A show mission is a commitment to a focus. It tells the creators and audience alike what the show is, and more importantly, what the show is not. A mission keeps content on track. A viewer wants consistency above all else. A mission defines the purpose of the show, and it helps communicate the broader focus. A mission is often conflated and confused with format or structure. While the structure is necessary, it is the mechanism to facilitate meaning. In other words, narrative arc, pacing, beats, and setup and payoff, is structure. A mission is the why, the what, and the how. A mission is the soul, the meaning, the story. True art is when soul meets structure, and together it says something meaningful about our shared condition.
A Mission statement for a show is the foundation in which the audience's trust is built on. Without a clearly defined mission, the viewer struggles to figure out the value they will receive when they click another video, whether the mission is communicated or not. This trust is essential because every single episode cannot have the highest curiosity, they would each be at odds with each other, the trust will bring in viewers regardless of curiosity when you consistently deliver upon a defined and pre-established value. Your mission is your value, your niche, your voice, it is what you are and what you’re not, and it is your safeguard.
If a show strays from the mission, regardless of how creative the idea is, or how well it was executed, the audience will reject it. If the creator doesn’t know the intent of their creation, it will satisfy and provide value to no one. It doesn't matter if the mission is verbally communicated; if the content does not reflect what's expected, viewers can feel it.
Creating content without a mission is multiplying by 0. A Mission is the first step in creation if the content is created without a mission, that content is being multiplied by 0, in other words it is created and not projected. A mission provides the possibility of exponential amplification. What good is a brilliant thought without a voice to speak it?
The purpose of existence for a piece of content without a mission can be revealed as nothing more than a hopeful monetary exchange. The paradox behind the previous statement; value is only obtained if value is offered. Those who seek to create for the sake of it without mission will find themselves constantly struggling to discover what it is that fulfills them just as those who produce in seek of a return will consistently struggle to find a profit.
Of course, individual videos can provide meaning independently from each other, but that method pushes them to compete against each other for attention and often cancels out the effect of their purpose. For a show to have meaning, consistent success, it must have a mission that brings together the collective focus of each episode.
Defining a mission statement is the first step in establishing a niche, a voice, a 'who.' We are often in search for something elusive that goes by many names; 'Finding your voice,' 'who you are,' 'a name for yourself,' 'your style,' etc. These quests are as innate in us as is our thirst for water. Paradoxically, identity ('your voice') is not something you can directly find, its a result of what you do. Identity is a result of behavior and belief. It can be influenced; it can be broken down and rebuilt, but not directly. In other words 'your voice' is created by a strategic lack of focus on 'your voice.' Identity is created by action, and action is created by belief. A mission is a belief and a commitment to a particular action that proves said belief. Each time a creator creates is the opportunity to prove their belief. Consistently deliver on the said mission and 'your voice' is discovered.
People can become lost in 'finding their voice' for the simple reason that they believe they don't have one. Their actions of 'searching' communicate and prove their belief of themselves, that they do not have a unique voice. When your focus is on making a difference, instead of being different, you will achieve both.
We sometimes see successful creators or shows online that appear as though they do not have a mission when creating their content, or they transparently profess a lack of one. How can these shows bring in viewers and content without a clearly defined mission?
To explain this, we must first disambiguate the difference between an individual's creation, and a team's creation. When an individual creates content without a team or an auteur creates content with a team, it is nearly impossible for the creator's beliefs to be hidden. These beliefs that seep into the consciousness of their creations is their mission whether they claim it to be or not. We see this time and time again with nearly all individual or auteurist creators. Their vision of the world is unique and based on their set of beliefs, it seems to be impossible for them to not create without projecting these beliefs into their creations.
When a team creates without an auteur or a clearly defined mission, everyone's beliefs on the team seep through into the creation. This creates utter confusion for the audience. They do not know what to take away from the creation. If the audience did somehow take something away of value, they instinctually realize that it was happenstance and not by design. This is only proved when the next creation of the team does not identify with the previous belief, the audience then, subconsciously I might add, avoids further creations from that team.
When a team does not commit to a mission or belief, they have enormous trouble distinguishing between great ideas, and great ideas that fit their assumed collective identity. A great idea spoken by the wrong person will never be heard.
This is also why we see audiences leave creators when the creator has gone through an identity change. In other words, the creator's belief system has changed, and everyone in their audience who identified with that previous belief system no longer aligns with this new identity that the creator has assumed.
A show mission is made up of the following parts; the why, the what, and the how. Each one plays a vital role in keeping a focused team on a mission. Each section is broken down to give a better example of each part; however, all that is important is that there is a clear why, what, and how, not necessarily a distinction between all the attributes of each part. There is no proper order in coming up with answers to any of these parts, as many characteristics inspire the response to other attributes, it is a cyclical process.