The Power Of Purposeful brands
2020 will be a memorable year for many of us. The COVID-19 global pandemic that is literally shutting down the world is leaving businesses and consumers in distraught. With an economic depression expected, the mindset that many of us will have to adopt is the mode of survival. This leaves us and many others in the advertising, marketing and consulting industry in the same boat.
Across the industry, we are witnessing people getting laid off, business operations consolidating, the winding down of firms and in worst cases, some filing for bankruptcy. One is not alone in this new norm that we are faced with today as many industries around the world are in similar difficulties, trying hard to keep their businesses afloat.
It is a confounding period for businesses and there may be many burning questions on top of every business owner’s mind now. How long will this last? What will give me sufficient revenue to sustain my operation cost? What key resources or activities are critical now? How should I prioritise?
Now is not the time to adopt a wait and see approach. It is a chance for business owners and management teams to make meaningful adjustments in terms of restructuring the business to start planning for the next course of action. As you begin to reevaluate and map out your plans, we will like to share about how your brand purpose can serve as a guide towards planning for your next step.
Brand purpose
What: Brand purpose is the reason for your company’s existence. It is about your company’s belief and who you are at your core.
Why: Defining your brand purpose helps businesses align and focus. During turbulent times, when demand slows down and cost cutting measures are put in place, businesses need to decide on the resources that deliver the optimal output to meet the demand at the given point of time.
Who: Turning your purpose from words to action, helps connect your brand better with employees and customers emotionally. During uncertain times, when morale and consumer sentiment are low, communicating your brand purpose can serve as a source of motivation and inspiration to employees, customers and stakeholders to support your vision. It rallys support and understanding for everyone to ride through the tough times together. Thus, communicating your brand purpose during a crisis helps build affinity between your brand and people.
How do I shout out my brand purpose?
Unlike a Vision (long term aspirations of the business and brand) and Mission (actionable steps that aids the company to achieve the vision), the brand purpose addresses what you stand for in relation to global issues and concerns. It relates to solving a problem or a need for society, something that your business can help or support in one way or another.
Some examples of brand purpose:
Dove: Creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence not anxiety
Nike: Motivating every athlete in the world
Starbucks: Inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, one neighbourhood at a time
Piquant: Helping brands stay relevant
A brand purpose can be articulated differently depending on the nature of the business, customer segment or internal belief or principles. There is no right, wrong or ideal way to craft a brand purpose. It ultimately should reflect what the company genuinely aspires, beyond profit. Think through these questions when defining your brand purpose:
- Why did you start the business?
- What are you offering your customers/clients?
- What do your customers/clients need or care about?
- What is happening in the world around us that your business can support or contribute?
- How can your business positively impact the community or environment?
Once you put all these answers together, with a macro view, align and think about why your business exists. And is it also something your consumers care about. There’s no better time to prove your purpose, your value, your strength and creativity.
Tough times don’t last, tough people do. In such unprecedented times, we need to come together to support and care for one another. Although we are physically apart, we can fight it out together. Feel free to reach out to Piquant if you are looking for solutions that can help your business stay relevant. Whether it is for advisory on customer segmentation, ideas to improve your marketing collaterals or connecting you with our network of partners that can solve your problem, we are happy to support you in ways we can.
