With the rebrand already rolled out and the Wellknown team ever expanding (now eight full-time team members strong!), it was time to think about our messaging and address our mission statement. 

Read on to discover more about why we’ve reworked our mission statement, how we went about tailoring it to the values of our team, and how it’s impacted the way we work. 

Contents: 

• Why do we need a mission statement in the first place?
• What’s covered in a mission statement?
• The motivation: Our recent rebrand
• The method: Getting our heads together
• The execution: What it looks and sounds like
• Get to know the Wellknown team

Why do we need a mission statement in the first place?

It used to be enough to start a company and launch it into the market with a simple statement: 

‘We are X. We do/make/sell Y.’ 

But the environmentally and socially conscious consumer of today is no longer sold on the product alone. What they really care about is the mission behind where they spend their money. 

That’s where the company mission statement comes in. 

Not only does the mission statement offer a platform for a business to communicate its core vision and values with its customers; it also acts as a guide for how the business should go about doing business every day. 

What’s covered in a mission statement?

At a basic level, your mission statement should cover: 

The ‘what’ 

The ‘what’ allows you to share with your potential and existing customers, clients, employees and stakeholders what it is you actually do — and this should be phrased in a way ALL of your audiences can understand. 

You’ll then take this a step further and talk about what you want to achieve by doing what you do. If you see your business changing the world someday, what does the change look like and who will it impact?

The ‘how’

The ‘how’ is a key element of your mission statement as it demonstrates to your audience that you’re not just all talk — you’ve put practical plans into place for achieving the goals you’ve outlined. 

You should address how you go about providing your services every day and what this looks like for your team and the wider business in general. For example, if part of your mission is to become more sustainable as a business, HOW are you going to achieve this? What changes are you making now to prepare for a more sustainable future? 

And, most importantly, the ‘why’ 

The ‘what’ and ‘how’ are hollow statements unless you can identify the ‘why’, and it’s important to be honest and transparent when communicating your ‘why’. 

Ultimately, the aim with this section is to home in on your motivations and passions so your audience can see that what you do isn’t just box-ticking to earn a wage and pay rent — it’s something you care deeply about and have invested your time and energy into. 

When thinking about your why, try answering the following questions: 

• Why do you do what you do? 
• If you’ve identified a need, what is that need and how are you helping to satisfy it? 
• What drives you day-to-day? 
• What impact are you hoping to have had in ten years’ time?

The motivation: Our recent rebrand 

Four years into our journey, with lots of changes along the way, we decided the time was right for us to take a look at our brand and weigh up whether or not it truly reflected who we were — our growing team, our collective purpose and passion, our evolved values, and the range of services we’ve developed. 

Once we’d spent several hours mulling it over, the general consensus was that yes, our brand needed work. 

In the end, the decision to carry out a complete rebrand boiled down to our key defining principle; the reason we, as a company, exist… 

We exist to turn expertise into unforgettable learning experiences — to make researchers, academics and course creators and their resources WELLKNOWN. 

You can see where our thinking went from there! After we knew which direction we were headed in, all that needed settling was how we’d get there. Working with a branding expert, we began by outlining our approach to our work and allowed it to inform our new visual and textual identity. 

And with this, WELLKNOWN was born!  

Read more about the reasoning and rollout of our rebrand in our blog. 

The method: Getting our heads together 

Now came the equally important task of setting out our thoughts to create our mission statement. We decided to do this the only way we know how — collaboratively (a.k.a. The Wellknown way). 

Excited to embark on this adventure together, the team gathered in Manchester’s beautiful Northern Quarter at our first monthly team away day to share their ideas and ambitions, learn more about how we each approach our work, and brainstorm our vision and values. 

By the end of the day, the basis of our mission statement was starting to take shape. All it needed then was for our resident word nerd, Lolli, to work her magic, collate everyone’s notes and build them out into a defined and practicable core company mission.  

“Doing this exercise collaboratively was really important for us,” says Lolli. “It allowed us to fully incorporate the thoughts, ideas and attitudes of everyone in our team from the earliest stage of messaging development, so we could be sure that whatever we put out in our mission statement would be authentic and a true representation of who we are and how we work.” 

Ready to see the result? Keep scrolling… 

The execution: What it looks and sounds like

Our mission

Our mission is the thing that drives us in our everyday work. It’s what we do, and how we’re hoping to help people by doing it. 

What it sounds like… 

Our mission is to design and develop innovative, engaging, memorable online learning experiences that deliver lasting impact for learners and a strong ROI. 

What it looks like… 

In practice, we enact our mission by adopting a human-centred approach. Our online learning solutions are developed by humans, for humans. This means:  

• We develop strong working partnerships with our clients and subject matter experts so that we can get to know their challenges, motivations and goals, and build an understanding of the topic from the ground up. 
• Every decision we make with regards to digital learning design is driven by the needs of the end user. We assess learner frustrations, pain points and their causes, along with any accessibility requirements, and aim to address all needs to the fullest extent with the content we produce. 

Our vision

Our vision is the long-term goal we’re all working towards as a team. When all’s said and done, it’s the impact we hope to leave on the industry, the wider community, and the world. 

What it sounds like… 

Our vision is to revolutionise digital approaches to learning and expand what’s possible by championing creativity, excellence, and strong working relationships with clients, stakeholders and each other. 

What it looks like… 

We stay on top of the latest industry trends and technologies, critically assessing the tools available to us to ensure every creative decision we make is made for a reason, and everything we implement has a positive impact. 

Our human-centred approach is what makes us different, and it’s by adopting this across every level of our practice and processes that we can hope to revolutionise the way things are done in our industry. 

Our values 

Our values address how we go about collectively achieving the goals we’ve set for ourselves. They inform our processes and approaches, and the culture we’re developing as a team. 

What they sound like…