At a time when consumers have more choice than ever before, brands are increasingly looking for ways to stand out in the crowd. Brand purpose is one of the ways that businesses are differentiating themselves from their competitors.

Brands with purpose identify, embrace, embody and articulate what their purpose is, over and above selling a product or service, to inspire their audience to connect. As Simon Sinek puts it:

“People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Brands’ audiences trust and connect on an emotional level. They want to be a part of it. According to research published in Harvard Business Review, 64% of consumers who have established a relationship with a brand cite “shared values” as the main reason for that relationship.

But what is the purpose of your brand, and how can you make this meaningful to your audience? You see it all around you, companies that 'all of a sudden' do something great, like support and sponsor environmental causes. But just doing something great, like a one-off, is not gonna cut it. Audiences see right through brands that talk the talk but don't walk the walk. To stick to Simon Sinek’s golden circle, you make sure you have a clear WHY, a disciplined HOW, and a consistent WHAT. And, as Sinek stresses, it’s not ‘just a slogan’ or a paper mission statement.

Think of it as a brand slogan that really embodies what the business is all about. The successful brands with purpose go beyond a brand slogan. They live and breathe the difference that they want to make and are true to their purpose, their WHY. And it’s this purpose, that sets you apart from ‘the rest’.

When you own your purpose, this means you translate this into everything you do, the way you communicate, the way you work, as a team and as a business. Sinek calls this communicating inside-out. So, how can you act upon your purpose in a way that allows connection, and relationship with your audience?

Purpose can be translated and defined through corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities like projects that give back to the community. It could be a commitment to sustainability, to our planet earth. Or, it could be a commitment to a city or to a specific group (of people, animals or things).

And it’s not ‘just’ the purpose that sets makes you stand out. It’s how you handle issues too. According to Accenture Strategy, around 60% of Generation Z and Millennials say that it’s important for companies to take a stand on issues such as human rights, race relations or LGBTQ equality. A global survey of almost 30,000 consumers by Accenture Strategy found that 62% of customers want brands to take a stand on current, relevant issues like sustainability.

Customers expect transparency from the businesses that they buy from, and in turn expect the brand to follow through on their commitments. With social media and “cancel culture” more prevalent than ever before, it’s easy for customers to call you out if they feel you’re being inauthentic. It’s made brands more accountable for their choices, leading them to develop genuine purpose and to really follow through.

Consumers champion brands that they believe in, and badmouth those that they don’t. Price, quality and customer experience are all still important when it comes to purchases, but they’re expected. Purpose can provide the differentiation that customers seek, particularly in mature markets where there might not be a huge difference between brands.

It’s not just brands either. Everything from “fake news” to climate change and the #MeToo movement sits online and has people sharing their opinions. Just like brand purpose.

Consistency is - as always - key too. If a brand cares about something one week, then never mentions it again and moves on to something else the following week, does that come across as authentic to the consumer? Probably not so much... This doesn’t demonstrate a brand with genuine purpose. Nor does it give customer confidence, or create a sustainable following. Coming out with your purpose makes your audience feel connected, they understand and relate. If then, all of a sudden, your communication is mostly about selling again, and the purpose doesn’t translate, it could really hurt your audience retention. So, having a clear purpose, and communicating this, sets expectations. If we don't know your why, we've got nothing to measure you by. If we DO, we're going to count on the purpose in everything we see...

CSR, brand purpose and authenticity can equal sales too. In 2018, Nike ran a “Just do it” campaign with US professional football player and activist Colin Kaepernick. During the campaign, Nike’s stock rose by 6.25%. This meant that the company’s value rose to $6.38 billion. Nike’s CEO Mark Parker said that the campaign resulted in “record engagement with the brand”.

Influencers are another way that brands are displaying their purpose and aligning with partners that strengthen their messaging. Working with influencers is nothing new, but brands should be doing more due diligence to ensure that who they work with fits with their brand purpose. Part of the appeal of working with influencers is their relatability and authenticity with their audience, so partnerships need to feel like this too.

One brand that jumped on purpose-led marketing early on was Dove. In simplest terms, they sell soap and hygiene products. However, their brand story focuses on empowering women and improving the self-esteem of girls and women worldwide through championing body positivity. This was done through a variety of campaigns, publicity activities and viral content such as their #speakbeautiful movement. In this movement, they encouraged women to use social media to say nice things about themselves and others. It’s hard to quantify if this directly led to a profit, but it certainly raised brand awareness and built conversation both online and offline with consumers and the media.

A brand with purpose isn’t built in a day. It takes thinking, brainstorming, planning, insight, data, focus, commitment, creativity, time and thus money. It takes consistency and the right messages, delivered in the right way at the right time. But, brands really reap the rewards of developing and sharing their purpose. Not just money-wise, because your audience will trust you, and will likely be loyal to your purpose and you. But also culture-wise. Having a clear purpose as a team equals flow, productivity, trust, and an enormous team spirit. " We're all in this together!"

Want to make it easier to get your brand's story out there and demonstrate your purpose to customers? Embrosa makes it easy, effortless and even FUN to get personal(ized) brand(ed) assets out there so that you can make sure that your brand's purpose is being communicated at every level. And in every local community. And even in the right smartphone, in the right language!! We help you play the marketing game and for your retailers/resellers, there's no rolling the dice. All they have to do is use their app! It's a win-win. Easy as that.

Curious about our own WHY, HOW and WHAT? One of our next blogs will provide insights into our company's purpose. Embrosa has just recently gone through that whole process of re-thinking, re-writing, re-organizing, again. Because, it's not done in one day, but it's also never really DONE. In today's dynamic world, living by 'lifelong learning' principles... it's never done. It's done for now.