: “We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket,” which further shows how Warby Parker doesn’t hold back on letting its unique personality shine through. Here, the mission statement’s success all comes down to spot-on word choice.
6. InvisionApp: Question Assumptions. Think Deeply. Iterate as a Lifestyle. Details, Details. Design is Everywhere. Integrity.

These days, it can seem like every B2B company page looks the same — but InvisionApp has one of the cooler company pages I’ve seen. Scroll down to “Our Core Values,” and hover over any of the icons, and you’ll find a short-but-sweet piece of the overall company mission under each one.
We love the way the statements are laid out under each icon. Each description is brief, authentic, and business babble-free — which makes the folks at InvisionApp seem trustworthy and genuine.
7. Honest Tea: To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.

Honest Tea’s mission statement begins with a simple punch line connoting its tea is real, pure, and therefore not full of artificial chemicals. The brand is speaking to an audience that’s tired of finding ingredients in its tea that can’t be pronounced and has been searching for a tea that’s exactly what it says it is.
Not only does Honest Tea have a punny name, but it also centers its mission around the name. For some time, the company even published a Mission Report each year in an effort to be “transparent about our business practices and live up to our mission to seek to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages.”
8. IKEA: To create a better everyday life for the many people.

The folks at IKEA dream big. The vision-based mission statement could have been one of beautiful, affordable furniture, but instead, it’s to make everyday life better for its customers. It’s a partnership: IKEA finds deals all over the world and buys in bulk, then we choose the furniture and pick it up at a self-service warehouse.
“Our business idea supports this vision … so [that] as many people as possible will be able to afford them,” the brand states.
Using words like “as many people as possible” makes a huge company like IKEA much more accessible and appealing to customers.
9. Nordstrom: To give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.

When it comes to customer commitment, not many companies are as hyper-focused as Nordstrom is. Although clothing selection, quality, and value all have a place in the company’s mission statement, it’s crystal clear that it’s all about the customer: “Nordstrom works relentlessly to give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.”
If you’ve ever shopped at a Nordstrom, you’ll know the brand will uphold the high standard for customer service mentioned in its mission statement, as associates are always roaming the sales floors, asking customers whether they’ve been helped, and doing everything they can to make the shopping experience a memorable one.
10. Cradles to Crayons: Provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school, and at play.

Cradles to Crayons divided its mission and model into three sections that read like a game plan: The Need, The Mission, and The Model. The “rule of three” is a powerful rhetorical device called a tricolon that’s usually used in speechwriting to help make an idea more memorable. A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements of roughly the same length — think “I came; I saw; I conquered.”
11. Universal Health Services, Inc.: To provide superior quality healthcare services that: PATIENTS recommend to family and friends, PHYSICIANS prefer for their patients, PURCHASERS select for their clients, EMPLOYEES are proud of, and INVESTORS seek for long-term returns.

A company thrives when it pleases its customers, its employees, its partners, and its investors — and Universal Health Services endeavors to do just that, according to its mission statement. As a health care service, it specifically strives to please its patients, physicians, purchasers, employees, and investors. We love the emphasis on each facet of the organization by capitalizing the font and making it red for easy skimming.
12. JetBlue: To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.

JetBlue’s committed to its founding mission through lovable marketing, charitable partnerships, and influential programs — and we love the approachable language used to describe these endeavors. For example, the brand writes how it “set out in 2000 to bring humanity back to the skies.”
For those of us who want to learn more about any of its specific efforts, JetBlue’s provided details on the Soar With Reading program, its partnership with KaBOOM!, the JetBlue Foundation, environmental and social reporting, and so on. It breaks down all these initiatives really well with big headers, bullet points, pictures, and links to other web pages visitors can click to learn more. JetBlue also encourages visitors to volunteer or donate their TrueBlue points.
13. Workday: To put people at the center of enterprise software.

Workday, a human resources (HR) task automation service, doesn’t use its mission statement to highlight the features of its product or how it intends to help HR professionals improve in such-and-such a way.
Instead, the business takes a stance on the state of enterprise software in general: There’s a lot of great tech out there. But at Workday, it revolves around the people. We love how confident yet kind this mission statement is. It observes the state of its industry — which Workday believes lacks a human touch — and builds company values around it.
14. Prezi: To reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.

If you know Prezi, you know how engaging it can make your next business presentation look. According to its mission statement, the company’s clever slide animations and three-dimensional experience aren’t just superficial product features. With every decision Prezi makes, it’s all about the story you tell and the audience that story affects.
15. Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

A car company’s punny use of the word “accelerate” is just one reason this mission statement sticks out. However, Tesla makes this list because of how its mission statement describes the industry.
It may be a car company, but Tesla’s primary interest isn’t just automobiles — it’s promoting sustainable energy. And, sustainable energy still has a “long road” ahead of it (pun intended) — hence the world’s “transition” into this market.
Ultimately, a mission statement that can admit to the industry’s immaturity is exactly what gets customers to root for it — and Tesla does that nicely.
16. Invisible Children: To end violence and exploitation facing our world’s most isolated and vulnerable communities.

Invisible Children is a non-profit that raises awareness around the violence affecting communities across Central Africa, and the company takes quite a confident tone in its mission.
The most valuable quality of this mission statement is that it has an end goal. Many companies’ visions and missions are intentionally left open-ended so that the business might always be needed by the community. Invisible Children, on the other hand, wants to “end” the violence facing African families. It’s an admirable mission that all businesses — not just nonprofits — can learn from when motivating customers.
17. TED: Spread ideas.

We’ve all seen TED Talks online before. Well, the company happens to have one of the most concise mission statements out there.
TED, which stands for “Technology Education and Design,” has a two-word mission statement that shines through in every Talk you’ve seen the company publish on the internet. That mission statement: “Spread ideas.” Sometimes, the best way to get an audience to remember you is to zoom out as far as your business’s vision can go. What do you really care about? TED has recorded some of the most famous presentations globally, but in the grand scheme of things, all it wants is to spread ideas around to its viewers.
Now that we’ve gone over successful mission statements, what does a good vision statement look like? Check out some of the following company vision statements — and get inspired to write one for your brand.

1. Alzheimer’s Association: A world without Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Association conducts global research and provides quality care and support to people with dementia. This vision statement looks into the future where people won’t have to battle this currently incurable disease. With the work that it’s doing in the present, both employees and consumers can see how the organization achieves its vision by helping those in need.
2. Teach for America: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Teach for America creates a network of leaders to provide equal education opportunities to children in need. This organization’s day-to-day work includes helping marginalized students receive the proper education they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Its vision statement is what it hopes to see through its efforts — a nation where no child is left behind.
3. Creative Commons: Realizing the full potential of the internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.

This nonprofit’s vision statement is broad. It helps overcome legal obstacles to share knowledge and creativity around the world. By working closely with major institutions, its vision is an innovative internet that isn’t barred by paywalls.
4. Microsoft (at its founding): A computer on every desk and in every home.

Microsoft is one of the most well-known technology companies in the world. It makes gadgets for work, play, and creative purposes on a worldwide scale, and its vision statement reflects that. Through its product offering and pricing, it can provide technology to anyone who needs it.
5. Australia Department of Health: Better health and wellbeing for all Australians, now and for future generations.

This government department has a clear vision for its country. Through health policies, programs, and regulations, it has the means to improve the healthcare of Australian citizens.
6. LinkedIn: Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

LinkedIn is a professional networking service that gives people the opportunity to seek employment. Its vision statement intends to provide employees of every level a chance to get the job they need.
7. Disney: To entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.

Disney’s vision statement goes beyond providing ordinary entertainment. It intends to tell stories and drive creativity that inspires future generations through its work. This is an exceptional vision statement because it goes beyond giving consumers programs to watch, but ones that excite and change the way people see them and the world around them.
8. Facebook: Connect with friends and the world around you on Facebook.

Facebook is a major social media platform with a concise vision statement. It provides a platform to stay in touch with loved ones and potentially connect to people around the world.
9. Southwest: To be the world’s most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.

Southwest Airlines is an international airline that strives to serve its flyers with a smile. Its vision statement is unique because it sees itself not just excelling in profit but outstanding customer service, too. Its vision is possible through its strategy and can lead its employees to be at the level they work toward.
10. Dunkin’: To be always the desired place for great coffee beverages and delicious complementary doughnuts & bakery products to enjoy with family and friends.

Notice the interesting use of the word “complementary” in this vision statement. No, the chain isn’t envisioning giving out freebies in the future. Its vision goes beyond remaining a large coffee chain. Rather, the brand wants to be the consummate leader in the coffee and donut industry. It wants to become a place known for fun, food, and recreation.
Inspire Through Brand Values
Brand values play a much more significant role in customer loyalty than you think. Showing that your business understands its audience — and can appeal to them on an emotional level — could be the decision point for a customer’s next purchase. We hope you found some insight in this post that can help you brainstorm your inspiring vision and mission statements for your business.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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If you’ve ever tried to solve a Rubix Cube, you’ve put your analytical skills to the test. Making the colors match up requires problem-solving, logical reasoning, and pattern recognition.
While the majority of marketers will never make it to the next speedcubing competition, the skills you learn with puzzles like this are essential to a successful marketing career.

In today’s workforce, nearly one in four workers have a job in which analytical skills are considered the most important factor. Companies want to hire for these skills because it shows a candidate’s ability to think logically and use data to inform decision-making. In fact, Indeed found the most in-demand skills for employers — and several analytical skills top the list.
That’s why it’s important to know how analytical skills apply to your career and what you can do to develop these skills over time.
As a marketer, being able to understand problems and provide solutions is essential to a long, successful career. It means you can take a critical lens to the details of a problem to fully understand it. This helps you notice trends, understand the steps needed to take action, and offer novel solutions. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw creativity out the door. Using analytical skills to problem solve can look like a structured, methodical approach or a more creative one.
We’ll explore the various types of analytical skills later on, but first, let’s look at how analytical skills differ from critical thinking skills.

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Analytical Skills vs. Critical Thinking
A person who uses logic to find patterns, brainstorm, analyze data, and make decisions based on that information has analytical skills. One of the skills required to do that is critical thinking.
In other words, critical thinking is just one of many skills you need to be an analytical thinker.
You probably use critical thinking more often than you imagine, like when you:

Question whether a piece of information is a fact or an opinion.
Break problems down to understand the reasoning behind them.
Draw conclusions from data, rather than a gut feeling.
Make intentional, rational, and goal-oriented decisions.

Marketers who have strong critical thinking skills make reasonable, logical judgments and think through every decision. They provide facts and logical arguments to back their choices, which leads to smart decisions and improves company success.
While each role has its own analytical skill requirements, there are several that will benefit any marketer throughout their career.
Example of Analytical Skills
If you’re looking for a marketing role that leans towards analytics, such as a market research analyst position, it’s best to develop analytical skills specific to that position and your desired industry. Analytical skills are soft skills, so you’ll also want to develop hard role-specific technical skills.
For an analyst, that means mastering technical skills like Google Analytics and statistical software, while also having analytical skills such as creating data collection methods and presenting findings to senior leadership.
But across the board, all marketers can benefit from developing these in-demand analytical skills.
1. Critical Thinking
Any position across all levels of a company can benefit from critical thinking skills. It’s the ability to question an idea or examine why a problem exists. This can lead you to tackle issues others thought impossible and understand whether resolving a problem is worth the time, money, and effort. Critical thinking can take many forms in marketing, such as:

Decision-making
Content and brand auditing
Prioritization
Troubleshooting
Case analysis
Correlation
Data interpretation
Judgment
Market research analysis

2. Data Analysis
Neil Hoyne, Chief Measurement Strategist at Google, once said, “The companies that are going to win are the ones who are using data, not guessing.”
Interpreting data is more than collecting and reading information — it’s making sense of what’s before you by connecting patterns and recognizing trends. Strong data analysis skills allow you to pull insights from a large volume of data, which you can share with key decision-makers. This skill can show up in marketing role requirements in a few common ways.

ROI analysis
SWOT analysis
Data visualization
Pattern recognition
Process analysis
Industry and market research
Presentation skills
Measuring customer satisfaction
Marketing analytics
Customer segmentation strategies
Predictive analysis

3. Creative Thinking
I once had a manager who was known for saying, “The first answer isn’t the answer.” She knew the role creativity played in problem-solving and pushed our team to view a possible solution from all angles. Marketers with this analytical skill work to find out-of-the-box solutions and patterns that others brush past. And if you need any more convincing, ‘creativity’ ranks on Indeed’s top 20 list of most in-demand skills for today’s workforce. At work, creative skills involve:

Brainstorming
Collaboration
Adaptability
Budgeting
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Strategic planning
Organizational restructuring
Predictive modeling
Campaign development
Branding

4. Communication
Employers consistently rank communication as a must-have skill — and for good reason. Being able to explain your idea for a project or give feedback is essential as a marketing professional.
Communicating clearly helps you keep everyone on the same page when rolling out a campaign or diffuse a problem with a deadline when it (inevitably) arises. Strong communication skills needed in marketing include:

Written and verbal communication
Body language
Interpersonal skills
Active listening
Conducting presentations
Reporting
Confidence and clarity of expression
Sharing feedback
Responsiveness
Delegating responsibilities
Respect and empathy

5. Problem-solving
Deciding how to respond to a harsh customer comment on social media. Distributing an advertising budget. Prioritizing which roles to hire for as a growing team.
All of these situations require analytical problem-solving skills, and all will pop up through a marketing career. Here are the problem-solving skills every marketer can benefit from developing:

Research
Data collection
Prioritization
Checking for accuracy
Risk-taking
Attention to detail
Dependability
Team-building
Logic and reasoning
Organization
Crisis management

6. Collaboration
Good collaboration skills can improve your working relationships, help you accomplish tasks on time, and reach your short- and long-term goals.
And nearly every marketing team has to collaborate with sales, product, business development, and creative teams to get anything done, knowing how to create synergy with your colleagues will make work smoother and more enjoyable.
The most common collaboration skills for marketers today are:

Persuasion
Adaptability
Time management
Responsiveness
Negotiation
Giving and receiving feedback
Emotional intelligence
Open-mindedness
Process improvement
Adapting to change
Networking

How to Improve Analytical Skills
Developing analytical skills takes time and effort. Unlike technical skills that have a structured approach to follow, analytical skills are more difficult to define and develop. There’s a process to learn how to use Google Analytics for SEO, but the steps to become an effective communicator are more fuzzy and undefined.
Fortunately, analytical skills can be honed. Here how you can go about boosting your skills and contributing to your company’s productivity and success.
Take courses, certifications, or on the job training.
Infinite resources exist both in-person and online that can help you improve your analytical skills. Universities and online companies like Coursera offer online schooling, HubSpot Academy offers free certification courses, and many companies provide stipends for continuing education.
Start by identifying which skills you want to improve and do research to find the resources that are right for your skill set and budget.
Find a mentor.
You likely know someone who is an excellent negotiator or always crafts the perfect email. Noticing how these people approach a situation and problem solve can help you hone your skills. Take notes, save examples, and apply their process to your work.
To take it a step further, ask them to chat over coffee or a phone call to discuss how they developed their skill. They can likely point you in the right direction or provide guidance on what you need to do to excel at the skill.
Try practice problems.
Role-playing is incredibly effective when working to improve analytical skills. Instead of simply reading a case study about an innovative digital media campaign, find a tool to help you develop your brainstorming skills.
Depending on the skill, you can find a practice book or an online resource to walk you through various mental models and scenarios. Work on an idea, and then present it to a trusted colleague or mentor to get feedback.
Play games to improve your analytical skills.
Spending hours on your phone playing Sudoku has more benefits than the personal satisfaction of beating your top score. Games that test your mental agility and memorization can improve your ability to think logically and challenge norms. While game trends are constantly changing, there are several classics that have withstood the test of time.

Sudoku
Jigsaw puzzles
Board games (i.e. Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, Splendor, Pictionary, and Bananagrams)
Computer or mobile games (i.e. Lumosity, Elevate, and Peak)
Chess
Crossword puzzles

Analytical Skills for Your Resume
Once you gain or improve your analytical skills, make sure to update your resume to reflect those strengths. Your resume should include a list of 10 to 20 skills, with a mix of both hard and soft skills. Note at least five to 10 analytical skills so potential employers know you have the knowledge to get your job done.
When choosing which skills to highlight, look to the job requirements section. A role may involve managing the company’s social media accounts, but this typically includes collaborating with multiple teams to get the content and analytics you need to do that successfully. Showcasing a blend of technical and analytical skills is what makes you a competitive candidate.
As your career develops, you’ll likely need to keep your analytical skills sharp. Be proactive by practicing and paying attention to people who have the skills you want to acquire, and you’ll be on your way to solving complex problems with ease.

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