Why Brand Purpose is important
Why a purpose driven brand? Well, you say, this didn’t seem to matter before so much, why is brand purpose so important? The biggest, strongest and longest standing brands ALL have well defined brand purpose. If with all their hundreds of millions of dollars in ad spend see the importance of it, it must be important indeed. It’s increasingly important as consumers today are quite different from consumers even 20 years ago. They are compelled quite differently in some ways than people seem to use to be. They are looking for, they need an added dimension. People are genuinely interested in the beliefs, ethics and practices of businessesConsumers are no longer just looking for value in the products, they are looking for values in the purveyor too. This is never more true than where they feel they have many choices. This is why brand purpose is important. It sets up uniqueness, differentiation and in its wake, loyalty and love.
How to Define your Purpose Driven Brand
We are none of us machines and there is no cast iron process that answers how to define brand purpose. The Why is a great question once it is installed as our Purpose but when it comes to defining the purpose in the first place, then all of the other Ws are just as important – what, who, how, when, where, when.
What’s the problem you help solve or relieve? Why are you best placed to solve it? How could you be better placed to solve it? What’s the joy/gain/help you bring? What is your remarkable difference? Why is it remarkable?
What do you as a business, as a brand believe in? Why? What do you stand for? What will you never stand for, and this is just as important? Who do you as a brand make or deliver your offering for? Why them? Why those offerings? How do you do it, and why? Why do you love it? How could you love it more? How could they love you more? Why? Is it all aspirational? If it’s not, what’s limiting it?
Are you satisfied your products are seen beyond features and as benefits? If not, which pivots might get you there? Where is the satisfaction? Where does dissatisfaction rankle?
Write it all down – in a granular way and workshop it with your teams. Themes will start to emerge. A picture will start to form and if it’s one that resonates you are on the home straight. If it does not feel or sound right, keep going until it’s recognisable, relatable and resonant.
It may be that your purpose is already evident in some of the things you do and some of the ways and it needs to be elaborated on. It may be unclear or muddled but the beginnings of it are undeniable. Grasp and embrace that and begin to build it, then live and work by that why visibly and with clarity and honesty.
Then it’s time to go to church, so to speak.
Research for Purpose Clarity, Positioning and People
You’ve workshopped it, you’ve brainstormed it, now it’s time to underpin it, assure it and prove it. Yes, in order to fully define your brand purpose, it’s time for research!
What is the purpose of competitors in your field and even of others in the same value chain? How does your purpose stack up in terms of uniqueness? How can you be sure that your purpose will attract the people you want to do business with? Will the purpose show your uniqueness?
Get the answers, rework until you get to the right answers and then power everything with the clear view of your purpose, from your positioning to your people.
How to be a Purpose Driven Brand in Practice
Create a Brand Strategy
Once the purpose is locked down, it is the time to share this widely in the organisation through seminars and training. Then create your brand strategy. This will bring your purpose alive in the business and keep you honest!.
Match strategies and actions to values and principles.
Live your brand purpose and values in your operations and process, especially with regard to how you treat and nurture your people.
When it comes to business change or a new marketing campaign, always have recourse back to your purpose. Always consider how you protect your brand. Always consider how you support your people to support the campaign or the transformation. Be aligned to your brand strategy because that should always depend on your purpose and is built on it. Walk your talk and leave no room for hypocrisy – if there are gaps in your capability or diversity and inclusion that belie your purpose, well, they will let down your brand. Fix that!
Have a Brand Risk Management Framework
For adverse events, blind spots, reputational damage and crisis, have a robust and test plan for crisis communications and risk mitigations for whenever the brand deviates from its stated purpose in a way that is likely to go public and have a negative impact if it does. What might bring these types of adverse events about? How can they be avoided? How can they be resolved?
Focus on your people and the Employee Experience
Get the right people in your organisation, people who fit with your values and can believe and work for your purpose. Value them and interact with them in positive ways aligned to your values. Honestly assess gaps in your current organisation that mean there are operational or procedural risks that will undermine your purpose and business objectives and remedy those. Attract the right people and keep them to reduce the risks of negative reports and rumours. Understand the opportunities for improving the employee experience within the business.
Focus on your Customers and the Customer Experience (CX)
How much fun is it, how easy is it to interact with your organisation currently? How accessible and available are you? Is it sufficient for your customers? Is it acceptable? Will they leave you given the chance because it is such a faff to get someone to talk to? If switching costs aren’t high, are they disgruntled and likely to speak negatively about you or ask others not to adopt your service? Honestly assess areas where you are not delighting the customer and consider how and when these can be improved through technology, digital or business transformation. Then find interesting ways to engage and entertain customers through the digital opportunities available.
Find out the things and activities that your customers are interested in and get involved in it but only if you care about it, or somebody in your organisation with the emotional intelligent and social nous cares about and can champion it, rally a team to sustain it, and will not get bored spearheading it, and will not be a liability. Do good visibly and consistently.
Strive for Excellence
Keep an eye on your competitors and how they are changing or improving their delivery or fulfilment processes and consider how this changes the options for your customers so that you can make the moves required not only to maintain your customers but increase opportunities to gain more business and acclaim.
Protect the brand during Business and IT Transformation
Change and business transformation is increasingly necessary for all businesses. Ensure that your brand and impacts to it brought about by new projects are not dealt with as an afterthought. They must be front of mind.