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BRAND PURPOSE:
The Definitive Guide [with 21
Examples]
Brand Purpose is not a new
topic anymore.

It’s been a topic of debate for

years now and in some circles
is even seen as a “dirty word”.

It’s been executed

masterfully, overused
distastefully and even
abused by brands that want
to leverage its benefits
without merit.

But despite many believing it

was a marketing fad, It has
catapulted some brands to
:
 “Iconic” status.

This isn’t just another article

on “The Purpose Of A Brand”,

It’s everything you ever

needed to know about
Brand Purpose As A
Branding Strategy.

Using research, statistics,

examples and visuals, we’re
breaking down this topic
once and for all,

We’re highlighting the

pioneers, the phonies, the
inspiring successes and
embarrassing failures.

You’ll see why Purpose is here

to stay, and give you a step-
by-step execution blueprint
so you can, understand,
discover, strategise and
execute purpose into your
brand.
:
 Brand Purpose is not a new
topic anymore.

It’s been a topic of debate for

years now and in some circles
is even seen as a “dirty word”.

It’s been executed

masterfully, overused
distastefully and even
abused by brands that want
to leverage its benefits
without merit.

But despite many believing it

was a marketing fad, It has
catapulted some brands to
“Iconic” status.

This isn’t just another article

on “The Purpose Of A Brand”,

It’s everything you ever

needed to know about
Brand Purpose As A
Branding Strategy.

Using research, statistics,

examples and visuals, we’re
breaking down this topic
once and for all,

We’re highlighting the

pioneers, the phonies, the
:
 inspiring successes and
embarrassing failures.

You’ll see why Purpose is here

to stay, and give you a step-
by-step execution blueprint
so you can, understand,
discover, strategise and
execute purpose into your
brand.

Contents

CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4

BRAND THE THE THE

PURPOSE GOLDEN GREAT IMPACT
FUNDAMENTALS CIRCLE PURPOSE OF
PIONEER DEBATE PURPOSE

CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8

:
 BEST + PURPOSE DISCOVER EXECUTE
WORST STRATEGY YOUR PURPOSE
EXAMPLES CONSIDERATIONSPURPOSE STRATEGY

YES! SEND ME THE

Don’t Have Time To Read It ARTICLE
All Now?

No problem. I’ll shoot it over to you

so you can read it when you have
time. Just let me know where to
send it (takes 5 seconds).

Chapter 1
Brand Purpose
Fundamentals
:
 Before we deep dive into
step-by-step brand purpose
strategies and processes, we
need to first understand
where this desire for brands
to be all “purpose driven” has
come from.

It’s not something brands

talked about in generations
gone by.

So why now?

Brands weren’t working to a

higher purpose 20 years ago,
so what’s changed?

What’s the driving force

behind purposeful brands?

What’s The Drive Behind

Purpose Driven Brands?
In the 80’s and 90’s communication between
consumers and brands was one way.

Brands dictated terms and the consumer had very

little say in the relationship.

It was a case of like it or lump it.

:
 The voice of the consumer was small, squeaky and
could be talked over quite easily or simply ignored.

Then, the digital revolution came along and

conversations went online which started in the beloved
90’s chatrooms.

Suddenly consumers started to voice their opinions

and they quickly realised the power in their numbers.

Brands were forced to backtrack, change course, sit

up straight and listen and were dragged kicking and
screaming into the world of the new powerhouse…
:
 We’ll dive into that a bit deeper later, for now let’s strip
back purpose and dive into why.
:
 Download The
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The Purpose Breakdown

We as humans are driven by purpose and we seek
meaning in our lives.

With self-actualisation, we can reach our full potential

:
 and realise our purpose.

In the Oxford Dictionary, Purpose is defined as “The

reason for which something is done or created or for
which something exists”.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a well-renowned

psychological theory around motivation, suggests that
we all have basic needs, which are tiered by priority.

When each need is met, the next is the most pressing.

In theory, only when you satisfy your Physiological,

Safety, Love and Esteem needs, can you move on to
Self-Actualisation, which is the desire to become the
most you can be, or…

To realise your purpose.

:
 Consumers today, headed up by gang leader, The
Millennial, are more self-aware than ever before and as
such are more conscious of their purpose and place
in the world.

They are selective about the relationships they keep and

seek friendships with alignment in beliefs and
values, which extend to their relationships with brands.

The Great Purpose Divide

We as people have our own ideas, thoughts and points
of view.

In many cases, we surround ourselves with people that

:
 are like-minded and share the beliefs that we do.

This can be from basic values like how treat people to

political points of view.

As brands become more and more humanised with

everything from a look and feel to a personality and a
tone of voice, they are increasingly adopting
humanistic traits and consumers want to know what
they believe.

Personalities are becoming even more real with brands

adopting brand archetypes to specifically evoke certain
emotions within their audience.
:
 Just as you and I might look for the meaning and
purpose in our lives, brands have been taking the same
approach.

Now, this is often where the arguments about purpose

begin.

Are brands seeking out a purpose because they want

their consumers to think they are like-minded and buy
their products or is there actually an element of
substance behind it?

Why is it that every brand now has a conscience?

:
 It’s obviously to win more business right?

If we as consumers didn’t voice our beliefs would they?

There are two arguments to this:

NUMBER 1: is that maybe they still would. The new,

social aware generations are not just consumers, they
are also business leaders.

NUMBER 2: is that no, they wouldn’t. Brands have

already proved that before the customer had an
amplified voice, they tended to do what they wanted,
which in most cases were profits first.

One thing is for certain, both consumers and brands are

changing.

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techniques?

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:
 The Ignorant Brand Bully Is
Dead
“Customer is King” is by no means a new concept.

Back in 1876, The father of modern advertising and a

pioneer in marketing John Wanamaker, who turned an
abandoned railway depot in Philadelphia into one of
the world’s first department stores, stated;

“When a customer enters my store, forget me. He is

king,”

Though this was a revolutionary concept at the time,

brands the world over, embraced the idea for the next
120 years.
:
 The reality however was that the brands held all the
cards.

The communication was one way advertising with

brands telling consumers what they needed and
customers juggling the options they were served.

This “Open Letter To Ignorant Brands” sums it up in the

first paragraph.

“You romanced me. Secretly, I hoped to

see an improved version of myself by
virtue of your promises.

Then through several engagements, I

discovered you don’t care about me at
all.

I needed love so badly that I ignored the

early signs.

Now I can see clearly, you are just

another greedy bastard.”

Brands promised the world but If the customer didn’t

like something about the brand, their products or they
way they went about their business, well, that was just
too bad.

What were they going to do about it?

Write a strongly worded letter that would give the staff

:
 a chuckle?

But as traditional advertising is finding out the hard

way, the days of one-way broadcasting are dying.

Why Do Brands Need

Purpose?
With the birth of the internet and then email,
consumers had already begun flexing their vocal
muscles.

Email petitions had already influenced multi-national

brands though the real shift of power came with
social media.

Tired of being dictated to ignored or even bullied by

brands, consumers, armed with their new MySpace,
Bebo or Facebook profiles, started calling brands out
for unethical behaviours.

Reported In 2007 by the BBC, confectionary giant

“Mars” was forced to make a swift U-turn over plans to
use animal products in their chocolate on the back of a
of a public backlash.
:
 When the UK vegetarian society got wind, they urged
all their members to complain to the company, local
MP’s or their local newspapers.

Within a week, the firm had received more than 6,000

calls and e-mails and 40 MPs had signed a petition.

Masterfoods promptly agreed to revert to the old

recipe, apologised and declared the “consumer is our
boss”.

Boom!

And just like that the game had changed.

:
 Vodafone in 2010 in Australia, were synonymous with
their poor service and even worse customer support.

When Adam Brimo, a 23-year old student hit boiling

point, he created the website vodafail.com which
quickly drew over a million visitors and gave 22,000
reviewers a chance to unleash their fury.

Brimo unknowingly started a movement that resulted

in Vodafone investing $1Billion in service upgrades.

More and more stories began to spread of brands

altering unethical behaviours and bowing to public
pressure and suddenly, the once hushed consumer now
had a swagger.

The hashtag, later came along and began to spark

bigger and broader social concerns, some of which
became viral phenomenon’s.

Remember the ice bucket challenge?

:
 Here are 8 examples of the humble hashtag sparking
mass movements.

Conversations grew louder.

This Millennial’s confidence grew and they began to

realise that they had a voice and a platform that
previous generations did not, and they weren’t about
to waste it.
:
 How Brand Strategy Evolved
In the early years of digital activism, anyone with a social
media profile and a few friends had the power to wield
their new, extremely loud voice.

No brand, anywhere was safe anymore, and some

took heavy beatings.

Many a multinational brands bowed down with bloody

noses, altering courses and changing decisions in the
face of a billion potential whistle blowers.

Brand apologies, unheard of before social media came

along, have become a common theme.

Here’s a breakdown of The good, the bad and the WTF

of brand apologies.

Some of them have actually become good at it, like KFC

with this chuckler.
:
 Strategic brands quickly learned what not to do and
were forced to consider what the public wanted,
especially if there was a perception in the market of
unethical behaviour.

Smart brands began to thinking ahead and being

proactive.

Instead of walking on eggshells worrying about what

the public wanted, they did some Googling and
snooping on Facebook and found out.
:
 More and more brands began to take an interest in
hashtags, and social media groups to better
understand the conversations their customers were
having.

With a better understanding of what their customers

wanted, brands started taking positions and
addressing some of the social concerns of their
customers which gave rise to today’s purpose driven
brands.

How Brands Became Political

Increasingly, brands are now being asked by the next

generation, to take positions on political issues.
:
 More brands are walking the political plank, with
possible outcomes including backlash, boycotts, or a
raving army of advocates.

Silence on sensitive political issues, may still fly for now,

but it seems we are approaching a time where CEO’s of
major brands will ned to employ political brand
advisors, as highlighted by AdWeek.

The most noteworthy political position by a brand to

date was Nike’s alignment with Colin Kaepernick in his
protest against police brutality.

Either way, wading into political waters is uncharted

territory but the transparency is refreshing.
:
 According to social Sprout

“Consumers’ most common emotional

reactions to brands taking a stand on
social were positive, with “intrigued,”
“impressed” and “engaged” emerging as
the top three consumer reactions.”

According to Target Marketing Mag, 82% of liberals like

brands with their politics.

Chapter 2
The Golden Circle Pioneer

Brands adopting purpose

didn’t come naturally.
:
 In fact, the reality is, they
were dragged into the
purpose-driven era kicking
and screaming.

But in 2009, a little known

author by the name of Simon
Sinek introduced the
Golden Circle.

He got on stage at his now

infamous Ted Talk and told
Entrepreneurs and Business
Leaders to “Start With Why”.

It’s still one of the most-

watched Ted Talks of all time.

And his book also titled: “Start

With Why”, influenced the
branding industry.

Why Start With Why?

The name Simon Sinek and the term Brand Purpose

are synonymous.

It’s fair to say he’s the brand purpose daddy.

His Ted Talk is the most watched of all time and his
purpose is, well… purpose.
:
 In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the short version.

In 2009 he wrote a timely book “Start with Why”, Sinek

identifies the “Why” as the holy grail of business and
branding.

The book looks at why some leaders and organisations

inspire while others don’t.

He uses the world’s biggest brand “Apple” throughout

in his examples.

He asks why one “computer company” has been able to

defy the odds and earn so many loyal brand
advocates.

The key takeaway is that:

:
 Although Apple is used as examples throughout, don’t
be put off.

This is not just for the big boys.

It’s the foundation and starting point for the brand

purpose of any organisation big or small.

The key term is “Why”.

Purpose is all about answering the question:

Apart from Commercial Interest, Why is it

that you do what you do?

The obvious commercial benefit is simply the bloodline

of a business.

Just as with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, there are

some fundamental needs that need to be met before
Purpose comes into play.
:
 How To Use The Golden Circle
In Sinek’s book he uses The Golden Circle to illustrate
how brands communicate.

The inspired organisations (regardless of their size or

industry) all think act and communicate from the inside
out.

They understand their why and their reason for being

and that transcends through all their communication.
:
 Only when we understand how our brains receive
communication, can we understand why we need to
communicate from the inside out.

Neocortex:
This is our newest area of the brain, our homo sapien
brain, and this corresponds with the WHAT level of the
Golden Circle.

This is responsible for all our rational and analytical

thought and language.

This allows us to look through vast amounts of facts and

figures, but it doesn’t drive behaviour.

Limbic Brain:
The Limbic brain comprises of the middle two sections
and is responsible for all our feelings, such as trust and
loyalty.

This area of the brain is responsible for all human

behaviour and all our decision-making.
:
 It is where our emotional connection takes place, and it
has no capacity for language.

It’s the separation of these areas of the brain that makes

it so difficult to articulate our feelings. and why we often
hear the saying; “words can’t explain how I feel”.

Simon Sinek’s book and The Golden Circle gives brand

builders a tool to find their why and communicate to
their audience from the inside out.

When you do that, everything becomes easier.

“Putting in long hours for a corporation is

hard. Putting in long hours for a cause is
easy”. – Elon Musk, Tesla
:
 Chapter 3
The Great Purpose Debate

Brand purpose is a topic of

fierce debate.

Passionate advocates and

passionate opponents sit on
opposite sides of the fence
throwing stones at each
other.

Why? Well, there are

examples of authentic and
impactful purpose and there
are examples of unethical
and distasteful purpose.

Are brands actually trying to

help, or just make more
money?

When the end goal of a

business is to turn a profit,
anything to the contrary is
scrutinised.

But if the by-product of a

growing brand is a social or
environmental cause
:
 addressed, aren’t we moving
in the right direction or is it
just too little too late?

Brand Purpose Confusion and

Myths

A common challenge when looking to develop (or just

understand) a brand purpose is that the term is often
used interchangeably with others terms and can cause
confusion as pointed out by Harvard Business Review.

Brand purpose is quite often lumped together with one

of the many other organisational statements that
:
 organisations construct.

So let’s define these and nip this in the bud once and
for all.

Purpose (The Why):

Why do we do what we do (aside from
commercial benefit).

“To accelerate the world’s transition to

sustainable energy”. – Tesla

Vision (The Where):

Where is your brand going and what
does that future brand look like?

“To become the world’s most loved, most

flown, and most profitable airline.” –
Southwest Air

Mission (The What):

What are you committed to in realising
your vision?

“Build the best product, cause no

unnecessary harm, use business to
:
 inspire and implement solutions to the
environmental crisis.” – Patagonia

Values: (The How):

How will your brand go about its business
in realising its vision for the future?

“Sell good merchandise at a reasonable

profit, treat your customers like human
beings, and they will always come back
for more.” – L.L.Bean

In a single statement (in theory), a brand could identify

it’s

Why
Where
What and
How

And that’s the cause for confusion

Even if you live by these rules of thumb, you may work

for, or come across brands that do things differently.

It’s not uncommon to see brands (even multinationals)

put forward a purpose that is simply a mission of their
“What”, not their “Why”.

It’s also common for Purpose, Mission Statements and

:
 Vision Statements to be one and the same, or doubled
up.

If their statement can answer the question:

“Aside from commercial interest, Why do

we do what we do?”

Then that it their purpose.

If it can’t. Then it’s something else.

Here are 10 myths about brand purpose.

Brand Authenticity and Fake

Purpose
On the back of so many so-called purposeful brands
coming out of the woodwork, the public has become
skeptical.

Some brands, even big hitters as you’ll see later, have

been called out for Purpose Washing.

What is Purpose Washing?

:
 When brands attempt to unethically ride the coat-tails
of purposeful causes with thinly veiled campaigns that
have little to no substance.

Essentially, the brand wants to be seen as doing good

aeven when there is no real commitment or follow
through to go with their claims.

The focus has turned to the authenticity of the

purposeful communication (and communication in
general) of all brands, not just those that claim to be
purposeful.

In general, people are less trusting of media and

brands today than in times past.

Fake news has fanned the fires of distrust with more

people saying they are unsure of what to believe in the
media.

The Havas Media Group also backed up this sentiment

with their study, stating that only 57% of brands are
trusted worldwide
:
 According to Radley Yeldar who research the impact of
purpose driven brands:

“Too many brands are slapping a hastily-

created statement on their website.
They’re promoting it through big
marketing campaigns. They’re not
stopping to consider the impact that it
should have on the way it operates as a
business. And it’s not working.”.
:
 Consumers want brands to behave a certain way but
brands beware.

Your purpose had better have authenticity, substance

and actions behind it rather than a couple of
paragraphs on an “Our Purpose” page of your website.

Brand authenticity (and inauthenticity) are hot topics

and brands that jump on the “Purpose” bandwagon
with the only goal of reaping perception benefits;
should expect a fiery backlash if called out.

In 2017 amid the Black Lives Matter movement, Pepsi

released an ad that they said, “was trying to project a
global message of unity, peace and understanding”.

Unfortunately for them, the world saw it for what it was.

An inauthentic attempt to leverage a sensitive issue for

commercial benefit.

Check out AdWeek’s autopsy.

:
 The backlash was swift and widespread which resulted
in Pepsi pulling the commercial the next day and
issuing the following apology:

“Clearly we missed the mark, and we

apologize.

We did not intend to make light of any

serious issue.

We are removing the content and halting

any further rollout.

We also apologize for putting Kendall

Jenner in this position.”

Not even when Pepsi nearly killed Michael Jackson

when filming their commercial in the 80’s were they so
formally apologetic.
:
 How things have changed:

On a side note, they did pay him $1.5 million

compensation, which he promptly donated to a
purposeful cause; a clinic to support burns victims.
:
 The Argument Against Brand
Purpose

For every advocate of brand purpose, there is an

opponent pointing to bottom lines, inauthenticity,
shareholders and the fate of CEO’s who allocate capital
to “airy fairy” ideas.

Brand purpose in many quarters is seen as a marketing

fad.

That it’s simply an attempt by brands to appear to be

doing good when in fact it’s just an initiative that the
marketing department came up with as a means to
increase some other metric being measured.
:
 Even if it’s steeped in authenticity and there are
genuine and honest roots in the cause, It will always be
a nice to have behind solid sales and a cast iron
business plan.

These points are relevant.

It’s easy to understand, especially in the small business

space, that business leaders have more important fish
to fry than trying to save the world.

It’s not their responsibility and they don’t want to

look like a hypocrite either.

“How can I save the world when I’m

barely saving myself!

I have rent, staff and contractors to pay,

and those facebook ads are sucking all
my marketing budget without giving
anything back!”

– Said small business owners everywhere.

:
 As we covered earlier, the number one purpose of a
brand is to generate revenue and profit.

All brands are businesses and without that revenue to

feed the outgoings and promote the incomings, they
would be someone’s expensive hobby or they would
simply cease to exist.

Amazon (a company that isn’t struggling to make ends

meet) has run into its fair share of unethical missteps in
recent years.

Reports of staff being overworked and underpaid with

timed toilet breaks highlight the harsh conditions their
workers endure.

Despite this bad publicity the numbers keep growing,

the customers keep adding to cart and Amazon is
:
 now the most valuable business in the world and its
owner Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world.

If brand purpose really was as impactful as the do

gooders say, if the consumer was as aware as bring
suggested, if brands were at the mercy of what we all
think then surely Amazon would be in a world of hurt
right?

If you want to look at brand purpose as a whole, then

you should look at both sides of the coin.

Out of the many opponents of purpose, some write

compelling arguments against the strategy.

Like this one, that shoots down the evidence and logic
used in Jim Stengel’s highly influential book “Grow”.
:
 Marketing Weeks business columnist of the year Mark
Ritson, pits Senge’s position against another vocal and
well-respected branding expert Byron Sharp in his
article “The Battle For Branding’s Soul Is On” concluding
that he sits somewhere in the middle of both.

Purpose Strategy Vs Business

Strategy

The opponents are right about one thing.

Brand purpose will never stack up against solid sales

figures and a cast iron business model.

Though it’s not intended to stack up against them.

It’s intended to support them so the solid sales figures

of today, stay solid when competitors come to take
their market share later on.
:
 Purpose is a Branding Strategy, not a Business
Strategy.

As we touched on earlier, in Abraham Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs, there are some fundamentals like
food and shelter that are prioritised before even
thinking about self-actualisation and what one’s
purpose in life is.

If you don’t have a solid business plan and a functional

go-to-market strategy then a fluffy purpose will help
you as much as an ashtray on a motorbike.

Yes, brand purpose is about having a moral reason for

being, aside from commercial interest that’s aligned
with what your audiences’ believes.

But there are a few ducks that need to be in a row

before this becomes a focus.
:
 Are consumers buying on Amazon because of their
“Why”?

That’s a big fat No.

We all know why Amazon does what they do and there

is no clearer confirmation than Mr Bezos’ bulging bank
account.

People are buying on Amazon because they have such

a unique business model and level of cost and
convenience that is unmatched in the market.

Which begs the question…

Where is purpose playing out in all of this?

Does Amazon even attempt to give back?

:
 Well, yes…. Kind of.

AmazonSmile, launched in 2013 donates 0.5% of sales

to charity.

So, for every $1,000 you spend, $5 will go to charity.

Wow Amazon…. Wow!

The Non-Profit Chroniclesare even less impressed

Amazon is an anomaly though because it has no

competitors offering the range of products they do with
the price and convenience they do.

Branding is about giving an audience a

reason to choose your company over
:
 another in a competitive market.

Branding can influence their choice and then works to

build a bond so when competitors come knocking,
loyalty keeps them at bay and protects your market
share.

Aside from suggesting more products that you might

like (which is really just asking you to spend more),
Amazon don’t break their back to build a bond with
their customers.

An authentic purpose earns its stripes in a

competitive market and there are none close to the e-
commerce giant.

Their range of products and convenience means has

Amazon as such a dominant force that the market is
not competitive.

If one day however, a purpose driven competitor

emerges that matches them on range, price and
convenience with an authentic purpose to do some
good in the world, do you think Amazon’s customers
:
 will stick around out of loyalty?

My guess would be that Mr. Bezos would have a cart

problem.

Amazon are so far out in front of everyone else.

As long as Amazon continue to offer a far greater level

of range and convenience, then this is not an
environment for a discussion on a competitive brand
purpose.

Unless the market is competitive consumers will follow

the range and convenience that Amazon offers them.

It’s only when the market catches up, that their lack of
purpose will come into focus.

Will that ever happen? Not in the near future I don’t

believe.
:
 The Argument For Brand
Purpose

It’s pretty clear that many brands are using purpose as

a marketing tool rather than instilling it as the fabric of
their business.

But that’s like using a hammer to clean your teeth.

It doesn’t mean the hammer is broken.

A Harvard Business Review global survey of 474

executives found that an overwhelming majority
believe that a strong sense of purpose in an
organisation has a positive impact on:

Employee satisfaction

Brand Advocacy
:
 Transformation Efforts

Higher quality products and services

Customer Loyalty

If you have the time, it’s fairly chunky but jammed with
useful insights some of which I’ll cover below.

The survey defined organizational purpose as:

“an aspirational reason for being which

inspires and provides a call to action for
an organization and its partners and
stakeholders and provides benefit to
local and global society.”

So what does that mean?

:
 Essentially, businesses are putting new goals in place
that were never part of the makeup of their businesses.

Goals that in short, aim to make the world a better

place.

Sounds lovely doesn’t it? In theory anyway.

Heading In The Right Direction

But even if only a small percentage of these businesses

are successful in their endeavours, circumstances might
change for some people, animals, plants or trees.

I mean, when businesses were creaming it in the 80’s,

how many were putting some of their profits back into
noble causes?

It certainly wasn’t Wall Street and the business leaders

of the day.
:
 Of course, CEO’s aren’t going to suddenly become
Ghandi.

But it’s a few steps in the right direction.

And even if you listen to the detractors and doubters,

momentum is building.

It’s Hard To Argue With Numbers

The HBR survey found that most companies in the

survey fall into three categories with respect to purpose:

#1 PRIORITIZERS
Companies that already have a clearly
:
 articulated and understood purpose (39
percent);

#2 DEVELOPERS
Companies that do not yet have a clearly
articulated purpose but are working to
develop one (48 percent); and

#3 LAGGARDS
Companies that have not yet begun to
develop or even think about purpose (13
percent)
:
 The Volume Is Getting Louder On
Purpose

For all the arguments the critics of purpose, one thing

they can’t deny is that the term “brand purpose” has
been increasing in volume over the last five years.

Global multi-brand organisations have been joining in

on the conversation about broad social and
environmental concerns with many adopting a
purposeful strategies and announcing commitments to
a given cause.

Unilever global brand portfolio pushes past the 400

mark.
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 They are one of the vocal organisations on not just the
wider benefits of purpose but the benefits to the
bottom line.

They live by purpose so much so that it has become

part of the fabric of the business as outlined by their 5
golden rules
(Picture ) Unilever – 5 golden rules

If you want to know if purposeful brands outperform

non-purposeful brands or not, then Unilever is better
placed than anyone to speak about it:
:
 Unilever are just one of many.

Some are introducing purposeful initiatives into their

business strategy while others are looking to push the
conversation of brand purpose.

Can Purpose Really Drive

Growth?
As more brands are reporting greater impact of their
purposeful endeavours, more organisations are looking
to measure that impact.
:
 Havas Media Group publish an annual global analytical
report that looks at:

300,000+ people,
1,500+ brands
15 industries
33 countries.

The latest paper from Havas shows that meaningful

brands (those with an active purpose), outperformed
the stock market by 206% over the last 10 years.

They also found that meaningful brands increased

their KPI’s by 137% compared to those operating
without a purposeful meaning.

Probably their most eye opening stat was that people

wouldn’t care if 77% of brands disappeared.
:
 Havas aren’t the only ones looking at and measuring
the impact purpose has on brands.

EY, another vocal advocate of brand purpose further

drives home the point from their research.

Purpose Makes People Happy

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 In this world of Stats, KPI’s and metrics, everything is
measured to weigh its worth and purpose is no
different.

Without all of these numbers pointing to increased

market share, ROI and growth, then purpose wouldn’t
see the light of day.

But as much as brand purpose has the measurements

to prove its worth, when you look a little closer at the
brands that are really making noise with purpose, you
can see the broader impact.

The end beneficiary, whether it’s the world, a

continent, a country sized jungle, a race, sex, gender
or just a single person, is where the real stories are.

When purpose is authentic with a tangible and

measured goal to make a difference, the world is better
for it and that put simply, that makes people happy.

CASE STUDY:
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 Dove Brand Purpose

Dove, (a Unilever brand) is most certainly a power

player when it comes to brand purpose and have
taken up a cause that resonates with their audience on
many different levels.

Their purposeful endeavours centre on an issue that

their brand has now become synonymous with, “Self-
Esteem”.

Not only have they taken on the challenge to increase

the self-esteem of women today, they have gone further
:
 than that through their Self-Esteem Project as they
attempt to help women address the problem through
educating their daughters.

Dove has taken on a noble cause with Authenticity at its

core and their execution and communication of their
purpose is a lesson in itself.

The Dove Of The Day Didn’t Speak

To Emotion

At the turn of the century, Dove were running

campaigns that were solely focused on their product. It
was all about features and benefits and waving it’s
product differentiation flag when compared to soap.

In fairness to them, they differentiated well and “Its Not

A Soap” tag they used, performed well in the Soap aisle.

Though this was a features and benefits play, not an

emotional one.
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 In 2004 however, they launched an ingenious
campaign that struck an extremely delicate and
relevant chord with women around the world and in
doing so changed the course of the brand and the
branding industry.

Back then, when a fresh faced Zuckaberg was bashing

together the early code of what would become
Facebook, advertising was still very much through
traditional channels and the content was very, let’s say,
traditional.

Dove’s industry especially (cosmetics and toiletries)

used skinny porcelain looking models generously in
their advertising.

Not only did they have little resemblance to the

everyday woman, they fuelled the idea (in men and
women) that this is how women should look.

Victoria’s Secret still thought this strategy was a good

idea in 2014 with this ad.
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 The market was pretty clear that they don’t put up with
that sh*t anymore.

When Dove released their 2004 campaign which

featured six curvy women in the first of a “Real Beauty”
theme, the sigh of relief from women around the world
was audible.
:
 Dove’s disruptive campaign and the overwhelmingly
positive response from the public and the tabloid
press shone a light on an issue that resonated strongly
with women and girls around the world.

Self-esteem.

Dove landed on an issue that women around the world

wanted someone to address and so, Dove became the
voice of Self-Esteem.

In 2013, Unilever’s agency, Ogilvy & Mather, cleverly took

women’s insecurities and put them into visual form,
telling women “you are more beautiful than you
think”, prompting an emotional reaction.

The video went viral and clocked 35 million youtube

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 views in two weeks.

A m0re recent addition pulled self-esteem into focus

once more, when they set up sets of two doors labelled
“Average” and “Beautiful” and documented as women
made their choices driving home that beauty is a state
of mind.

Dove’s sales in the 10 years following their change in

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 brand communication in 2004, jumped from less than
US$2.5 billion to more than US$4 billion.

A few hundred million more than that by now one

would guess.

As Jim Stengel, former Global Marketing Officer of

Procter & Gamble put it,

“You can innovate against that purpose

indefinitely. I don’t know when it will ever
be out of date.”

But that is the point.

It won’t ever be out of date as it will always remain a

challenge.

Dove will continue to fight the fight of self-esteem

issues within women and encourage women to feel
more beautiful inside and out.

As they impact women’s lives, they improve society,

grow their brand, and increase brand loyalty.

Brand Purpose, it would seem, is working for Dove.

Chapter 4
:
 Measuring The Impact Of
Purpose

Though Brand Purpose is still

viewd by many as a
marketing ploy to push more
products or services and
fatten up that bottom-line,
the impact being made by
brands is real.

This list of causes that have

benefited from brand-driven
initiatives is growing and
include:

Environment
Races
Sexes
Genders
Individuals
Groups
Countries and
Continents

As more brands take up arms

againstb something their
customers believe in, the
impact grows.
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 How Brand Purpose Is Being
Measured
Along with measuring the effectiveness of purpose on
brand performance, more organization are measuring
the actual impact purposeful efforts are making on the
world.

Radley Yeldar is one such organisation.

They rank the top 100 purposeful brands in their “Fit

For Purpose Index” which measures 180 brands from
the PwC 100 and the FTSE Eurofirst 100.

Here’s how they see purpose:

They believe that;

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 “While it is important to have the right
purpose in place, it’s just as important to
put it into action.”

They asses and measure brands based on six criteria:

Purpose and Story:

They looked at the brand’s story and purpose and

asked;

Whether the purpose clearly addresses a human

or world need.
How purpose is used within the brand story.
Whether the purpose is authentic and visionary.

How They Communicate:

They looked at every communication channel that the

brand uses to engage their audience and create a
:
 movement and asked:

Whether purpose is clear within brand

campaigns.
How prominent purpose is across the digital
experience.
The extent to which purpose is apparent in
company reports.

How They Perform:

They look at whether or not the purpose is at the heart

of the business, setting ambitions and monitoring
progress including:

How deeply purpose is integrated into the

business model and business strategy.
Whether there are clear targets and performance
indicators connected to the purpose.
The extent to which purpose is ingrained within
the brand’s approach to sustainability.

How They Behave:

They analyse if employees are engaged and keenly

contribute to the achievement of purpose-related goals,
reviewing:

Whether leadership champions purpose.

:
 How purpose is integrated into the employee
experience.
Whether the brand has purpose-related
partnerships.

Here’s how they’ve ranked the top six. You can check
out the full list here.
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 What’s The Actual End Goal
of Purpose?
:
 Well, let’s not make this awkward and get the obvious
out of the way.

The indirect end goal of purpose for brands is to be a

more attractive option for their audience in order to
grow the business.

Now, when defining purpose, you need to look at the

role of your brand “aside from commercial interest”.

That said, a business doesn’t stop being a

business because there is a grand
endeavour at play.

When you strip it back, you can’t get away from that
end goal.

Even a business that has authenticity at the core, would

not be able to pursue a noble cause if it didn’t
contribute positively to the growth of the business.
:
 Of course the purpose in itself has its own goals and
organisations everywhere are helping to change the
world for the better.

The idea of purposeful businesses came on the back

of brands listening to what audiences wanted and
being proactive in siding with their points of view.

Do businesses genuinely care about the positive

impact they make in the world? Absolutely they do.

Business leaders and the people within a business are

still people with their own families who want a better
world for them to live in.
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 Will more businesses actually change direction to
become a different kind of business based on their
purpose? I believe so.

Would businesses still be pursuing purposeful

ambitions at the cost of the business if it had absolutely
zero impact on their audience, the health of their
business or their standing as a brand? Definitely not.

Of course there may be some purposeful individuals

behind businesses allocating some profits with zero
expected benefits other than to give.

Look at what Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have

created for such individuals being encouraged to give
back.
:
 But there would be far fewer businesses involved when
compared to the purposeful revolution we are
currently in.

Let’s go back to the fundamentals of capitalist business

for a second.

A business lives and breathes with priority #1 as it’s

main focus. That is profitability.

Without that at the core, then a business is not a

business but a charity or a not-for-profit.
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 A Brand Must Answer To Business
Principals

Therefore, a business and it’s business leaders, must

always act in the best interest in the company
whether it’s appealing to their audience, improving the
health of the business or its standing as a brand.

So that is the cornerstone of the focus of brand purpose.

But once you get that out of the way, you’ll see there’s
there’s more to it.

When we move past the elephant in the room, we can

see the actual impact organisations are making in
the world.

When we put the commercial interest aside, the

purpose becomes a lot more pleasant to look at.

Purpose-driven brands are:

Inspiring innovation and positive change,

Providing employees with a sense of meaning
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 and fulfilment,
Creating value for the customer,
Impacting communities and
Improving the health of our planet and society
for the benefit of our future and future
generations.

So the end goal of purpose primarily is to grow the

brand.

But the by-product of successful purpose-driven

brands is change for the better.

The way I see it, that’s moving forward.

Why Leaders Fear Brand

Purpose

Although purpose is gaining traction, it’s a slow burn.

Despite the fact that 85% of the 474 executives

interviewed by HBR said they are more likely to
recommend a company with a strong purpose, only
47% believe the organisation they work for don’t
actually have one.

This stat suggests that:

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 Over a third of executives believe their
company should be more purpose driven
than they are.

Brand purpose, in the mainstream business world, it is

still relatively new.

That said; far more businesses are either focused on

purpose, are planning purposeful activities or are aware
that purpose is “now a thing” that they need to be
considering.

When it comes to change, many business leaders are

stuck between a rock and a hard place.

That is; shareholders and customers.

Get it wrong and you risk the rath of both.

The pressure that comes from shareholders for their

return on investors is enough to give any CEO a rash.

In boardrooms all over the world, many view the idea

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 of “purpose” with contempt and takes a brave
individual to propose such a dirty word.

Walking the purpose plank has not ended well for

some.

This might explain the general sentiment from those

seeking change within businesses; that
communication from leadership on the topic is either
filtered, slow or completely absent.

For other businesses, logistical problems arise such as

systems and infrastructure that are not aligned with
long-term purpose.

If you were to speak with 100 non-purpose driven

business leaders, you would likely get 100 different
reasons as to why purpose is not a priority.

Throughout the world, businesses are led by business

leaders whose sole focus is on the bottom line with
anything else representing an obstacle to be
negotiated.

Some will negotiate purpose for as long as possible.

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 How The Millennial
Influenced Purpose

“The Millennial”, a now infamous term, is the segment

of consumers born between the mid eighties and
mid nineties.

They were children or young teens when the mobile

phone broke free from it’s brick-like corporate image
and quickly landed in their hands with customisable
colours and ringtones.

Nokia and Motorolla, not Apple, were the dominant

forces in the telco space.
:
 This was at a time when the internet was beginning to
grow legs and personal computers were making their
way into every family home.

It wasn’t long before the questions that were being

hammered into Alta Vista were going into Google and
every question they could ask was immediately being
answered.

This was a very important time in modern history and

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 as the Millennial has grown, so has the market.

The “I want it now” generation got what they wanted,

and continue to do so.

When social media came along, they were ready for

it.

Heading towards their 20’s they were well versed in

online conversation and the perfect platform had
finally arrived.

Open comments on shared causes grew conversations

and the power in numbers grew.

The wider media began to look to social platforms as a

pulse on the social mood for topical issues and the
voice of the people became the story.
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 With this newfound power, individuals and groups
began to take on the ethics and actions of larger
organisations, which drew even more media attention.

In 2010, consumers took on global giant Nestle for

using palm oil in their products.

Consumers took to social media, Greenpeace took up

the fight and together they laid down a sustained
attack.

Nestle bowed out of the fight with a bloody nose and a

damaged reputation.
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 Millennial’s have set about righting what they see as
the as the wrongs in the world through conversation
and accountability of authorities and businesses.

Issues including:

Racism
Sexism
Gender Inequality
Same-Sex Marriage
Pollution
Global Warming
Sustainability
Clean Energy

are all causes that millennial’s hold dear and their

conversations have changed the behaviours of
modern business.
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 Millennial’s have been game changers in people power
and have set the tone for generations to come.

How Purpose Influences

Brand Culture
The demands of today’s generation of workers has
brought the importance of brand culture into focus.

We spend more time with our colleagues than we do

:
 with our families so a strong culture not only has a
positive impact on your work, but on your mental
health.

If you work in an environment where people are

generally unhappy with their working condition, pay,
leadership, communication then there will be a
negative mood throughout the business.

Negative moods are infectious and if you’re around

them everyday, they can wear you down.

If you recognise this environment it’s not surprising,

because it used to be the status quo in the corporate
world.

But this is the age of the millennial.

And as we know… if they don’t like something…

When people love the work they do, the meaning

behind it and the people they work with, it oozes from
every employee and every touch point the business has
with its customers.

This is why the modern employee values culture above

:
 all else.

It also directly impacts the bottom line with

Less Turnover
Higher Loyalty and
Greater Productivity

In fact, research has shown companies “with

performance-enhancing cultures” increased an
average of 901%, while shares in companies “without
performance-enhancing cultures” rose just 74% over
the same period.

5 Examples Of Winning Company

Culture
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 When our work is meaningful to us, we do better work
and we’re happier. This then comes across in the way
we perform our work.

Just ask Zappos customer service agent who holds the

world record for the longest customers service call at
10 hours and 43 minutes.

He works for a company that has a true sense of

purpose that filters down into their happy staff.

Now I know what your thinking…. Was the follow up

dinner also part of the customer service?

The new self-conscious purpose driven generations of

today are not just the dominant market, they are also
the dominant workforce.

Brands that offer meaning to the work they are

proposing now, have a decent hand at the talent
acquisition table.
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 Chapter 5
Best Brand Purpose
Examples [And Worst]

Just like anything, there are

those that do something not
so well.

Then there are others who

completely fudge things up.

In this chapter, we’re gonna

look at the very best and very
worst examples of purpose
that brands have offered up.

It becomes clear pretty

quickly, which brands have
authenticity at the core and
which brands have tacked on
purpose as an afterthought.

It also explains why there are

passionate advocates and
passionate opponents of
purpose.
:
 Best Brand Purpose
Examples

Warby Parker

Warby Parker broke into the market as a disruptive

startup in 2010.

Their purpose was simple.

To make eyewear more affordable.

Purpose Statement:

“To offer designer eyewear at a

revolutionary price, while leading the
way for socially conscious businesses.”

Now, it could have been a case of entrepreneurs finding

an opportunity and trying to undercut the market and
bolting on a purpose, however, their follow through
:
 has shown their authenticity.

One of the founders previously ran an eyewear non-

profit where he was creating glasses for people who
lived on $4 a day and wondered why glasses in the west
cost so much in the west.

The story is really interesting – you can check it out here.

In summary, they found that one giant company,

“Luxottica” either owned or had exclusive licensing
deals with nearly all major eyewear brands (Ray-Bans,
Oakley, Raplh Lauren, Versace) and so, they set the
market price.

This drove their idea even more and became the

impetus for Warby Parker to create more affordable
eyewear.

As Dave Gilboa, one of the founders put it:

“Glasses simply shouldn’t cost that much”.

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 Since their dramatic launch where they went from not
even having a website to having sold their yearly target
in 3 weeks, Warby has gone from strength to strength
and were valued at $1.75 billion prior to listing.

Along with making glasses more affordable for

everyone, they took their non-profit expertise and
expanded their purpose to give back.

They identified that out of the 2.5 billion in the world

that need, but don’t have access to glasses, 624 million
of them cannot effectively learn or work due to the
severity of their problem.

Warby has set about making an impact on that number

and have since distributed 4 million pairs of glasses
:
 through their program.

Bravo Warby.

We can see your vision now !

Libresse (Bodyform)

Bodyform have been breaking stereotypical norms

since the 80’s producing ads with women jumping out
of planes, boxing, climbing mountains and donning
swords from horseback.

Purpose Statement:

“Breaking taboos that hold women back”

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 In a more recent ad however they’ve gone one further
in a celebrated attempt to break the taboo of showing
period blood.

It was a big risk given (as they outlined in their ad) “The
sight of period blood is unacceptable, as deemed by
TV broadcast authorities worldwide. “

Not only was this ad accepted, it was celebrated with

the ad winning the Cannes Grand-Prix Award.

Would this ad have been celebrated, embraced or even

accepted 10 years ago? Certainly not.

But as Bob Dylan once said; “The times they are a-

changin”
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 The Body Shop

Purpose Statement:

“To become the world’s most ethical and

truly sustainable business.”

The Body Shop has been around since 1976 and have
always had a sense of activism about them, though
their purpose has become a key focus in recent years
with the introduction of their Enrich Not Exploit
commitment.
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 The Body Shop was acquired by L’Oreal in 2006 and
they never quite gelled with the head of CSR Terr Slevin
Saying;

“It was a strain on many people in The

Body Shop … The Body Shop over the
past 10 years hasn’t had the freedom to
express what is still alive in the Body
Shop, the human activist spirit and
purpose-led philosophy.”

In 2017 the company was sold to Natura in what seems

to be a perfect match with Slavin saying

“I joined under Anita [Roddick] over 14

years ago, and I have seen a lot of
changes, but genuinely, I haven’t seen or
felt the place generating that amount of
joy and excitement as today. It feels
great,”
:
 Now, the company seems more focussed than ever on
making an ethical impact.

The company doesn’t want to just change the

ingredients of their products, they want to make a big
impact on society by enriching their people, products
and the planet.

Not only have they set themselves big goals, they’re

making themselves accountable by publicly sharing
them, and boy… are some of them ambitious.

The Body Shop are not just talking about the next four
years, they’re planning for the next 40.

Patagonia
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 Purpose Statement:

Build the best product, cause no

unnecessary harm, use business to
inspire and implement solutions to the
environmental crisis.

The company’s commitment to the environment

includes

A switch to 100% organically grown and ethically

sourced cotton,
Annual environmental educational events,
Support of grassroots environmental efforts,
Reducing corporate waste and pollution, and,
most recently…
Suing the government over the decision to
reduce National Parks land in Utah.
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 Patagonia know their customers are adventurers, who
love the outdoors, love nature and love the
environment.

Their purpose is aligned with the beliefs of their

customers which is why they have focused so much
attention on sustainability and the environment across
their business.

Axe / Lynx

Purpose Statement:
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 “To help guys celebrate their individuality
and be as attractive as they can be,”

Speaking on the brands purposeful evolution, global

vice president Rik Strubel said;

“The brand was at a stage where it was

time for a change. This is a brand that
wants to reflect the way men see
themselves. We need to be progressive
and provocative, so we felt it was time to
review our brand purpose.”

Axe discovered that 72% of guys have been told how a

real man should behave which has lead to countless
web searches asking the question “is it ok for guys to…”

is it ok for guys... | AXE

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 They reassured their audience and encouraged guys to
be themselves which tied into their “find your Magic”
campaign.

Other Brands Winning With

Purpose

Diff Eyewear

Everlane
:
 Bombas

TOMS Shoes
:
 Causebox

Cotopaxi

Worst Brand Purpose

Examples

Our earlier example of Pepsi missing the mark by

:
 trivialising the Black Lives Matter movement was
probably the most high profile example of a brand
lacking authenticity in an attempt to portray
purposeful action.

But Pepsi aren’t the only ones falling short.

There are plenty more which continue to feed into the

widespread distrust of brands.

Kurl-On Mattresses India

Ok, so the brand might not be a household name in the

west, but in India they’re a pretty big deal.

The surprising element in this example is the agency

behind it. Ogilvy.

In 2012, a 12-year old Pakistani girl you had never heard

of “Malala Yousafzai”, was shot in the head on her school
bus by the Taliban, for speaking out in favour of
women’s education.
:
 She recovered and became an internationally famous
activist, winning the Nobel Peace Prize that year.

Ogilvy, released a series of ands with a campaign focus

on “Bouncing Back” which included both Steve Jobs,
and Muhatma Ghandi.

In each ad, a caricature of the subject is shown falling in

their adversity, to bounce right back from a Kurl-On
:
 Mattress to their global successes.

You can get the positive and purposeful idea behind

the campaign.

In the case of Malala however, the cartoon actually

shows an AK47 pointed at the girls head with blood
spurting from the wound.
:
 I mean, we’re all for businesses selling mattresses if
that’s their gig.

But leveraging a 14-year-old schoolgirl that was shot in

the head by terrorists to do so?

This ad has to be the ultimate trivialization of a horrific

event.

Judging by the Ogilvy top brass, they were just as

horrified.
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 “The recent Kurl-On Mattress ads from
our India office are contrary to the beliefs
and professional standards of Ogilvy &
Mather and our clients. We deeply regret
this incident and want to apologise to
Malala Yousafzai and her family.

We are investigating how our standards

were compromised in this case and will
take whatever corrective action is
necessary. In addition, we have launched
a thorough review of our approval and
oversight processes across our global
network to help ensure that our
standards are never compromised
again.”

Hopefully the creative team had a Kurl-on mattress to

retreat to when contemplating their next career moves.

Starbucks
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 Starbucks have been one of the pioneers of brand
purpose with substance.

Purpose Statement:

To inspire and nurture the human spirit –

one person, one cup and one
neighborhood at a time.

They champion sustainability, fair trade and farmer

equity practices.

More recently set up a program with Feeding America

to donate 100% of unsold food from its 7,600 U.S.
stores to local food banks and pantries.

At a sensitive time where racial protests dominating the

U.S. headlines in the wake of the grand jury decision in
Ferguson, Missouri, not to indict the police officer who
:
 killed Michael Brown, Starbucks launched “Race
Together” campaign.

It’s purpose was to “stimulate conversation,

compassion and action around race in America”.

The plan was to invite the baristas in store to write

“#Race Together” on coffee cups and hopefully
generate some genuine conversation throughout the
community.

Starbucks’ head of communications was forced to

temporarily suspend his Twitter account following a
barrage of attacks, which only further frustrated critics,
and some people blasted the company for weighing in
on race at all when only two of its 19 executives are
black.
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 Many people questioned how the idea could have ever
gotten past the board room at a Fortune 500 company.
Apparently, this one came directly from Mr Starbucks
himself, CEO Howard Schultz.

Brand purpose is a double-edged sword.

The topics on what you do or do not have permission to

weigh in on is the publics to give and take.

If there is any possibility of being called out for double

standards, inauthenticity or just a lack of an association,
think twice before weighing in.
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 Coopers Australia

In a bizarre joint venture, the Coopers brewing

company and The Bible Society Australia, joined
forces.
:
 Coopers teamed up with the Bible Society Australia,
launching commemorative Coopers light beer to
celebrate the 200 year anniversary which it has
supported financially for years.

The Bible Society in turn launched the “Keeping It

Light” campaign, which was set to be a series of videos
in which public figures discuss controversial topics over
a commemorative Coopers light beer.

Australian politicians Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie

were the first guests to “keep it light” by discussing the
same-sex marriage debate.

However, the public backlash started within minutes

of the video’s release and Social media users took to
the Coopers’ Facebook page, promising to never drink
the beer again and a nationwide boycott ensued.

Pubs switched off Coopers taps throughout the

country.

The Union Hotel in Newtown, Sydney said they would

donate money from the sale of their last remaining
Coopers kegs to Beyond Blue before posting on
:
 facebook;

“We’re huge fans of the beer, but nothing

short of genuine public support from
Coopers for marriage equality would get
us back to pouring their good stuff,”

And that’s exactly what happened.

The Coopers leadership fronted the camera with a

sad apology and a statement of their full support of
same sex marriage.

This example wasn’t a typical brand fail but a brand

caught up in a scandal of one of their partners.

But as is the well-trodden path for modem brands, an

apology was the only option.
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 McDonald’s

McDonald’s have had a few near misses in recent times

including their extremely awkward “Pay with lovin’”
campaign.

But their latest ad promoting their fillet-o-fish sandwich

drew tough criticism with viewers deeming it
“offensive,” “exploitative” and “cynical.”
:
 From a brand that has traditionally aligned itself with
good times and happiness, this campaign was left of
centre as it seemingly looked to exploit childhood grief
to see sandwiches.

The Ad, by well-respected agency Leo Burnett London,

focuses in on a boy who lost his father when he was a
baby (It’s assumed) as he appears to have no memories
of him.

As he asks his mum questions about his dad, she

describes him fondly in great detail.

It soon becomes clear that the boy isn’t much like his
dad at all….except for the fact that…wait for it… he loved
a good old fillet-o-fish.

Way, way off the mark Macca’s.

I’m quite confident there is now at least one boy in the

world who gets upset at the idea of a fillet-O-Fish.
:
 If they have plans to create a Sad Meal to go alongside
the Happy Meal, then the Fillet-O-Fish is their first filler.

Let’s keep it fun and fluffy in future eh?

JPMorgan

Ok first off. I know what your thinking.

You need a higher purpose in the first place in order to

mess it up right?

Correct. But this one just demonstrates how some

brands are so eager to jump on “the greater good
bandwagon” that they’re prepared brush their self-
awareness in the marketplace right under the carpet.
:
 Their marketing team thought it was a good idea to
take to twitter to generate conversation and give would
be employees the opportunity to ask a JP Morgan
executive career related questions.

In the end they got plenty of questions, just not those

they had hoped for.

Here are some of the less nasty tweets.

“Did you always want to be part of a

vast, corrupt criminal enterprise or did
you “break bad”?”;

“Did you have a specific number of

people’s lives you needed to ruin before
you considered your business model a
success?”;

“What section of the poor &

disenfranchised have you yet to exploit
for profit, & how are you working to
address that?”;

“Why aren’t you in jail for sending a

literal ton of gold bullion to Iran in
violation of sanctions?”;
:
 “When Jamie Dimon eats babies are they
served rare? I understand anything
above medium-rare is considered
gauche.”

How Timing Shapes

Perception

As you have seen from these examples, purpose is a

double-edged sword and it only works if it is coupled
with authenticity.

Even if a brand is 100% authentic in their efforts,

execution and timing are important factors.

Airbnb’s floating house marketing stunt would have

been fine. It’s nice and light with some feel-good music.
:
 On the face of it, a good job right?

The problem was, that one of the most destructive

storms in American History, Hurricane Harvey, had
just hit Houston.

The campaign went out via email which included

headlines like:

“How to spend a day – or an entire trip –

without touching dry land,”
:
 and

“Stay above the water: live the life

aquatic with these floating homes.”

Ouch!

In their defense, it was set up before the hurricane and

went out as part of an automated campaign.

Still though. someone, somewhere probably could have

stopped the automation.

Even if your authenticity is there, your timing is right

and your execution is spot on…

If the public decides you have no business weighing in

on a topic, then it is their call to make.

So purpose, as you can see, can be a bit of a minefield

though the number one prerequisite for taking up a
:
 sensitive issue is authenticity.

Without it, your just another business trying to

leverage an issue that people are emotionally attached
to, for commercial benefit.

So before you begin “playing” with the idea of purpose,

do your research and avoid a public backlash.

Brand Purpose Example

[INFOGRAPHIC]
:
:
 Chapter 6
Brand Purpose Strategy
Considerations

The upside potential of an

effective purpose strategy is
immeasurable.

But this is a high stakes game

where the wrong move can
land a brand in hot water and
damage its reputation
:
 Authenticity
Context
Timing
Execution

These are just some of the

considerations that can make
or break your strategy.

In this chapter we’re gonna

take a look at the pitfalls of
brand purpose and how to
avoid them.

Purpose Natives v Purpose

Immigrants
Some brands were born from a purpose (purpose
natives).

Some adopted a purpose after their inception (purpose

immigrants).

Older, more established brands were around long

before purpose was an important strategic
consideration while more modern brands are built with
the purpose as part of the foundation.

Let’s take a closer look at both.

:
 The Purpose Immigrants

When brands first began adopting purposeful causes, it

was new to them.

They weren’t always following a purposeful ethos and

so, they needed to develop one.

Such brands tend to look to the problem their brand

solves, their founders’ beliefs and the beliefs of their
audience.

They look for a common purposeful thread that they

can integrate into their brand.

These brands that adopt a purposeful cause after their

inception are known as purpose immigrants.

A perfect example of such a brand is Dove.

Although Dove differentiated itself from other soap and

the cosmetic industry, they didn’t communicate a
brand purpose.
:
 Plenty of research into who their audience was and an
alignment of the problem they solved brought about
the birth of their purpose of “self-esteem”.

The Purpose Natives

When startups are formed today, part of the process is

often looking at who their audience is, what their
concerned about in the social or environmental world
and where the brand fits into that concern.

In other words, how can they help address a problem

their audience is concerned about?

Brands such as TOM’s, Warby Parker or The Body Shop

are born with a purpose.

It is a part of their brand DNA from inception and if

backed with authenticity, usually from the founders
and their beliefs, it is far easier to believe and buy in to.

These brands are known as purpose natives.

Their purpose is part of the identity of the brand and

:
 forms part of its reputation.

Although such brands are still in the minority, they will

become the overwhelming majority in years to come.

How To Use Context

Effectively

Brands cannot simply choose any given purpose and

pursue the cause.

The purpose it pursues must fall in line with the

nature of the brand, the product they offer and the
audience they want to attract.

Context is important if part of the overall goal is to

influence a buying decision.

A purposeful cause therefore, cannot be viewed in a

silo.

Lets take an environmental purpose in the way of

“organic ingredients” as an example.

If it appears on a packet of coffee, the audience might

associate the organic ingredients with better quality,
taste or health benefits.
:
 If it appears on cleaning products however, it may be
associated with reduced effectiveness.

A belief might be authentic but that doesn’t mean it fits

the context.

Likewise, when Starbucks decided that they wanted to

join the conversation about racial equality, the
context simply wasn’t there for the public.

Few would argue that open discussions on such topics

advance the situation, but Starbucks didn’t have that
permission.

To weigh up the associations your audience may have

with a considered purpose, ask the following questions:

Is the cause or issue likely to be perceived

as relevant to our target audience?

Is there an obvious connection or

association with the cause and our
brand?
:
 Will the purpose strategy generate
positive associations about the brand?

Is it possible that a section of the

audience or public may be offended by
our stance? If so, who and why?

How To Identify Purpose

Opponents

Regardless of the cause a brand might look to tackle,

most causes have both advocates and opponents.

If your audience consists of both in numbers then tread

lightly.

The last thing you want to do is to ignite heated debate

on the topic between your customers on which you
have already taken a side.

You also have advocates who are so passionate, they

defend the cause by questioning authenticity of
brands that raise the issue.
:
 Traditionally, there are three main drivers of negative
reactions:

Hypocrisy (inconsistency between claim

and action)

Politicization of the claim

Suspicion of inauthenticity

We have used both Dove and Lynx in examples above

as brands that executed brand purpose well.

Although Dove had many advocates of their purpose-

led branding, the detractors called hypocrisy due to
the association with Lynx, both of which are owned by
parent company Unilever.

Before Unilever repositioned Lynx to the purposeful

brand it is today, their ads featured the seduction of
semi-naked girls.
:
 This contradicted the message of self-esteem coming
from Dove, which fanned the flames of hypocrisy.

Unilever reacted quickly and Lynx, along with many of

their 400 brands are now driven by a greater purpose.

Best intentions are important when it comes to brand

purpose but they are by no means enough.

Brands need to ensure than the likelihood of the

purpose being accepted is as high as possible.

Here are three questions brand managers need to ask:

Will the brand make an impact they will

later be able to demonstrate?

Are the key stakeholders closest to the

cause, likely to support the actions of the
brand?

Can the brand avoid hypocrisy through

politicization, perception of
inauthenticity and inconsistent
communication?
:
 Your Purpose Needs
Commitment

Holding your customer’s hand in a shared belief for or

against something they’re passionate about has huge
potential for any brand that can pull it off.

But finding your brand purpose is not a miscellaneous

question where you have a choice of a, b, c or d to
choose from.

You need to dig deep into

The roots of the brand,

The motivations behind the leadership and
The motivations, pain-points and beliefs of the
people you serve.

Remember the doubters, detractors, distrusting

millennials and GenZ’rs.

Their bullsh¨t radar is far too advanced for a half-

baked purpose statement that is destined for a drawer
in a dark corner.
:
 If you are going to bother with brand purpose in the
first place, it better be

Authentic
Relevant
Contextual
Actionable

Otherwise, you are feeding into the disbelievers and

fanning the flames of distrust.

You also have a high chance of being called out on

your plastic purpose.

What Is A Brand Purpose

Statement?
As simple as that question is, the brand purpose
statement is often a source of confusion.
:
 The results of a simple Google search will show you that
even industry authors aren’t all in agreement.

Mission, Values and Promise are all elements of a

brands that get confused with the purpose.

Then there are taglines, slogans and vision

statements to further muddy up the waters.

A purpose statement is a statement of

intent to achieve a higher purpose goal.

In reality, unless a brand has a focused purpose strategy

they tend not to have a purpose statement (even when
they claim they do).

Whether a standalone statement or included within the

vision or mission, a statement of purpose needs to
answer the question:

“Aside from commercial interest, why do

we do what we do?”.

If your statement doesn’t answer that question, it’s not a

statement of purpose and shouldn’t be used as one.

Eg. Tesla’s mission statement is,

“To accelerate the world’s transition to

:
 sustainable energy.”

It outlines what they are committed to, but also the

“why”, aside from commercial interest, they are
committed to it.

If they realise their goal, they will have achieved a

higher purpose beyond commercial intent. They will
have advanced the human race.

American Express on the other hand runs with:

“We work hard every day to make

American Express the world’s most
respected service brand.”
:
 Their statement doesn’t answer the question of
“Why” and therefore is not a purpose statement.

If they achieve their goal, they will have advanced only

the brand and their commercial interest.

There is no higher purpose at play.

Many brands run with such commitment based

statements that they market as their “purpose”, without
any “why” ever being addressed.

This is a large part of the reason there is so much

confusion around “Brand Purpose Statements”.

Without a “Why” excluding commercial interest, your

brand does not have a purpose statement.

Prioritise Execution

Its all well and good to draw up a fancy purpose

:
 statement that’s laced with a feel good factor and
makes anyone reading it feel like they’re cuddled up in
a bed of candy floss and fluffy puppies.

You might even frame it and dress it with glitter and

feathers to warm your office space.

Without a solid execution strategy, your purpose will go

no further than a good intention on a frame, reminding
you of every goal you never met.

A purposeful brand needs a solid strategy and

execution plan that should be:

Tangible
Measurable
Reportable

Finding your why is the easy part.

Following through is where brand purpose suffers many

casualties with many waiting in the wings to say
:
 “You see, it’s all bullsh¨t”.

Chapter 7
How To Discover Your Brand
Purpose

At the core of every effective

purpose strategy is
authenticity.

That’s why we talk about

“finding your why” rather
than “Choosing” or
:
 “Strategising” your why.

Along with the context,

timing and execution of your
strategy, there needs to be a
meaningful reason behind
why a brand pursues a
cause.

This meaning is the “belief”

that lies within the brand.

In this chapter we’ll look at

why that belief must come
from the top and how to go
about finding it.

STEP 1:
Start Broad, Then Focus
Before you start with your Why, an even earlier starting
point is to have an overall understanding of the major
causes of the world.

This article from business insider outlines (from the

horses mouth) where brands should be looking with
the 10 most critical problems in the world according to
millennial’s.
:
 1. Climate Change (48.8%)

2. War (38.9%)

3. Inequality (30.8%)

4. Poverty (29.2%)

5. Religious Conflicts (23.9%)

6. Corruption & Government

Accountability (22.7%)

7. Food & Water Security

8. Lack of Education (15.9%)

9. Safety / Security / Well-being (14.1%)

:
 10. Unemployment (12.1%)

The UN’s 17 Sustainability goals give a wide berth when

forming your considerations. Granted, these are pretty
big goals and to make an impact on any one of these,
you would need to be operating on a fortune 500
level.

I’ll play devils advocate, and assume you’re not

operating at that level.

Each one of these Sustainability goals are broad and

they shine a light on a topic from a broad
perspective.

But within each broad cause, there are many smaller

everyday causes that smaller businesses can help
tackle.
:
 Let’s take number 10 from the Millennial list:

10. Reduce inequality within and among

countries.

Inequality is everywhere. It could be related to:

Nationality
Culture
Wealth
Race
Sex
Profession or
Body shape

If your brand has a connection or association in some

way, with people that suffer at the hands of inequality,
then this might be a purpose worth investigating.

Having a broad understanding of the problems and

concerns of the world, socially and environmentally is a
perfect foundation.

Diving further into issues which you are better

positioned to address, will give you a great starting
point to uncover a purposeful cause for your brand.

STEP 2:
:
 Start With Your Why

Going back to Simon Sinek’s earlier statement:

“People don’t buy what you do they buy

why you do it”

We know where to start.

But we also now know that a purposeful “Why”, is

simply not enough.

Many pieces of the puzzle need to align in order for a

“Why” to be adopted and believed or an impact made,
not least, a minimum viable business operation and
an audience who want what you have.

But let’s assume all of those ducks are in a row.

You have something that people want and your brand

can be competitive within that market.

Then, we can go back and “Start” with Why.

:
 Defining the “Why” requires an alignment of two major
stakeholders.

It must stem directly from the leadership and align all

the way through the brand representatives, to the
customer.

A marketing department passing a purpose up the food

chain, to a numbers focussed C.E.O. as a great new
marketing strategy, won’t have nearly as much chance
of being adopted and believed, as a purpose coming
from the founder(s).
:
 Whoever is Starting with why, needs to sit atop of the
food chain of the organisation.

They are the visionary and have the most influence.

At the very least, the leader needs to be “All In” on

the idea and be involved at every step of the
strategic development.

The purpose should have a personal association to the

leadership and an emotional buy-in which will act as a
believable driver that will trickle through the
organisation.

When Starting with Why, ask these questions:

“Aside from commercial interest, Why do

we do what we do?”.

Or to draw out more specifics:

:
 “What positive impact can our business,
products, service, communication or
messaging contribute to, to make our
society or environment a better place to
live in?

STEP 3:
Find Your Customers’ Why

Aligning your brand to a cause because your family has

been affected by it is not enough.

Without an alignment to who your audience is:

1. They’re not going to care and

2. You’ll get called out for not

understanding who your audience is

Branding is about connecting with your audience and

every decision should be based on who they are and
what they want.

If you haven’t already developed a Buyer Persona, here

:
 is a great place to start.

There are plenty of articles and templates to show you

how to create one.

As Hubspot puts it

“A buyer persona is a semi-fictional

representation of your ideal customer
based on market research and real data
about your existing customers.

When creating your buyer persona(s),

consider including customer
demographics, behavior patterns,
motivations, and goals. The more
detailed you are, the better.”

The more you know your audience, the more you will
understand who they are, what they believe and what
causes are important to them.
:
 If your audience are 28-32 year old females, it’s not
enough to lump them into the “Millennial” category and
assume that they want an environmentally friendly
conscious brand to tackle the global warming
problem.

Your customers are real people with real feelings and

points of view on a variety of topics. The challenge for
you is to find that common thread throughout your
audience.

A great resource for learning more about your

audience is Facebook.

Look for comments on the topics they care about to

better understand where they sit.

From a detailed buyer persona and extensive digging in

facebook, you should have a solid list of purposeful
causes that your audience are concerned about.
:
 STEP 4:
Clarify Your Why

Now you have looked at:

Broad Issues
Specific Causes
Your own beliefs and
The beliefs of your audience

it’s time to join the dots.

You need to know if you, your people and your audience

are all on the same page.

Passing the “buy-in test” both internally and externally

is the key to first, being believed and then, making a
real impact.

Even though you’ve aligned your internal beliefs with

your customers’ beliefs and cross referenced them with
the issues of the world, your purpose shortlist needs to
be stress tested.
:
 Strategic Analysis

To ensure your purpose gets the buy-in from key

stakeholders both internally and externally, ask these
questions.

Does addressing this purpose contribute

positively to our society either socially or
environmentally?

What or who will benefit from

combatting this cause?

Does our business have an obvious

association or connection to this cause or
those that may benefit by addressing it?

Has our audience demonstrated concern

in relation to this cause?

Would our audience or the wider public

agree that we are well positioned to
address or discuss such a matter?
(Remember Starbucks and the Race
Together Campaign)
:
 Do we have emotional buy-in and drive
from the leadership team?

Will they provide the leadership to instil

this purpose internally?

There are many elements at play that all need to align

when it comes to brand purpose.

From the leadership to the ambassadors to the

audience and the wider public, there must be an
authentic, shared and believed interest in addressing
the issue and all must agree that your brand can help to
advance the cause.

Chapter 8
How To Execute Your Brand
Purpose Strategy

In this chapter we’re gonna

take a look at the techniques
:
 and processes you can
follow to integrate purpose
effectively into your brand
strategy.

As you’ve seen, there are

more considerations to a
brand purpose than simply
tacking on alignment to a
sensitive issue.

The key with any form of

branding is intimately
knowing who you’re trying
to connect with and how
they feel as a group.

Execution is everything but

if you pull it off, you can enter
a unique place in the heart
of your audience where your
competitors won’t be able
follow.

STEP 1:
Make Your Purpose
Actionable
When you know the cause you want to pursue, you
:
 need to identify how your brand can contribute to
that cause.

Understanding the existing initiatives in place to

combat this cause is a great start as it gives you an idea
of what you can do, what’s already being done or who
you may join forces with in the fight.

When you know what you want to tackle – a simple

Google will help you get a great understanding of the
broad issue.

If you want to make a big impact, look for gaps or new

initiatives that that can tackle the issue from a
different angle.

EXAMPLE:
Dove initially began the self-esteem project by talking
issues of self-esteem directly with the women they
wanted to impact.

As the project has developed, they have developed new

initiatives; including tackling self-esteem at the
source, encouraging women to talk to their daughters
with the goal of making self-esteem part of their
education.
:
 Dove attempts to tackle their cause as the source.

How can you apply that thinking to your purpose?

Define Your Purposeful Action Plan

1. What are you going to do?

2. How are you going to do it?
3. What resources will you use? product, funds,
time, skills etc?
4. Will you highlight the cause with education,
studies or conversation?
5. Will your actions be physical, digital or a
combination?

Once an action plan is in place, goals should be

mapped to those actions with targets set out in writing.

1. What goals do we want to achieve?

2. When do we want to achieve them by?
3. How will we measure them?
:
 Going further, a brand can communicate these targets
to the wider public and produce regular reports
documenting their progress, just like The Body Shop
did with their purposeful goals.

This is a scary step but makes the brand accountable.

Are you up for the public challenge?

Strategic Analysis:
Is Your Purpose Actionable and
Accountable

To ensure your purpose has more substance than a

printed statement, make it actionable and follow
through with accountability.

1. Analyse existing initiatives in relation

to the cause you want to tackle.
:
 2. Identify organisations you can align
with or new initiatives you would like
to create.

3. Create an action plan of exactly how

your organisation can contribute to
helping to fight this cause.

4. Map goals to each of the actions your

brand aims to achieve with short,
medium and long-term goals and a
calendar of analysis and reporting.

STEP 2:
Write Your Brand Purpose
Statement

As we covered before, your brand purpose statement

needs to answer the question:

“Aside from commercial interest, why do

we do what we do?”
:
 There are many statements that brands supposedly
need, so if you want to streamline these, you can double
it up as your mission statement, provided that it also
answers the question;

“What are we committed to in order to

achieve our vision for the future”.

“Your brand purpose statement needs to be exactly

167 characters long” …is not the kind of direction you’re
going to get. This is because branding and
communication not SEO.

But here are some points to remember:

1. It’s a statement not a story

2. It can double up as other statements

as long as it answers the question of
“Why, aside from commercial
interest”.

3. It should be memorable enough for

your internal brand ambassadors
(your staff) to remember. If they
:
 remember it the can live by it.

4. It should inspire all key stakeholders

from the leadership team to the
wider public.

5. It should have the cause at the core.

Remember, first and foremost, this statement is

internal and should inspire purposeful action.

It may or may not be promoted externally, but that is

not its primary role, inspiring action is.

The effectiveness of the statement can be measured in

the action taken.

STEP 3:
Write Your Story
If as a brand, you hold a belief, then there is a reason
you hold that belief and that reason is your story.

Often this story stems from the experience (individual

or collective) of the leadership team, but finding that
:
 story and telling it cemeents the orogin behin your why.

Brand storytelling is a profession in and of itself so

this can be a big as you want it to be or simply tell the
tale of why this is important.

The trick is to tell a captivating story, and slip your brand

into the overall message.

Here are some great brand storytelling examples.

Not all purpose related, but inspirational nonetheless.

A Balloon For Ben CinePlex

I’m man enough to say this one tugged at my

heartstrings.

You may not have a million dollar budget, though good

storytelling is not necessarily about big budgets.

If you have a phone and some simple apps, you can tell
:
 a great story with the right creativity.

This video give you some insight as to how you can

great stories with your mobile phone.

We, as people, are hardwired for story.

That’s not a hunch. It’s science, the theory of which goes

back to the days of Aristotle.

This Ted Talk on Neural Coupling and storytelling by Uri

Hasson is an absolute eye-opener.

It turns out we are 22 times more likely to remember a

story than fact.

It kind of makes sense doesn’t it? When we hear a story,

we automatically want to know what happens next.

A loop is opened and our instinct is to have it closed.

:
 The power of brand storytelling help people understand
what a business does, how it does it and most
importantly, why it does it.

The more people understand and believe this purpose

and story, the more they’ll engage with the brand.

So when it comes to your purpose, you need to find that

hook, that association, the story of the why and more
importantly, why the audience should care.

Execute Your Purpose: Write a compelling story that

engages.

To ensure your story is fit for your purpose ask the

following questions:

1. Is it clear why your brand wants to

tackle this issue?

2. Is your association obvious or have

you spelled it out?
:
 3. Who / what will benefit and what
difference will these efforts make?

4. Have you provided a background to

clearly articulate the problem?

5. Does it help our brand stand out from

our competitors?

6. Does it inspire people to want to be

part of it?

STEP 4:
Tell Your Story

The time an effort it takes to first, put your story

together and then communicate it, in an easy to
understand and inspirational way, demonstrates the
initial commitment to the cause.

Just like anything in branding, communication of your

story needs a strategy and different platforms and
:
 media would likely tell a different element to the story.

For example…

The story background including the goals and the

mission of the cause your brand is tackling might live
on your website.

Your day-to-day (or month-to-month) activities of your

organisation to achieve its purposeful goals might be
distributed through social media channels or a regular
email updates.

Warby Parker are a great example of this, telling the

background story on their site, while they distribute
great content through Youtube.
:
 As with all communication in branding, consistency is
imperative.

Whether it’s a tweet, an instagram post and email or a

market announcement, any inconsistencies will lead to
distrust and hamper purposeful efforts.

Execute Your Purpose: Tell your story consistently

across channels:

To ensure your communication is fit for purpose, ask

the following questions.

1. Have we communicated the story of

our purpose in full? If so, where have
we done that?

2. Do we document and communicate

regularly, the actions we are taking
in the persuit of our purpose?
:
 3. Is this communication visual and
regular and does it engage our
audience.

4. Does our communication encourage

interaction and involvement?

5. Does it generate conversation around

the broader topic?

6. Are we leveraging and engaging

existing likeminded audiences?

7. Is our communication consistent and

do we have processes in place to
ensure this?

8. Are we reporting our successes and

failures in a monthly, quarterly or
annual report?
:
 Wrapping Things Up
Although the purpose opponents are plentiful and trust
in brands has rarely been lower, brand purpose is a
concept that is not going away.

The new generation of consumers and workers have

more power than we have ever seen.

They say what they want, set the expectations and

they expect brands to do more.

As each generation becomes more socially and

environmentally aware than the one before it, their
demand for change will increase.

They will choose with their wallets and clicks, who

gets their hard earned cash and those votes will be
increasingly impacted by how the brand gives back.

As long as they want brands to impact the world

positively, purpose will become a growing necessity for
most brands.

Now It’s Over To You

So, if you’re gonna go down

the road of implementing
:
 Brand Purpose into your
Brand Strategy, then you
know now there’s more to it
than bashing together a fluffy
statement.

You also know it’s a game of

high stakes so you need to do
your research.

This is how I make sure the

brands I build have a solid
foundation.

Now I want to turn it over to

you:

Are you building a brand (or

many brands) in 2020?

Are you planning on going

after the hearts of your
customers?

Have you connected with

your audience on an
emotional level through a
shared purpose?

Let me know by leaving a

comment below right now!
:
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4 Comments

Michele Kelly January 2, 2020 at 3:29 pm - Reply

This was an outstanding master class in brand

purpose. I took many notes. As a storyteller, it hits at
the heart of my reason for being. Brand, purpose,
action, share. THANK YOU!!!

bmaadmin007 January 10, 2020 at 4:13 am - Reply

Thanks Michelle. We’re all seemingly more in

touch with why we do what we do… As a
storyteller, you know that at the core of any good
story, there’s a purpose being pursued.

Sasha-Shae W. March 17, 2020 at 1:34 pm - Reply

Excellent and thorough article. Thanks very much for

sharing all those varying articles and insights. Purpose
truly is a driving factor in everything, because if we
can’t understand what makes us tick and gives us a
reason to push on beyond the adversities we face, we
will quickly walk away from it all.
:
 Stephen Houraghan March 17, 2020 at 9:16 pm - Reply

Well said Sasha,

Many brand builders develop purpose as a quick

statement to check off the list. But if you can get
the leaders to really buy-in, they’ll be more
invested in the entire brand building efforts.

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