Matching mission and marketing

Whether they’re etched in brass on the wall of the well-appointed company lobby, printed on colored paper to be affixed with a push pin onto cubicle dividers, or anything in between, company Mission Statements are some of the most fussed-over phrases you’ll ever find.

Designed to be a simple, stake-in-the-ground declaration of why a company exists, the wordsmiths in the board room and/or the executive wing often spend so much time trying to get it “just right,” that it ends up like a movie with eight or nine people listed as screenwriters.

Is it any wonder that associates often snicker at the mention of the company Mission Statement? It just doesn’t mean anything in the real world.

Even worse is when the company’s Mission Statement says one thing, but its actions say something else. It’s not when you stretch the Mission Statement’s meaning to get into new markets or try new things that you get into trouble. It’s when you fall off your high horse to save a buck or two.

One company that recently recognized (and corrected) a disconnect between its words and its actions was Whole Foods.

Early this month, the natural and organic grocer announced that it would stop offering disposable plastic bags to shoppers at the checkout line as of Earth Day 2008. To mark the occasion, the company distributed 50,000 free, reusable bags, beginning on the day of the announcement.

One doesn’t have to look at the company’s Web site too closely to find how this change is in keeping with their overall philosophy. After all, it’s a bit challenging to say you will engage in “Wise Environmental Practices” if you place all those natural and organic goods into slowly disintegrating bags that end up in landfills. (In the company’s defense, they have long had bins at their stores where customers can recycle plastic grocery bags.)

Will the company save a few bucks by ditching plastic? Of course. But, from a public perception standpoint, this move makes it very clear that they are living their brand. And, what better way to do so than by distributing reusable bags with the company’s name on them to help customers get in the habit of bringing their own? (Chances are good those bags will never see the inside of a competitor's establishment…)

How can you follow the example set by Whole Foods?

• Study your own Web site (and other corporate materials). If there’s an inconsistency between what you say and what you do, someone – an employee, a shareholder, a customer – has already found it, and your brand has been diminished as a result. Make a regular review of this language part of your routine.
• Think beyond a mere “fix.” Whole Foods could have quietly announced its plan through in-store signage to current customers. Instead, they chose to see this as a brand-building opportunity and, in doing so, completely made inert any similar move by their competition in the future. After all, they can always say, “We were the first…”
• Involve your staff. Such moves create a “pride” opportunity for employees, if they are brought into the tent early. And, most of the time, a “leak” of such news isn’t such a bad thing.

The message: If you’re going to the trouble to painstakingly craft a Mission Statement, don’t forget to follow the principles you espouse.