Sitting, as our industry does, in the landscape between brands and customers, purpose should at once be a differentiator, a talent beacon and, most of all, the beating heart of an organisation. And you know what they say: stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.
At the same time, we know that purposeful issues like DE&I and sustainability are disappearing from pitch checklists and shareholder value is habitually prioritised over marketing for good.
So how can your business develop a purpose-led growth mindset?
This was the question discussed around the table at our latest Propeller Leadership Dinner with special guest Pete Markey, CMO of Boots, five times Marketer of the Year and President of ISBA. As someone who has made Marketing for Good his own purpose – and who regularly puts himself out there as part of an improv comedy troupe – Pete posed the question: Do you really have a brand until you live your purpose?
Our guests responded by explaining the range of ways in which their organisations are doing this and growing as a result.
Be authentic
Focus on a purpose which makes sense for your business and the industry you work in and be authentic in practising it. Whether rewilding local rivers and waterways to calling out unconscious bias in a person’s accent, the link between you, your business and your purpose has to be genuine.
Let your people invent it
Brands can’t invent purpose. Let it come from your people. And ideas can come from anywhere within the organisation, so build your mission throughout it.
Purpose is not a gesture
It’s a starting point. If your organisation is going to get behind initiatives to support Black History Month or Pride Month, don’t let them wither afterwards – build on them. Remember that as just social media is society mirrored and magnified, so brands are the ultimate influencers. This comes with a responsibility to constantly ask ‘and then? ‘ rather than ‘why?’
Flip the conversation
Remember when agencies were all asked what our policies were on DEI and sustainability in pitches? Now that these questions no longer feature on so many RFPs, the onus is on us to be fearless in challenging brands on their own DE&I & sustainability ethos.
Inspire your people
Purpose is a strong lever for recruitment and retention. So, how proud are people to work at your organisation? How are you ensuring that your purpose is individual to each employee?
As one of our guests pointed out, purpose is a choice. What we choose to do versus what we choose not to do. If you are intentional about those choices, let them thrive through your organisation and live them every day, you can move from simply a growth culture to a purpose-led growth culture.
Thank you to all our guests for their thoughtful contributions to the conversation.
Andrew Dimitriou (DEPT), Tina Fegent (Consultant), Holly Maguire (Design Bridge & Partners), Natalie Cummins (EssenceMediacom), Amanda Farmer (LeShop), Andrew Turner (Incubeta), Jennifer Berry (Digitas), Nadine Heggie (National Geographic at The Walt Disney Company), Pip Hulbert (VML), Collette Philip (Brand by Me), Justine Bower (Global), Supriya Dev-Purkaystha (Microsoft), Linn Frost (The Social Element), Clare Turner (Pearl & Dean).