Green Days: Building a Purpose-Driven Brand

When faced with controversial political, environmental, cultural or social issues, many brands are afraid of upsetting any segment of their customer base or risking blowback on social media. So they choose to remain neutral or silent. But according to a study from the management-consulting firm Accenture, 63 percent of consumers prefer to purchase products and services from purpose-driven companies. 

According to a study by Kantar Consulting, the question may be, “Can a brand afford not to be purpose-driven?” The firm’s research has found that “brands with a high sense of purpose have experienced a brand-valuation increase of 175 percent over the past 12 years compared to the median growth rate of 86 percent.” 

As marketing and communications professionals, we also seek purpose in our work and in the experiences our brands offer customers and other stakeholders. But when the word “purpose” is raised with brands and brand owners (companies, nonprofits, government agencies, public institutions such as universities and hospitals), we often try to satisfy it through donations, community affairs programs, employee volunteer opportunities or other activities. A distinction needs to be made between being a good corporate citizen (by donating to a cause, for example) and building a purpose-driven brand. They’re two different things. 

Brands, at their most basic, can enable a brand owner to communicate the identity and a unique reason why a consumer should buy a product or service, or support a cause or candidate. 

Consumer support for a brand’s purpose is similar to their trust in the experience the brand will give them. And consumers who trust brands are loyal to those brands. For example, when you see the Golden Arches while driving, you know that if you pull over for a Big Mac you can expect just about the same quality at any McDonald’s restaurant in the United States. A consistently delivered product that consumers trust is the first and most crucial step toward purpose. Because if a business can’t satisfy its customers, it won’t be in business long enough to express a greater purpose.

Brands achieve higher purposes when their owners, consumers and other stakeholders transcend transactions and transform lives. But to reach this higher expression of a brand, the brand owner must adopt a purposeful mindset. 

The organization’s leaders, including its communications professionals, have to ask themselves some tough questions, such as:

What was our company’s original purpose?

If your company has been around for a long time, employees may have lost sight of why the business was started in the first place. What glaring problem or need did the founder risk time and treasure to solve? It’s often refreshing — and can reinvigorate a company’s purpose — to go back and learn about the founder’s original “why.”

Are we clear about what we stand for?

Has your organization’s leadership team (or board) discussed where it stands on important issues of the day that could affect the company — such as gun violence, tariffs, sexual harassment, political conversations in the workplace, artificial intelligence or income inequality? The business doesn’t necessarily have to tell the world where it stands on such issues, but it should take the time to reflect on them and determine when it’s appropriate to join the conversation, and when it’s not.

Are we willing to take stands on difficult issues?

According to Accenture’s 2018 study, 62 percent of consumers want companies to take stands on the social, cultural, environmental and political issues they care about. When the Minnesota Legislature voted to place a referendum on the ballot that could have outlawed same-sex marriage, Minnesota’s leading companies — including Target, 3M and General Mills — publicly stated their opposition to the proposal. 

To avoid upsetting their customers, many companies try to stay neutral on controversial issues. But companies that know their customers well, such as Chick-fil-A or Nike, can take public stands without fear of consumer backlash.

Will being purpose-driven help us build customer loyalty?

Acquiring new customers through long-term marketing can be expensive, so maintaining customer loyalty is crucial. An emotional connection between the brand and the customer helps ensure that loyalty. According to a 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli study, 77 percent of Americans surveyed feel “a stronger emotional connection to purpose-driven companies” and 79 percent say they would be “more loyal to a purpose-driven company.”

Will taking a stand improve our bottom line?

After the Parkland school shootings in February 2018, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would remove assault-style rifles from its stores and raise its gun-purchase age to 21 — a move met with howls of protest from gun owners. But subsequently the store’s overall sales went up, not down. Gun owners who expressed their opposition were outweighed by customers who shared the company’s purpose.

Will our customers stand up for us?

All brands eventually face a crisis. But what distinguishes purpose-driven brands from those that are not is the willingness of customers to speak up for a brand. According to the Cone/Porter Novelli study, 73 percent of the consumers surveyed are willing to defend a purpose-driven brand when someone speaks negatively about it. 

In promoting our brand, do we connect our employees with our customers?

Purpose-driven brands are authentic brands. As marketing consultant Bryan Kramer writes in his book, “Human to Human: H2H,” authenticity starts with the idea that your brand is neither “B2B” (business to business) or “B2C” (business to consumer), but rather “H2H” (human to human). 

To reinforce that human connection, brands which strive to be purpose-driven shouldn’t hesitate to ask their customers, investors, employees, vendors and community leaders for honest feedback on how they’re doing. Take the feedback, learn from it, and intentionally seek to think higher and act more boldly.

Are the parts, ingredients and supplies we use environmentally friendly and ethically manufactured?

Could your brand eliminate excessive packaging or switch to a different vendor that treats its employees better? Could it find a local source rather than order its parts from another country? In a growing number of industries, third-party certifications recognize organizations for trying to improve diversity, the environment, workplace culture, etc. For example, the Audubon Society certifies golf courses that are striving to implement green practices.  

Is our board diverse?

What is the purpose of a board? It’s not to run the business. But it is to ask the CEO and the rest of the leadership team tough questions. If you want your organization to see things from different perspectives and not be blindsided when issues arise, seek out diversity on your board.

How will history judge us?

As professional communicators, how do we want our brand stories to read five, 10 or 20 years from now? Will they say our brands sat idly by, or that they acted boldly to make the world a better place? Having a purpose-driven brand is an intentional choice. Small, deliberate choices accrue over time to tell a bigger story. 

Building a brand that employees and consumers recognize for its purpose takes vision, investment and a long-term commitment. 

It’s a mindset in which the impact of your purpose is just as important as meeting Wall Street’s expectations. 

photo credit: keith bishop