Your Brand and Your Mission Statement

“A brand is not a logo. A brand is a promise, a story and a shorthand. A brand tells us what to expect the next time we engage with you.” -Seth Godin

“The mission is critical. Once you lose sight of it, everything gets lost. You start doing side projects to satisfy a funder, a customer, an audience member, a board member, a town/city, or a host of other people with other missions…If you think you have a mission, and you are facing some big changes, then ignore everyone’s advice unless it’s mission critical. Unless the advice, or the potential change somehow fits your core mission, don’t do it. But, as you face those decisions remember that mission is independent of a lot of other things -you can change leadership, locations, mediums and formats – hell, what was IRL can be virtual or handled by a bot, perhaps. It might even mean painful changes, but if that is better for your mission, those are the changes you need to make.” -Brian Newman

Your mission statement is what you tell people you’re all about. (Most are too wordy, too vague or too boilerplate. Which is why no one remembers them.)

Your brand is what people actually believe you’re all about.

Hopefully the two are in alignment.

If not, go back and adjust one or both if need be.

P.S. – This excellent Seth Godin post and this newsletter from Brian Newman’s always superb and on-point, Sub-Genre.