This is Purpose. Do this.

‘profitably solve problems for people and planet, and avoid profiting from creating problems for people and planet’

Professor Colin Mayer

The Future of the Corporation initiative from The British Academy rightly positions Purpose in the boardroom not the marketing department. But that should ignite more creativity, transparency and trust.

Marketing channels have been a-buzz in recent times with articles, tweets and posts denigrating brand purpose. It’s got a bad rap and I can understand why.

Too many marketers and their agencies got it wrong. There were notable exceptions of course, Carrefour Black Market, Palau Pledge and Nature Represented come to mind immediately – others were campaigns and little more. At worst it looked like the objective was to produce some eye candy for award show juries. This put the cart before the horse, because the purpose of Purpose is missing.

The communications lens

Brand purpose appears to have been introduced in haste as a solution for communications. At least, I hope so. If it represents hours of corporate deliberation about the direction of a brand in the world, there are more than just a few marketers who need to stand in the corner.

When creative is used to solve a business problem

They’ve interpreted everything through a communications lens. Creative work has been used to solve a business problem and it seldom does. It usually highlights it. Check out the Pepsi ad (left) Live for Now with Kendall Jenner. Pepsi’s answer lies elsewhere and I’d be delighted to help them find it.

But brands and businesses end up in this position because they are not willing to ask and answer one critical question – why?

Purpose – with a capital ‘P’

My partners and I founded our business on the belief that creativity fuels competitive advantage. Nothing revolutionary about that you might say, except the evidence begs to differ. To release creativity we help brands rediscover and apply the power of creativity. And we've concluded that’s done through Purpose, People and Culture.

Purpose in this context is why a business or brand exists – why it was launched, why it has a role to play in people’s lives. Start with Why as Simon Sinek suggests. It was a fundamental question long before 2009 too.

Purpose, truth and trust

Purpose has been interpreted by many marketers by attaching their brand to some form of global challenge and use it like a USP. It isn’t and shouldn’t be. Ultimately it leads to vacuous virtue-signalling in communications.

Purpose is deeper than that and starts in the beating heart of the organisation and why it exists. We know the classic examples, Innocent, Patagonia, Ecover etc. The Cooperative Bank, perhaps a less fashionable example, has been through the wringer in the last decade, but not a crisis of Purpose. They returned to their truth in the early 90’s. On a smaller scale, many farmers have innovated, opening on-site shops. Purpose at a local level is just as valid. The list goes on.

Deloitte’s Retail Trends 2020 reported ‘The top six retail trends for the coming year found that an authentic purpose is now as important as digital to the next generation of customers’. Their Global Marketing Trends Report said ‘Purpose-driven companies had 40% higher levels of workforce retention than their competitors’ and ‘30% higher levels of innovation’. Purpose, People and Culture.

Truth begets trust – and trust is sadly lacking between brands and people today.

Purpose beyond communications

Professor Colin Mayer, along with many others, has made a significant contribution in this field through the British Academy, and I’d recommend Principles for Purposeful Business – How to deliver the framework for the Future of the Corporation to anyone interested in doing good business.

This is his concise articulation for corporate Purpose.

‘profitably solve problems for people and planet, and avoid profiting from creating problems for people and planet’

For the doubters, critics and purpose-washers, this is what it means. Know why you exist – and DO THIS!

There’s nothing wrong with being a great soft drinks brand. But you are not solely responsible for world peace. Know why you exist. Produce great soft drinks. Do great soft drinks communications. Create an inclusive, diverse and positive culture. Be resilient, sustainable and ambitious. Embrace creativity. And DO THIS.

In her summary of the Future of the Corporation – Purpose Summit, Lillian Barratt wrote ‘Corporations were historically established with clear, public purposes, with profit as a product of corporate purpose. It is only over the last half-century that the purpose of business has come to be equated solely with maximising profit’.

Time to go back to the future! In fact Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock said ‘Profits are in no way inconsistent with purpose – in fact, profits and purpose are inextricably linked’.

The public, employees and investors want more transparency about the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts of business. Purpose provides a context for this. And it can align who and how businesses employ people and ignite a culture they thrive in.

That’s why it’s an issue beyond the marketing department.

But it should lead to truly inspirational marketing.