The current landscape of business has shifted tremendously since consumers have gained more power due to their purchasing behaviour. The modern consumer wants to connect to brands and forge deeper, longer-lasting relationships that go beyond simply purchasing their product or service.

This has led to a shift in power to the consumer. Consumers now, more than ever, are changing the manner in which a business operates and this has led to a change in brand marketing strategies.

In this blog, we will uncover 5 reasons why you should be adopting a purpose-driven marketing strategy at the core of your business. But before we dive right in, let’s first touch on the definition of purpose and how it plays a fundamental role in branding & marketing.

So what is Purpose-Driven Branding?
Let’s take it one step back and define ‘purpose’
pur pose /ˈp rp s /
Noun: “The reason why something exists.” The Oxford English Dictionary.

For companies, it is the foundation of every experience. It is the underlying essence that makes a brand relevant and necessary.

Purpose-driven branding is the function of incorporating beliefs and values into the very core of a business and its structure. These beliefs and values are ingrained into the business operations, the long-term initiatives and the culture of the business. It is more than just a quirky mission statement. The business needs to adapt its purpose from the inside out.

Generally speaking, a business that adopts a purpose-driven branding approach or marketing strategy in which the business leaders and their employees work towards one common goal often leads to stronger company culture.

Quick fact: A recent study (The Porter Novelli Premium Index 2021 on Purpose) stated that 13% of a company’s reputation is contributed by its purpose. Other major contributors are quality (65%) and company vision (18%). 

You could be doing your business a disservice by ignoring the importance of incorporating purpose into its daily activities. 

Here are five ‘no-brainer’ reasons why you should embed purpose into your business at its core:

1. A purpose-driven business inspires its employees to thrive in their job

2. Purpose-driven marketing strategies help businesses form long-term relationships with their customers

3. Consumers want more than your product, they want honesty & transparency

4. Purpose-driven brands have a more emotive, meaningful story to tell and this can be part of your marketing efforts

5. Purpose helps you stand out from your competition and media clutter

There are more reasons why one should adopt purpose into their business; however, let’s focus on these five. We will touch on more reasons in a blog post later on in 2022. 

1. A purpose-driven business inspires its employees to thrive in their job

Birds of a feather flock together - this methodology applies to your business culture. By creating a clearly defined purpose in your marketing strategy, over time your company vibe will attract your tribe. As your business's reputation grows, more people who believe in the same values as you will have a tendency to want to work for your company (and support your brand).

Attracting the right people to your business is a benefit for the business culture, reputation & purpose. When the leadership and employees all work towards one common goal a synergy develops.

Patagonia most certainly does business differently, unconventional in fact - from reading CVs differently to allowing flexible workdays. Their employee handbook is titled “Let My People Go Surfing” (which is also the title of the book that the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard published) and it embraces a company culture that allows their staff to go take off work when the waves are on.

This employee perk, an internal feature of the business structure spread like wildfire in public, immediately increasing not only their brand awareness but also their brand equity. All of a sudden many surfers in California wanted a job in Patagonia. They were able to attract the best talent of the surf world by adding a benefit that not many other companies had even begun to think of yet.

This culture translated to a ‘just get the work done’ mentality - you can surf when the waves are on, as long as you perform in your job - a healthy work-life was created and a better quality of life was available if you worked at the company. Patagonia also prides itself in quality - from making high-quality goods to providing a good quality of life for its employees.

The value of their company began inward and translated outward - a fundamental reason why their marketing strategy has worked so well due to their unique brand architecture.

Another perk of working at Patagonia is their 4 day work week every second week. Employees can choose to work a 9-hour shift every day and get a 3-day weekend twice a month. This again provides a better quality of life, it attracts better talent and it also allows their staff to live a more ‘outdoorsy’ lifestyle. The purpose of the company is omnipresent - high-quality outdoor gear made by people that live a high-quality outdoor lifestyle, genius.

*Quick stat - Patagonia has a 4% employee turnover each year (crazy right) and roughly 9,000 job applicants each year. 

2. A purpose-driven strategy helps a business form long-term relationships with their customers

A positive attribute of a business is the relationship that they have built with its customers. A good indication of a strong customer-business relationship is longevity. It’s not rocket science that fostering long-term relationships with customers leads to business growth. 

Did you know that the average, loyal customer spends 67% more in their 31st to 36th month with a brand than in their first six months of the relationship? Another stat that we loved to learn about and felt worth sharing was that existing customers are also 31% more likely to increase their spending on their average order value with your brand as compared to when they buy a product from a brand that they have less of a relationship with. It all comes down to trust, and trust is earned over time. 

Discovery Health, a well-known medical aid, insurance, and bank service provider that operates in South Africa offers an attractive rewards program named Vitality. This rewards program gives perks to its customers who reach certain milestones. One such perk is discounts on participating restaurants. The Vitality app allows the Vitality member to keep track of their progress in aspects such as fitness - the more you visit a Virgin Active gym, go for a run, or do other fitness-related exercises the more points you are rewarded with. The more points to tally up, the more money you save by benefiting from the discounts.

The rewards-based system opens up the opportunity for Discovery to make health and fitness more attractive. They support a healthy lifestyle and also make it more rewarding by creating a spillover effect of other leading brands such as Virgin Active participating and benefiting from it. Discovery attracts a healthier, more active customer base which will ultimately save them money in the long term - the healthier the customer is, the less likely they are to get sick and claim from Discovery Insurance.

Discovery builds a healthier customer base, saving money and also retaining them for a longer period of time, whilst strengthening its brand image and positioning. This example of a purpose-driven marketing strategy shows multiple payoffs for both the brand and the customer. 

3. Consumers want more than your product, they want honesty & transparency

Developing a brand architecture that is fundamentally rooted in a purpose-driven marketing strategy helps immensely to define the brand’s personality and the manner in which it can develop an emotional and psychological bond with their target audience. Marketing and psychology are often overlapping, and to understand your customer from a psychological standpoint will allow you to understand their needs and wants.

​​The world has changed & so has the way brands perform business. This is due to increasing demands of company transparency & ESG (environmental, societal & governance) responsibility that has been largely influenced by the public in recent years.

The consumer has more power than ever with social media at their fingertips; communication is easier and so is spreading a message to millions of people. 

The consumer power shift that has been exacerbated in recent times forces businesses to act with integrity and transparency - customers want to know where the materials of the product that they are interested in buying has come from, how it was made and what impact it had on the environment. 

Swedish furniture giant IKEA—already a leader in environmental sustainability— recently broadened its ESG impact by committing to employ refugees at production centers in Jordan through the IKEA Foundation. This commendable effort is part of the company’s long-term goal to employ some 200,000 disadvantaged people around the world. 

4. Purpose-driven brands have a more emotive, meaningful story to tell and this can be part of your marketing efforts

Nowadays, with so much attention placed on content marketing, including your purpose as a content pillar would allow you to spread more awareness of your brand purpose and how this adoption is making a difference in society. Storytelling is one of the most successful marketing strategies and incorporating purpose into it adds variety to a company’s messaging. 

One of the most successful purpose-driven marketing strategies was the Colin Kaepernick x Nike 2018 campaign. Football star Colin Kaepernick got down on his knees during the US national anthem at a football match in 2016 and this sent shockwaves around the sporting community. Nike hired the NFL quarterback for their 2018 ‘Just Do It’ campaign integrating their slogan with a purpose-led message. The result: a multinational sporting company was addressing racism, supporting Colin and others who have experienced racism in the industry. Not only did the Nike brand image grow and diversify but its share price hit a record high. 

5. Purpose helps you stand out from your competition and media clutter

Utilizing purpose as a differentiation technique to stand out from your competition is one of the benefits of adopting this style of marketing. Uber, although a market leader in car-ride sharing apps, managed to deepen its reputation and differentiate itself from its competition by partnering with  Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). This campaign was held in the US and ran over a period where drinking and driving was an issue - the 4th of July. Each time a driver redeemed a ride, Uber gave USD$1 to the initiative, promoting people to abstain from drinking and driving whilst simultaneously supporting an initiative that has been created due to drinking and driving.

These 5 purpose-driven marketing strategies showcase the importance of adopting this methodology in your marketing efforts. The examples laid about in this article span various industries, from medical aid insurance companies to outdoor sporting equipment and tech. Each example is a market leader in its category and has millions of customers on an annual basis.

Defining a company’s purpose is the first step to adopting a purpose-driven strategy. This fundamental building block of a brand’s architecture allows a company to move in the right direction, one step forward.

At Legs Brands™, we build purpose-driven brands that make the world a better place. If you enjoyed this article then hit the button below to read our white paper.