Does you Brand have Purpose
Does your brand have a purpose?
If it doesn’t, or you’re not sure, you may be losing out on the growing trend that started last year through the ANA and other significant organizations.
Since 2014 the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) surveyed their members to identify the marketing word of the year. Last year, voting was done online during the week of November 26th. In total, 360 members participated. “BRAND PURPOSE” was selected by the ANA as the 2018 marketing word of the year. Even more, the ANA established the ANA Center for Brand Purpose to "fuel business growth by helping marketers create purpose-driven, strategic programs and solutions for their products and services."
You’re probably asking, “what does that mean?” Some of the quotes associated with the ANA announcement were as follows:
“Brand purpose represents an opportunity to ground ourselves in being relevant to customers. You need a reason or purpose to be in front of them, one that speaks directly to the customer’s needs or problems you’ll solve at a specific moment in time. We can’t be successful just by shouting the benefits of our brand and why they should buy. The bar is now higher.”
“Purpose” takes the word “brand” to a whole new level. It creates a more significant partnership between consumers and marketers to be responsible to each other and shift the focus from selling to engaging.
“In the polarizing world we are living in, many brands have stepped up and taken a risk and stance this year. Nike is a good example, and more recently TOMS (for pledging $5 million to organizations across the country committed to ending gun violence).”
At Inward, we have seen this coming for some time. A decade ago, the whole idea of “purpose” inspired brand development and management was far from mainstream. It has been an evolution within marketers and ad agencies. It started with a focus “MISSION/VISION statements,” then moving on to VALUES, then to PURPOSE. Now CULTURE embodies all the elements together to attract talent and customers who believe in the brand purpose. In unison, these ideas together can be a distinguishing feature that makes a company stand out and differentiate itself through both employee and customer engagement. The critical point here is that ENGAGEMENT is what is vital and most important. Getting your customers and your employees engaged about your brand purpose and culture; what it represents in the marketplace is what motivates and inspires brand advocacy.
We have seen many marketers and brands try to tap into “PURPOSE” to distinguish themselves this past year and even as recently as last week. But in Inward’s opinion, there is a difference between, “Authentic and Sincere” PURPOSE branding and “Jump on the Wagon/Trendy” PURPOSE branding. Is it being adopted to capitalize on current controversies and generate news buzz/attention or is there sincerity to change the corporate culture and internal business processes and implemented in a quiet fashion? For instance, last September we saw a Nike ad campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who had led player protests for racial justice during pregame national anthem ceremonies, that generated a lot of attention, both praise and boycott threats. As reported in the WSJ, “Nike appeared to weather any backlash from the effort, which was part of the 30th anniversary of the footwear giant’s “Just Do It” campaign. The company last month reported sales rose 10% in the latest quarter, driven by growth in both shoes and apparel. Nike Finance Chief Andrew Campion said in a conference call with analysts that the campaign “reignited brand heat in North America.” Was this an effort to portray their brand to support racial intolerance or jump tap into a timely social issue.” Does it make a long-term statement for what NIKE stands for that will affect their corporate business processes including hiring? Does it represent a departure from “Just Do It”? I am not sure.
Just this week, Gillette, the Procter & Gamble Co. brand that for three decades has used the tagline, “The Best A Man Can Get,” created a new ad campaign (We Believe) in support of the #MeToo movement and launched a risky approach that will be the latest test of how successfully big consumer brands can navigate tricky social changes. https://bit.ly/2PHHr6o .
Is Gillette redefining their purpose regarding the roles of men in society or how men need to be their best? Adweek, in their coverage of this new effort, reported, “This problem (#METOO) has been thrust into the spotlight, and as we’ve seen from the social media reaction to “We Believe,” some see discussions on the subject as an attack on masculinity itself. Others have criticized the ad for focusing on ugly and negative stereotypical behaviors rather than promoting positives values. Some believe not enough is being done to combat toxic masculinity and want more brands to take a stance like this. And as a result, social media has become the stage for a new wave of gender warring.” What do you think? The advertising press is abuzz with different views. I just heard my local radio talk show host, Howie Carr, on WRKO in Boston, for a boycott their razor and shaving cream. Oh dear!
Having a clear PURPOSE that is actionable and understood by all is imperative for setting a corporate strategy. It isn’t a one-time advertising platform. It should be unique and competitively distinct and leverageable in my opinion. “PURPOSE” should be authentic and not just “news trendy.” I wonder if Gillette and Nike are jumping onto the social justice and political arena to draw attention to their products rather than change their corporate purpose in the long-term.
In my opinion, some companies have been able to institutionalize “PURPOSE” into the fiber of their organization in meaningful ways. Often it is expressed through its external brand experience, and sometimes it is not. TOMS, shoe company, strives to eliminate gun violence. Timberland whose purpose is to strive to be “Earthkeepers” in everything that they do. For employees it means coming to work every day with a purpose. To equip people so they can step out into the world and do what they do to make it a better place. For employees that means to work hard to make products better, our cities greener and our communities stronger.
In the automotive sector, Subaru, in our opinion, is the only car company who has made an effort to “Operationalize” the vision into how they work and perform their strategy with their STEP program. Their vision is synonymous with their purpose. The PURPOSE was transformed into their external and internal brand as “Subaru Love Promise” - Love means being more than a car company. On the Subaru website they exclaim, “The Subaru love promise is our vision to show love and respect to all people at every interaction with Subaru. Together with our retailers, we are dedicated to make the world a better place.”
Does your brand have a purpose?
If it doesn’t, or you’re not sure, you may be losing out on the growing trend that started last year through the ANA and other significant organizations.
We have seen many marketers and brands try to tap into “PURPOSE” to distinguish themselves this past year and even as recently as last week. But in Inward’s opinion, there is a difference between, “Authentic and Sincere” PURPOSE branding and “Jump on the Wagon/Trendy” PURPOSE branding. Is it being adopted to capitalize on current controversies and generate news buzz/attention or is there sincerity to change the corporate culture and internal business processes and implemented in a quiet fashion? For instance, last September we saw a Nike ad campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who had led player protests for racial justice during pregame national anthem ceremonies, that generated a lot of attention, both praise and boycott threats. As reported in the WSJ, “Nike appeared to weather any backlash from the effort, which was part of the 30th anniversary of the footwear giant’s “Just Do It” campaign. The company last month reported sales rose 10% in the latest quarter, driven by growth in both shoes and apparel. Nike Finance Chief Andrew Campion said in a conference call with analysts that the campaign “reignited brand heat in North America.” Was this an effort to portray their brand to support racial intolerance or jump tap into a timely social issue.” Does it make a long-term statement for what NIKE stands for that will affect their corporate business processes including hiring? Does it represent a departure from “Just Do It”? I am not sure.
Just this week, Gillette, the Procter & Gamble Co. brand that for three decades has used the tagline, “The Best A Man Can Get,” created a new ad campaign (We Believe) in support of the #MeToo movement and launched a risky approach that will be the latest test of how successfully big consumer brands can navigate tricky social changes. https://bit.ly/2PHHr6o .
Is Gillette redefining their purpose regarding the roles of men in society or how men need to be their best? Adweek, in their coverage of this new effort, reported, “This problem (#METOO) has been thrust into the spotlight, and as we’ve seen from the social media reaction to “We Believe,” some see discussions on the subject as an attack on masculinity itself. Others have criticized the ad for focusing on ugly and negative stereotypical behaviors rather than promoting positives values. Some believe not enough is being done to combat toxic masculinity and want more brands to take a stance like this. And as a result, social media has become the stage for a new wave of gender warring.” What do you think? The advertising press is abuzz with different views. I just heard my local radio talk show host, Howie Carr, on WRKO in Boston, for a boycott their razor and shaving cream. Oh dear!
Having a clear PURPOSE that is actionable and understood by all is imperative for setting a corporate strategy. It isn’t a one-time advertising platform. It should be unique and competitively distinct and leverageable in my opinion. “PURPOSE” should be authentic and not just “news trendy.” I wonder if Gillette and Nike are jumping onto the social justice and political arena to draw attention to their products rather than change their corporate purpose in the long-term.
In my opinion, some companies have been able to institutionalize “PURPOSE” into the fiber of their organization in meaningful ways. Often it is expressed through its external brand experience, and sometimes it is not. TOMS, a shoe company, strives to eliminate gun violence. Timberland whose purpose is to strive to be “Earthkeepers” in everything that they do. For employees, it means coming to work every day with a purpose. To equip people so they can step out into the world and do what they do to make it a better place. For employees that means to work hard to make products better, our cities greener and our communities stronger.
In the automotive sector, Subaru, in our opinion, is the only car company who has made an effort to “Operationalize” the vision into how they work and perform their strategy with their STEP program. Their vision is synonymous with their purpose. The PURPOSE was transformed into their external and internal brand as “Subaru Love Promise” - Love means being more than a car company. On the Subaru website they exclaim, “The Subaru love promise is our vision to show love and respect to all people at every interaction with Subaru. Together with our retailers, we are dedicated to making the world a better place.”
Kudos to Subaru. Read what I wrote about their love campaign that used puppies. https://bit.ly/2VXuIvZ
TEN things you NEED to know about BRAND PURPOSE topic?
- PURPOSE is more than a statement and slogan that lives on walls in posters. To become meaningful and useful, PURPOSE should be a business process like any other and provide the criteria for business planning, accountability, measuring performance, strategic planning, transparency, branding, employee engagement, and effective internal and external communications.
- It must be authentic and not just socially topical with the times or a social movement like #METOO, or poverty
- It should create employee and customer advocacy and momentum. Employees and customers alike should live it, breathe it and believe that these companies are sincere and making a difference
- Leadership should be held accountable based on achieving the companies purpose and the vision’s goals and objectives over time. If they don’t hit their mark, they should not receive their incentive bonuses or incremental compensation
- The elements of PURPOSE must be incorporated into all planning templates, annual appraisal systems, executive compensation and incentives, and annual employee engagement
- PURPOSE needs to be measured regularly and should be a living document and yardstick of performance, alignment, culture, and behavior. Status, progress, and reporting should be made at the board level monthly with accountabilities for implementation.
- Be professional about creating a PURPOSE. Work with a consulting firm, (like Inward) to help navigate the creation and implementation process. You need expertise and internal consensus and buy-in. The CEO creating it in a dark room on their own and later revealing it to their team like Moses on Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments; does not work
- The PURPOSE should not be divisive. It should unite people; not divide them or polarize people
- Once a company has its BRAND PURPOSE, a successive, sequential integrated internal communications program is required. It must be cascading by message continuity (from corporate to brand/division, to geography/location) with a highly creative/impactful lockup, icon or metaphor. Next, the theme should be transmitted through every element of the communication tactical plan to every employee.
- Make it real, meaningful and authentic. Your employees and customers will see right through it if it is a gimmick to create attention alone.
Jim Coleman, U.K. CEO of global socially-led creative agency We Are Social, in this week’s Adweek summarized, the Purpose Drive/Cause approach as following; “Finally, for brands who want to take a stand, purpose isn’t something you can just dip your toe into and test the waters; you’re either in or you’re out. Don’t stray in for the sake of try-hard political correctness. It has to be a credible part of your business strategy, not just a PR stunt. Commit to making a real difference or stay away from the conversation.”
At Inward we agree. So, there you have it. If you want to discuss further, give us a call and we will be happy to share other examples.
Allan Steinmetz CEO - Inward Strategic Consulting 617-558-9770