What’s Your Mantra?

What’s my….what?  Your mantra, you know, the three or so words strung together in perfect harmony to describe the culture and philosophy of your company.  It can be clever, catchy, funny, bold, provocative, or even silly as long as people remember it and attribute it to your company. A motto, or mantra is an all-inclusive message that allows us to belong to something bigger than ourselves. It attracts our attention and joins us together. Your company mantra should be relevant, engaging and inspirational or thought provoking, depending on your business and the message you want to share with the world about who you are and what you believe, deeply and truly. This is not an ad campaign or marketing gimmick and is quite different than a tagline, which is a frequently repeated advertising slogan that captures the essence of a brand’s promise to its customers. A brand mantra is an opportunity to share a message about something that is a fundamental truth about your company, products, services and the people who work for you.

Your Brand Mantra

A brand mantra should resonate internally first. The mantra you choose should reflect the core values, mission, and culture of your company and support your brand positioning. They are words to live by and words that will not just survive, but thrive, for years. In essence, they should be timeless and true. Mahindra, one of India’s most powerful companies restructured their marketing strategy several years ago and created a mantra with just a four-letter word, “Rise.” So, how can this help your company sell more products or provide better services, and how does this help engage your team to be more productive? Because the mantra is used both inside and outside the company for your team and your customers, and because it is repeated over and over, it is a great opportunity to instill a sense of power and excitement and responsibility into your team member’s identities within your organization. “We care” posted all over a warehouse or assembly line is a constant reminder that each person is an essential member of the team, and each person’s job skills and attitude are essential, because in order to achieve the “we” part, everyone has to participate, or the mantra simply isn’t true. Google, Facebook, Apple all have company mantras they live by. Mantras also help organizations decide, communicate and align everyone around who they want to “be,” instead of what they want to “do.” Apple’s mantra “Think differently” reflects the value it puts on creativity, while Google’s mantra “Don’t be evil” sums up Google’s culture and one of it’s core company values. If someone asked you to describe the essence of your company in a few words, what would they be? For example, a vegan cosmetic line might use “We love beauty AND our animals.”  Your mantra might be one word, like “Rise” or your mantra might require up to 5 words to make your statement. Start by carefully going over your mission statement. While most are typically long and somewhat vague and generic, there could be some gems in there that offer inspiration. Invite your employees to brainstorm with you if you can’t come up with one on your own. Offer a prize to anyone inside or out of the company who comes up with your new mantra. After all, the whole purpose of a brand mantra is to bring people together to share your vision. Does your company have a mantra? We want to hear about it, or if you like this post, please share with your friends and colleagues.