In today’s crowded marketplace, where every brand is vying for attention like contestants on a reality show, having a clear purpose can be your secret weapon.
Brands with a strong, genuine purpose often rise above the noise and create meaningful connections with employees and customers. In this guide, we’ll unravel the mystery of uncovering and harnessing your brand’s purpose, share inspiring examples, and provide actionable tips to ensure your brand isn’t just another face in the crowd.
CONTENTS
- What is a brand purpose?
- Why brands with a purpose perform better
- How to uncover your brand purpose
- Thirty brand purpose examples
- Bringing your purpose to life
- Use your purpose to weave a rich brand story
- The dangers of purpose as a veneer
- Not every brand needs a lofty brand purpose
- The takeaway
1) What is a brand purpose?
Brand purpose is a raison d’être, a North Star, a rallying cry. It is the reason a brand exists beyond making a profit. It’s about the values and mission that drive an organisation and resonate with customers and employees alike. This purpose acts as a guiding force, shaping marketing strategies and customer interactions, helping create a deeper emotional connection, and establishing a strong brand identity.
In a crowded market of me-too brands, a strong brand purpose is crucial for standing out and fostering loyalty. Consumers today seek brands that align with their values and make a positive impact. A clear and compelling purpose not only builds trust and community but also turns transactions into meaningful relationships. It inspires both customers and employees, driving long-term success and growth. Crafting a brand purpose statement is essential for clearly communicating these core values and differentiating from competitors.
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do proves what you believe.”
SIMON SINEK
Understanding the distinctions between brand purpose, brand vision, and values is vital. While brand vision inspires direction, brand purpose provides a broader reason for a brand’s existence, guiding strategic decisions and fostering genuine connections with consumers.
2) Why brands with a purpose perform better
Many start-ups launch with a clear sense of purpose. They have identified a need and provided an answer. It’s a fact that brands with a purpose perform better. Some far-sighted brands may even have a vision of how, one day, their products or services could change lives, industries, or the planet we live on. After all, if we are going to build a better future, the world needs great ideas that matter and solve real problems for real people. All too often, though, that original ideal, the compass that once guided them, gets diluted, poorly articulated, or simply uninspiring. A clearly defined brand purpose can prevent this dilution and keep the brand’s mission on track.
A genuinely enduring purpose does not describe what you do; it’s defined by ‘why’ you do it. For example, Apple does not just make computers; they believe in unleashing our creativity. Nike does not just make sporting equipment; they believe they can inspire us to perform at our best. As Simon Sinek famously proclaimed, organisations that are driven by ‘why’ have the power to tap into people at an emotional level and effect the change they long to see. A compelling brand purpose can foster these deep connections and drive long-term loyalty.
Five ways in which brands with a purpose perform better:
- Belief: Brands with a clearly defined purpose attract like-minded people. Employees with shared beliefs are inspired to work harder toward a common goal. They are inclined to think more creatively, act proactively and take responsibility.
- Loyalty: Customers who share your purpose are likelier to become brand advocates, the ‘holy grail’ of brand loyalty. All great tribes march behind a common cause.
- Culture: A brand that stands for something creates its own internal culture borne out of authenticity. It maintains a consistent voice in all its communications and relationships, guided by a ‘true north’.
- Endurance: Brands with a purpose endure even when their products and services adapt, change, or are replaced. The value they provide to their customers transcends changes in the market.
- Momentum: Purpose acts like the flywheel of an engine. It creates unstoppable momentum and streamlines activities. It aligns business, brand and marketing strategies behind a unifying goal. And it simplifies decision-making by discarding ideas that don’t fit.
3) How to uncover your brand purpose
Defining and applying a brand purpose can profoundly impact a business by creating a clear, compelling reason for its existence that resonates with employees and customers. This alignment of values and mission fosters stronger emotional connections, builds trust and loyalty, differentiates the brand in a crowded market, and guides strategic decisions, leading to improved performance and sustainable growth. A well-integrated brand purpose shapes the company’s culture, drives engagement, and ensures long-term relevance and success.
Seven steps to help uncover your brand purpose:
- Find your passion: What do you care about most? There is likely a ready-made audience that feels the same way. Is there an opportunity to connect with them at this deeper emotional level?
- Spot a conjunction: Your ultimate purpose comes at the intersection of ‘what the world needs’ and ‘your special talents’. Read the zeitgeist well, and you will also receive a boost from perfect timing.
- Think big: You might not plan to colonise space or cure fatal diseases, but people in every walk of life are inspired by ambitious goals that improve the world. As author and brand guru Marty Neumeier said, ‘Who wants a dream that’s near-fetched?’
- Keep it simple: A dozen words or less should do it. Coca-Cola’s purpose is ‘To refresh the world’. It’s direct, focused and aspirational. Yours, for example, may be as simple as ‘To keep cyclists safe’. On the other hand, this could limit your ambitions to cycling, so you might opt for ‘To make the road a safer place’.
- Be prepared to sacrifice: Uncovering your brand purpose can be cathartic and help you focus. Some products or services may no longer align with your purpose. Stay true to your cause and discard anything that does not ring true.
- Take your time: Devote some hard thinking to the task. Bring in colleagues to help. Refine your text because the nuances of the words you choose are important. It may take days, weeks, or more, but it will be worth it.
- Seek an outside perspective: Are you struggling to see the wood for the trees? Seek help with your purpose from a brand agency. Their objectivity and fresh insights can provide the clarity and focus needed to uncover and articulate your brand purpose, ensuring it resonates and drives your business forward.
4) Thirty brand purpose examples
- Adobe: To change the world through digital experiences.
- Amazon: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company.
- Apple: To empower creative exploration and self-expression.
- Airbnb: To help people belong anywhere.
- Atlassian: To help unleash the potential of every team.
- BBC: To enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform.
- B LAB: To create an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy for all people and our shared planet.
- British Heart Foundation: To beat heartbreak forever.
- Coca-Cola: Refresh the world. Make a difference.
- Google: To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and helpful.
- Ikea: To put good design for the home within the reach of everyone.
- Intel: To create world-changing technology that improves the lives of every person on the planet.
- Intuit: To power prosperity around the world.
- Lego: To inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.
- LinkedIn: To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
- Microsoft: To empower every person and organisation on this planet to achieve more.
- Miro: To empower teams to create the next big thing.
- NASA: To explore the heavens.
- Netflix: To entertain the world.
- Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete.
- Patagonia: To save our home planet.
- Oxfam: To help create lasting solutions to the injustice of poverty.
- TED: To spread ideas.
- Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
- Salesforce: To empower companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way.
- SAP: To help the world run better and improve people’s lives with sustainability at the core.
- Shopify: To make commerce better for everyone.
- Slack: To make work life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.
- Xero: To make life better for people in small business, their advisors and communities around the world.
- Zendesk: To help organisations build successful long-term relationships with their customers.
5) Bringing your brand purpose to life
Uncovering your brand purpose is just the beginning; bringing it to life is where the real impact lies. To truly embed your brand purpose into your business, follow these steps:
Embed purpose into every aspect of business operations
- Decision-making processes: Ensure your brand purpose influences critical decisions, from strategic planning to day-to-day operations. Consider how each decision aligns with and supports your core purpose.
- Company culture: Integrate your purpose into the company’s values, mission statement, and daily practices. Cultivate a culture that reflects and supports your purpose, making it a central aspect of how employees interact and work.
- Strategic initiatives: Align your strategic goals and projects with your brand purpose. Develop initiatives that advance your purpose and ensure that long-term strategies are purpose-driven.
Consistently communicate your brand purpose
- Marketing: Incorporate your purpose into all marketing materials, campaigns, and messages. Use storytelling to convey how your brand purpose impacts customers and the world.
- Customer interactions: Ensure that every customer touchpoint reflects your purpose. Train staff to communicate purpose-driven messages and provide experiences reinforcing your brand’s values.
- Internal communications: Regularly share updates, successes, and stories that highlight how the brand purpose is being fulfilled within the organisation. Use internal newsletters, meetings, and other channels to keep purpose at the forefront of people’s minds.
Encourage employee engagement
- Daily roles: Motivate employees to integrate the brand purpose into their daily tasks and responsibilities. Offer training and resources that help them understand how their roles contribute to the larger purpose.
- Unified team: Foster a sense of unity and purpose among employees by celebrating achievements that align with your purpose. Create opportunities for team-building activities that emphasise shared values and goals.
Measure and celebrate success
- Track Success: Develop metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure how well you integrate and achieve your purpose. Regularly assess and review these metrics to gauge progress.
- Celebrate achievements: Recognise and celebrate milestones and successes that align with your purpose. Highlight individual and team accomplishments that exemplify how the brand purpose is being brought to life.
Reinforce and inspire ongoing commitment
- Continuous improvement: Use insights from progress measurements to make adjustments and improvements. Encourage a culture of constant learning and adaptation in alignment with your purpose.
- Inspiration: Regularly reinforce the importance of the brand purpose through stories, achievements, and reflections. Inspire employees and stakeholders to remain committed and passionate about the brand’s mission.
By fully integrating your brand purpose into every facet of your business, you transform it from a mere statement into a driving force that propels your organisation forward, creating a meaningful and lasting impact.
6) Use your brand purpose to weave a rich brand story
A compelling, purpose-driven brand story speaks to the hearts and minds of your customers and will connect with them on a deeper, more emotional level. It helps people understand why your brand exists beyond making a profit and who’ll benefit from it.
A brand story represents who you are and what you stand for. It sets the stage for every interaction customers will have with your brand and serves as a rallying call to your employees.
Every brand has a story to tell. How you layer and tell that story differentiates you from the myriad of me-too brands. Organisations tend to focus on features and benefits in their brand stories, but you should instead craft a captivating and relatable narrative born from your purpose, vision, and values.
An authentic purpose-driven story that will attract the right audience and inspire them to act in your favour. Think of it as transmitting a signal rather than creating noise.
Brand story pyramid
The higher you climb the brand story pyramid, the deeper the connection between the story and those you share it with. Fewer competitors occupy the top of the pyramid, which gives you more opportunities to be heard and connect with the right people.
- WHAT you make or do: At the bottom of the pyramid, businesses tell people what they make or do. The narrative generally focuses on features. This layer is overcrowded and commodity and price-driven, making it difficult to be heard amongst all the noise.
- WHO your product helps: The next layer in the brand story pyramid involves a more empathic approach that communicates how these features will benefit users. This demonstrates that you care about your customers’ wants and needs. However, this layer still limits your ability to differentiate your business clearly and stand out in the marketplace.
- WHY you do what you do: At the top of the pyramid, organisations share what they do, who they do it for, and, more importantly, why. This purpose-driven perspective makes the narrative more meaningful and resonates with your audience more deeply. It will set you apart from your competitors and attract a devoted following of brand advocates who share your ideology.
7) The dangers of purpose as a veneer
There is no doubt that ‘purpose’ has become a buzzword! When muttered in a meeting, people often smirk under their breath, “BINGO!”. The potency of brand purpose becomes tarnished when organisations apply it as a veneer, and marketers hijack it for their latest marketing campaign.
When thought leaders proclaim, “Purpose increases profit”, it is no surprise that some organisations have jumped on the bandwagon. Writing a purpose statement doesn’t mean your brand is purposeful; it means that your purpose is in danger of being meaningless, and therein lies the problem.
Don’t take people for fools
Conscientious employees, customers and the wider community can see through thinly applied veils and will quite rightly criticise and reject brands for their hypocrisy.
Countless brands have fallen foul of a public backlash due to inconsistencies between what they say and what they do. Starbucks claims, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, and one community at a time,” while simultaneously minimising the tax they pay, which negatively impacts communities; it’s all talk and no action. In contrast, Patagonia claims, “Patagonia is in business to save our home planet”, and when handed a tax break, they gave the entire $10m directly to environmental causes.
Distinguish your brand purpose from CSR
A purpose shouldn’t be confused with corporate social responsibility (CSR); many organisations donate their time and money for a good cause, but what Patagonia does goes beyond philanthropy. They go against business norms and encourage their customers to buy less with a ‘Common Threads Initiative’ focusing on sustainability. They refuse to work with partners who do not share their purpose and only employ people committed to protecting the planet.
Should your brand take a stand?
It’s certainly more comfortable not to take a stand for many brands. Putting your head above the parapet and taking a stance will give people an excuse not to choose you over your competitors. However, this will lead to mediocrity, and in an era of overwhelming choice, if your brand doesn’t stand out, you are in danger of being left behind. Consumers are no longer making decisions based solely on product features or price; they’re assessing what a brand says, what it does and what it stands for. They advocate for brands they believe in, reject those they don’t and call out ones that are bullsh*t.
8) Not every brand needs a lofty brand purpose
Brand purpose can be a double-edged sword. When authentic and well-integrated, it can elevate a brand to new heights. However, it can lead to significant backlash and credibility loss when forced or misaligned. Not every brand needs a grand purpose to succeed; sometimes, staying true to what you do best is the most powerful strategy.
Take Greggs, for example. This beloved British bakery chain focuses on delivering high-quality baked goods and affordable meals. Greggs’ purpose statement is clear: “To make great-tasting and freshly prepared food that’s accessible to everyone no matter where you live or how much is in your wallet.” By adhering to this straightforward mission, Greggs maintains a loyal customer base that appreciates its consistency and dedication to accessibility and quality. Its success isn’t driven by grandiose statements or causes but by the simple promise of delicious, reliable food that people love and can afford.
Similarly, IKEA exemplifies how a brand can thrive by staying true to its core strengths. Known for its innovative and functional home furnishings, IKEA has built a strong reputation by focusing on delivering good design that is accessible to everyone. IKEA’s purpose statement is: “To put good design for the home within the reach of everyone.” This purpose highlights their commitment to offering affordable, well-designed products. By focusing on their passion for ‘good design’ and their market – ‘the home,’ IKEA ensures their products are both stylish and accessible. This steadfast adherence to their foundational principles has made IKEA a trusted name in home furnishings.
The key is authenticity and alignment with your core values
Brands that truly understand and embody their true purpose can create meaningful connections with their audience, fostering loyalty and trust. Conversely, those who misstep – by adopting a purpose that feels forced or inconsistent with their identity – can face significant repercussions, from consumer backlash to lasting damage to their credibility. This understanding is crucial in navigating the complexities of brand purpose.
In today’s market, where consumers are more discerning and values-driven than ever, the importance of genuine brand purpose cannot be overstated. Yet, brands must recognise that purpose is more than just a one-size-fits-all proposition. For some, a grand mission may be the right path. For others, staying true to their foundational strengths and delivering on their promises is the most effective strategy. By remaining authentic and aligned with their core values, brands can confidently navigate the complexities of purpose, building lasting connections with those who matter most, their customers.
9) The takeaway
Purpose-driven brands crush the competition by forming deep bonds with employees and customers. Finding your brand’s purpose is just the start; bake it into everything you do for lasting impact. But don’t just slap on a purpose; be authentic. Brands that live their purpose inspire loyalty and thrive. So, embrace your purpose fully and watch your brand grow.
Do you need any help with your brand purpose?
If you’re struggling to uncover and articulate your brand purpose, why not email us at hello@firebrand.co.uk? Alternatively, you can download our Free Brand Purpose Workbook.
