Skip to main content
Business LibreTexts

4.26: Reading- The Mission Statement

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
  • Page ID
    47950

    • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    A Mission Statement Explains Why an Organization Exists

    The mission statement guides the corporate strategy, which, in turn, guides the marketing strategy and planning. All marketing activities should relate to and support the company’s mission.

    The Marketing Planning Process: a 7 layer process. This image emphasizes the Corporate Mission. Corporate Mission leads to Situational Analysis which leads to both Internal Factors (Strengths & Weaknesses) and External Factors (Opportunities & Threats). These both lead to Corporate Strategy (Objectives & Tactics) which leads to Marketing Strategy (Objectives & Tactics) which leads to the four Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion which all center around the Target Market. The final layer is Implementation and Evaluation.

    In the marketing planning process diagram at the right, the planning begins with the mission statement. The mission statement doesn’t change. The strategy and tactics might shift—and, indeed, after an implementation and evaluation process, they often do—but the company’s mission remains fixed. For instance, if a company discovered that its product design were creating new opportunities in an adjacent market, that might spur development of a new corporate-level strategy to expand into the new market, but it wouldn’t change the fundamental mission of the company.

    Google’s Mission Statement

    Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.[1]

    The mission statement is clear and direct, and it gives the company enormous opportunity to make an impact.

    How does Google’s mission statement drive the company’s strategies? Let’s look at it from several different angles.

    Google’s Target Market

    Google logo with a magnifying glass superimposed.

    Google’s target market is the world. For most companies that would seem overly ambitious, right? In effect, the company has chosen not to target and not to segment. Why does such a decision make sense for Google? The company’s mission demands a comprehensive, global focus, and therefore so does its targeting.

    Google’s Strategy

    Google has defined a set of strategies that support its mission, one of which is the product strategy. There are two core components of Google’s product strategy: its search engine and the advertising platform that is fed by the search engine. Both of these products are not only designed to serve the world but they become more and more powerful as they gain users. If Google were to narrow its focus to a segment of Internet users, it would hamper the company’s ability to achieve its mission—and, at the same time, make Google less successful and profitable.

    Google’s Tactics

    Google uses a range of tactics to execute its strategy. One tactic is to create promotional videos, such as the one below, that convey the power of Google’s mission and align the mission with the specific benefits of the Google search engine.

    Thumbnail for the embedded element "Google — Year In Search 2014"

    A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: pb.libretexts.org/pom2/?p=196

    You can view the transcript for “Google — Year In Search 2014” here (opens in new window).

    Through the course of the ad, Google suggests that its search engine connects us to

    • Hope more than fear
    • Science more than fiction
    • Things we love
    • Greatness
    • Hope
    • Memories
    • Inspiration

    In what ways does this promotional tactic align with the company mission and support the product strategy?

    From this example you can begin to see that

    • The mission statement functions as an important guide for all aspects of company strategy.
    • When the strategy and tactics support the mission statement, they are more effective because they reinforce one another.
    1. www.google.com/about/company/ ↵

    Contributors and Attributions

    CC licensed content, Original
    • The Mission Statement. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
    CC licensed content, Shared previously
    All rights reserved content
    • Google - Year in Search 2014. Provided by: Google. Located at: youtu.be/DVwHCGAr_OE. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube license

    This page titled 4.26: Reading- The Mission Statement is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lumen Learning via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.