Every great company has a compass and a catchphrase. The compass is the mission statement—the guiding “why” that orients employees, investors, and customers over decades. The catchphrase is the slogan—the cultural spark that sticks in your head and rallies people in the moment.

The trouble is, people often confuse the two. A mission statement isn’t a tagline. And a slogan isn’t a strategy. The magic happens when they work together.

What Makes a Great Mission Statement?

At their best, mission statements do four things:

1. They tap emotional universality.

Google: “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

That line works for a librarian, a coder, or a kid writing a school paper.

2. They embrace ambition.

Meta (formerly Facebook): “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”

That’s not about social feeds—it’s about re-engineering how billions of humans connect.

3. They frame a platform, not just a product.

Stripe: “Increase the GDP of the internet.”

Shopify: “Make commerce better for everyone.”

Both take something narrow (payments, storefronts) and elevate it into infrastructure for the digital economy.

4. They’re memorable.

Apple once wrote: “To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”

It’s lofty, human, and unforgettable.

What Makes a Great Slogan?

If the mission is the compass, the slogan is the rallying cry. It’s short, emotional, and designed to be repeated on billboards, in ads, and in conversation.

• Nike: “Just do it.”
• Apple: “Think Different.”
• Google (unofficial, but legendary): “Don’t be evil.”
• Airbnb: “Belong anywhere.”
• Facebook’s early mantra: “Move fast and break things.”
• Shopify’s rallying cry: “Arm the rebels.”

Slogans don’t explain the business model—they make you feel something. They’re cultural shorthands.

When the Two Reinforce Each Other

The magic is in the pairing.

• Nike: Mission—“Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” Slogan—“Just do it.” The mission sets the ambition; the slogan delivers the punch.
• Airbnb: Mission—“Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.” Slogan—“Belong anywhere.” Mission and slogan collapse into one universal idea, and suddenly the company is shaping culture, not just renting homes.
• Shopify: Mission—“Make commerce better for everyone.” Slogan—“Arm the rebels.” One is inclusive, the other is combative. Together, they speak to both the mainstream and the underdog.
• Facebook/Meta: Mission—“Bring the world closer together.” Slogan—“Move fast and break things.” One rallies humanity, the other rallies hackers. The tension between the two is part of the company’s DNA.

PodPlay’s Compass and Rallying Cry

At PodPlay, we’ve taken inspiration from these examples in creating our own pairing:

Mission statement: “To increase the amount of fun being had in the world.”

• Universality: Everyone understands fun—it’s primal.
• Ambition: Not a little fun. The world’s fun. That’s a big swing.
• Framing: Fun itself, not narrowly “pickleball” or “sports tech.” The mission is bigger than the category we are focused on today.
• Echo: A deliberate nod to Stripe’s “increase the GDP of the internet”—but with play instead of commerce.

Slogan: “Use your phone to put down your phone.”

It flips the paradox of modern life on its head. The phone, humanity’s most universal device, becomes a tool not for scrolling but for getting people into real spaces—courts, clubs, and pods—where fun is physical, social, and healthy. It’s technology in the service of joy, in direct contrast to the purely digital worlds that can leave us isolated.

The Takeaway

A mission statement tells us why you exist. A slogan tells us why we should care today. The best companies—from Nike to Apple to Stripe—get both right. PodPlay aims to stand in that tradition, with a compass set toward fun and a rallying cry that reminds us: technology should get us off the couch and into the game.

The PodPlay Advantage

PodPlay gives venue operators all the tools they need to digitally manage a physical space - integrating video replays, digital scoreboards, and autonomous functionality with a reservation engine, event management, coach connect, membership module, and payments. 

Originally built to power PingPod, the network of futuristic autonomous ping pong clubs, PodPlay is now being used to manage venues across pickleball, padel, ping pong, golf simulators, tennis, cricket, soccer and pool, with more experience verticals to come in the future.

If you’re interested in learning more, request a demo.