Purpose statement case studies

We have collated 3 purpose statement examples together with our thoughts, to give you an idea of their power. We take a look at Timberland, Patagonia, Brand Meadow (our very own) and Ella’s Kitchen.

Timberland

Timberland weave their purpose into their products, having a clear goal to use 100% sustainably sourced cotton, planting trees, hope, jobs, clean air and unity.

“We aren’t just planting trees, we’re planting hope, jobs, clean air, and unity.”

Their purpose statement:

“At Timberland we strive to make the world around us better through our dedication to sustainable products and innovations, greening initiatives, and services to our communities.”

https://www.timberland.com/responsibility.html

Brand Meadow

We thought long and hard about this. We work with charities and SME’s that deliver good services or products. At top level we want to empower people to design well, so that our platform contributes to a “better world”.

“Empowering good design for a better world.”

Patagonia’s purpose statement

Patagonia is an excellent example of a company with a strong purpose. They don’t just write it or say it they do it. Their purpose is in their DNA, so from the newest recruit to top dog, everyone is living and breathing. They have onsite child-care facilities and have donated all of their Black Friday profits to environmental causes.

“To build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

https://corporate-rebels.com/patagonia/

Ella’s Kitchen purpose statement

Ella’s kitchen strive to introduce healthy eating habits forever:

“to create healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime”

[https://medium.com/purposemagazine/5-tips-for-crafting-an-inspiring-purpose-statement-181be438f69d]

Tasks

We have outlined a few simple tasks to get you on your way to having a clear stated purpose statement. These tasks can be done alone or better still together with friends and colleagues.

We have created a set of editable worksheet templates to help you run a workshop on setting your vision, mission and purpose. These are available for free with our 14 day Meadow trial.

1. Make it authentic

First of all, make sure that you are an authentic purpose driven business and that your business genuinely represents your beliefs rather than what you think you should be. In fact, your purpose should be the most important reason for being, even above profit and give a real sense of belonging to your company.

2. Get people you value in a room

Get your team together, or if it’s just you get your closest friends and family to help you.

3. Reach for a large piece of paper, the bigger the better

Draw a circle in the middle with the word purpose. Briefly answer the following questions as a team:

Questions to help you:

• What drives you to do business?
• What drives your customers to buy from you?
• What current political or social trends fit into your line of thinking?
• What inspires you?
• What makes you feel good?
• What makes  your customers feel good?

4. Write your thoughts down on a piece of paper

Following the above exercise do the following;

• Write down a summary of your thoughts on a piece of paper
• Write down any keywords that come to mind
• Now draft a sentence using a combination of these keywords and summary
• Draft again
• Draft again

Use the Meadow Purpose statement template (coming soon) to refine your statement further

Key learnings of how to write a powerful purpose statement

• A purpose is much more than a statement
• Be authentic, pragmatic, tangible, inspired
• Keep the statement clear and in one sentence

Take the purpose driven quiz

Mission, vision or purpose statement?