Published on August 16, 2021
Nearly every company has a mission statement, but what about a purpose statement? Among the Fortune 500 companies, 425 have a mission statement. This is expected: Missions are mainstays in corporate governance frameworks. However, less than a quarter of Fortune 500 companies have gone out of their way to write a purpose statement.
Purpose statements are founded on what companies and organizations do best to advance or improve people’s lives. Companies that excel at purpose move beyond a statement of social responsibility. They reinvent themselves from the inside out, based on their purpose, and then measure their impact.
While some view purpose as a reputation-enhancing initiative, other companies have it woven into the DNA of who they are. While neither is inherently superior, this contrast is clear from the placement of companies’ purpose statements. In presenting purpose statement examples, we noted that presenting purpose as part of “Our Story” is different from detailing it only in an environmental, social and governance (ESG) report.
We have identified the emerging space for brand purpose in The Purpose Report. Purpose should be leveraged. Consumers care about purpose-driven initiatives and want companies to care too. 4 in 5 people surveyed believe a brand or company should have a purpose beyond making money. Companies that incorporate brand purpose into their corporate governance stand to gain.
The best purpose statements weave values into the corporate DNA. These purpose statement examples reflect statements found on Fortune 500 company websites, not necessarily reality. Each reader must examine a company’s culture, content and actions to understand whether a company is purposeful.
A purpose statement can be a corporate branding slogan incorporated into logos or a positioning statement deep within a corporate social responsibility report. Many Fortune 500 purpose statements are featured on the company’s website home page or About section, and here we’ve linked to each of them. These purpose statements show how major companies value their products as a social good in themselves, independent of the values and principles that produced them.
Customers purchase goods and services as a means to an end, and a purpose statement captures that ultimate end goal to improve their lives and the lives of others. They may not be labeled as such, but they reveal the change we want to see in the world.
These 114 Fortune 500 companies find their corporate purpose meaningful enough to share it with the world explicitly.
ABM Industries: To take care of the people, spaces and places that are important to you.
Advance Auto Parts: To execute our mission: Passion for customers … passion for Yes!
Advanced Micro Devices: Technology enabling a better world.
Aecom: Built to deliver a better world.
Allstate: We help customers realize their hopes and dreams by providing the best products and services to protect them from life’s uncertainties and prepare them for the future.
Ally Financial: Our giving back efforts are focused on reducing barriers to economic mobility through financial education, affordable housing, workforce preparedness and digital job training.
American Family Insurance: We’re dedicated to inspiring, protecting and restoring your dream.
AmerisourceBergen: We are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures.
Applied Materials: We are dedicated to conducting our business in an environmentally and socially responsible way, taking action to protect the health and safety of workers, customers and neighboring communities.
Aramark: Our purpose revolves around our mission to enrich and nourish lives: We strive to create a better world by considering the company’s environmental, economic, social and ethical dimensions.
Archer Daniels Midland: We unlock the power of nature to enrich the quality of life.
Assurant: We protect what matters most.
AT&T: Inspire human progress through the power of communication and entertainment.
Bank of America: To help make financial lives better through the power of every connection.
Bank of New York Mellon: Powering global investments to help our clients succeed.
Becton Dickinson: We will consistently provide superior products and services in pursuit of our purpose of advancing the world of health.
BlackRock: To help more and more people experience financial well-being.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding: We empower people—our colleagues, our clients, our communities—to change the world.
BorgWarner: BorgWarner chooses to be a leader — in serving our customers, advancing our technologies and rewarding all who invest in us.
Campbell Soup: Real food that matters for life’s moments.
Cardinal Health: To improve people’s lives by merging innovation and technology with healthcare.
CarMax: To drive integrity by being honest & transparent in every interaction.
Casey’s General Stores: To make the lives of our guests and communities better every day.
CDW: To help our customers achieve their goals by providing them with the technology advice and products they need, when they need them.
Centene: Transforming the health of the community, one person at a time.
Charles Schwab: To champion every client’s goals with passion and integrity.
CHS: To create connections that empower agriculture.
Coca-Cola: Refresh the world. Make a difference.
Cognizant Technology Solutions: We innovate to find a better way—for the clients who depend on us, the customers who rely on them and the communities who count on us all.
Commscope Holding: We create lasting connections.
Corteva: To enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come.
Coty: To celebrate and liberate the diversity of your beauty.
CSX: To capitalize on the efficiency of rail transportation to serve America.
CVS Health: Helping people on their path to better health.
Danaher: Helping realize life’s potential.
Dick’s Sporting Goods: We create confidence and excitement by personally equipping all athletes to achieve their dreams.
eBay: To empower people and create economic opportunity for all.
Ecolab: To make the world cleaner, safer and healthier – helping businesses succeed while protecting people and vital resources.
Eli Lilly: Lilly unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world.
Entergy: To grow by providing customers with low-emission, reliable energy at reasonable cost; superior service; a strict focus on safety; operational excellence and engaged employees.
Equitable Holdings: Helping our clients live their lives with confidence is at the core of who we are as a company and individuals.
Erie Insurance Group: To provide our policyholders with as near perfect protection, as near perfect service as is humanly possible and to do so at the lowest possible cost.
Expedia Group: To bring the world within reach.
Fiserv: To deliver superior value for our clients through leading technology, targeted innovation and excellence in everything we do.
Fluor: We transform the world by building prosperity and empowering progress.
Foot Locker: To inspire and empower youth culture
Ford Motor Co.: To drive human progress through freedom of movement.
Fortive: Essential technology for the people who accelerate progress.
Fortune Brands Home & Security: To fulfill the dreams of home.
Arthur J. Gallagher: Tomorrow starts with confidence. What will tomorrow bring? How will you face it? And most importantly, what can you do today to make sure you’re positioned for success? Wherever you grow, we’ll be there.
General Electric: We rise to the challenge of building a world that works.
General Mills: To make food the world loves.
W.W. Grainger: We keep the world working.
Graybar Electric: Graybar strives to be a profitable, progressive business that provides employees with long-term career opportunities and the financial means to achieve a high quality of life, both while working and into retirement.
HD Supply Holdings: To improve our associates’ lives and equip them with the tools needed to provide exceptional customer experiences every day.
The Hershey Co.: Giving underserved children the skills and support they need to be successful.
Hess: To be the world’s most trusted energy partner.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise: To advance the way people live and work.
Hormel Foods: Inspired people. Inspired food.
Huntington Bancshares: To make people’s lives better, help businesses thrive, and strengthen the communities we serve.
Ingredion: We bring the potential of people, nature, and technology together to make life better.
Intel: To create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on earth.
Interpublic Group: Interpublic is committed to operating sustainably.
IQVIA Holdings: Our solutions enable life sciences companies to innovate with confidence, maximize opportunities and, ultimately, drive human health outcomes forward.
JLL: We shape the future of real estate for a better world.
Kellogg: Nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive.
Kohl’s: To inspire and empower families to lead fulfilled lives.
Kroger: To feed the human spirit.
Kyndryl: We make the complex simple to enable customer innovation.
M&T Bank: To make a difference in people’s lives.
MASCO: Delivering better living possibilities.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance: To help people secure their future and protect the ones they love.
Mastercard: We work to connect and power an inclusive digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible; Connecting everyone to Priceless possibilities.
MetLife: To help our customers navigate life’s twists and turns.
Molson Coors Beverages: Uniting people to celebrate all life’s moments.
Mondelez International: We empower people to snack right.
Newell Brands: To make life better every day for hundreds of millions of consumers where they live, learn, work and play.
Newmont: To create value and improve lives through sustainable and responsible mining.
NRG Energy: We bring the power of energy to people and organizations.
Office Depot: It’s all about doing the right thing – for our shared planet, our valuable communities, and the future of how we service and support our customers.
Oneok: Grow our businesses safely, profitably and in an environmentally sustainable manner while maintaining financial strength.
Owens & Minor: Owens & Minor insists on inclusion, support, and respect.
Owens Corning: Our people and products make the world a better place.
Parker-Hannifin: Enabling Engineering Breakthroughs that Lead to a Better Tomorrow.
Pfizer: Working together for a healthier world.
Phillip Morris International: To deliver a smoke-free future.
PPG Industries: Achieve superior shareholder returns.
Principal Financial: To give you the financial tools, resources and information you need to live your best life.
Procter & Gamble: We will provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come.
PVH: We power brands that drive fashion forward – for good.
Ralph Lauren: Our purpose at Ralph Lauren is to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style.
Realogy Holdings: Opening Doors – an all-encompassing description that reflects a larger idealistic motivation for coming to work each day.
Robert Half International: To help people find meaningful employment and businesses identify the talent they need to grow.
Rush Enterprises: To provide superior customer service with every interaction and support our customers whenever and wherever they need us.
S&P Global: We accelerate progress in the world by providing intelligence that is essential for companies, governments and individuals to make decisions with conviction.
Securian Financial Group: Helping our customers build secure tomorrows.
J.M. Smucker: Feeding connections that help us thrive – life tastes better together.
Sonic Automotive: Deliver an experience for our guests and teammates that fulfills dreams, enriches lives and delivers happiness.
Southwest Airlines: Connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.
Stanley Black & Decker: For those who make the world.
Starbucks: As it has been from the beginning, our purpose goes far beyond profit. We believe in the pursuit of doing good.
State Street Corp.: We help create better outcomes for the world’s investors and the people they serve.
Target: To help all families discover the joy of everyday life.
TD Ameritrade Holding: We exist to transform lives and investing for the better.
Tech Data: To continuously satisfy the world’s ever-evolving demand for technology.
Truist Financial: To inspire and build better lives and communities.
Tyson Foods: Raising the world’s expectations for how much good food can do.
Union Pacific: The people of Union Pacific deliver North America’s safest, most reliable and most efficient supply chain solutions.
United Airlines: Connecting people. Uniting the world.
Verizon Communications: Verizon’s core purpose is to give people the ability to do more.
VF: We power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and our planet.
Walgreens Boots Alliance: We help people across the world lead healthier and happier lives.
Wells Fargo: To help our customers succeed financially.
Copyright © 2023 Purpose Brand LLC
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