Purpose is a small and complicated word. For many, it’s that indefinable ‘something’ that keeps us pushing against a brick wall even when we know it’s breaking our backs to do so and for many more it’s the thing that gets us up in the morning. But personal purpose and brand purpose are two very different things.
Being a brand was simple once. You had one job – sell as much as possible and don’t leave a mess. The advent of the internet and social media, however, has necessitated a cultural shift, where companies must be seen as embracing a higher calling beyond simply making profits.
The challenges facing our society and planet are increasingly complex, ranging from climate change to social inequality. Brand purpose, when approached authentically and going beyond symbolic gestures, can be a powerful force for positive change.
However, in recent months, there has been growing skepticism about the authenticity and effectiveness of brand purpose initiatives.
Questioning Brand Purpose
With Cannes Lions 2023 on the immediate horizon, the concept of brand purpose has been sneered at by many top industry thought leaders. Earlier this year, Taylor Herring CEO and co-founder James Herring pointed out that 28 of the 32 Grand Prix-winning campaigns last year were based around purpose. He argued that “real campaigns are those that resonate with real people, not made-for-awards campaigns that make the industry feel better about itself.”
Is he right? Is this current trend towards purpose little more than self-congratulatory backslapping and fart sniffing? Gen Z certainly seem to think so, as a segment of the market that are notoriously averse to virtue signalling and they have been resolutely cynical regarding recent “purpose-led” campaigns with 88% not trusting eco-friendly claims at face value according to a recent McKinsey report.
Of course, they have a point. While there are many brands that have genuinely embedded non-financial purpose into their corporate structure, there are many more that claim to have a higher purpose without genuinely addressing the societal or environmental issues they claim to support. Brands like Patagonia and Dove are legitimately making a good go of it but then for every Patagonia there are a dozen Innocent Drinks and Ryanairs.
Brand purpose can often be nothing more than a hollow PR exercise. But it can be so much more.
The Importance of Authenticity
Authenticity is a fundamental factor in successful brand purpose initiatives and companies that genuinely integrate their purpose into their business strategy and operations tend to fare better in the long run. Consumers, particularly younger ones, are increasingly demanding transparency and accountability from brands and inauthentic purpose-driven campaigns can do more harm than good.
Brand purpose should be more than a marketing tactic; it should inform a brand's core values, shape its actions, and drive meaningful change. Take Unilever, for example, who helped shoppers in India to combat plastic pollution by letting them use the plastic waste of competitive brands. Then there’s “The Lost Class” from Leo Burnett for the Change the Ref foundation that won big at Cannes last year, deservedly so. Just take two minutes out of your day to sit through it (above) and you’ll see what I mean.
Because purpose can be powerful and brave as well as asinine and trite. Purpose washing is abhorrent but so is purpose bashing. There’s two sides to the coin and if we want the coin to land the right way up and to stave off purpose fatigue we need to be able to see through the bullshit and praise those that deserve it and that’s going to be up to the Cannes jury.
