Whether you are positioning a product or a business, it starts with the individual. Human connection is the backbone of any brand story. And humans are emotional creatures.
We often make our purchase decisions based on how products promise to make us feel. And in today’s world, these feelings often come from the perception of how corporate leaders contribute to society.Today’s Customers and Employees Demand More from Brands
As authors Afdhel Aziz and Bobby Jones note in their book: “Good Is The New Cool: The Principles Of Purpose,
“With the political world in tumult, unemployment at record levels, and the fragmentation of the international world order that has been the bedrock of progress since World War II, people expect businesses to fill voids that governments and nonprofits can’t address alone.
We need today’s companies to show the will and wherewithal to lead the way in addressing urgent social and environmental issues.”
Customers, regulators, and employees are all demanding more from corporate leaders — greener operations, positive societal impact, and improved welfare.
Bourgeois notes, “at the soul of every person is the nature to seek to establish meaning to life.” In other words, how do we matter and make life better?
By businesses discovering and expressing a specific purpose with which their unique organization resonates, employees and customers become engaged in a relationship that deepens beyond just commerce.
“Finding Your Why” is at the essence of Purpose Led Companies
With so many companies, products, and service options today, employees and clients demand a deeper understanding of a company’s practical “why.”
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Why does the company exist?
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Besides a great product or service, what does the company stand for?
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Why should your customers choose you?”
Colleagues and customers want to be inspired and want to deal with companies that align with their core values. This connection is the essence of today’s brand strategy.
A recent study by Porter Novelli/Cone reports that close to 8 out of 10 Americans feel a deeper personal connection to companies with whom they share values. “Aside from being entertaining, interesting, or helpful, the brands sought by many consumers show a commitment to something they find personally meaningful.” (Korn Ferry)
Recent studies have found that societal impact and ethics are the most common reasons-why millennials change their relationships with businesses. In fact, Gen Z and Millennials are the most likely to make purchase decisions based on values and principles (personal, social, and environmental).
As brands navigate the present and plan for the future, this new cascade of influence changes how brands and businesses must operate to attract and retain customers.
As noted by Deloitte, “when brands know whom they are serving and what those individuals specifically care about, they can position their purpose as a competitive differentiator.”
Four keys to Bringing Organizational Purpose to Life
Many leaders understand the need to transform their brand beyond simply selling the benefits of their product or service, but have no idea how to connect to this purpose-driven approach. Here are four components you will need to understand to build out your corporate brand purpose:
#1. Finding Your Why. Aligning your product or service from the inside-out to understand and connect how it contributes to the community in a meaningful way.
#2. Storytelling is key to clarifying your message and amplifying the light you bring to the world, reflected in all marketing strategies. We all learn through stories. Packaging your messages in a well-framed story can convey history, context, and institutional solutions through emotions that move audiences to action. Remember, humans feel first and think second.
#3. Purpose-based leadership development is the glue to building a culture of collaboration, effectively turning inspiration into action. Leading with purpose starts with defining and refining the mission and strategies to create dynamic/sustainable companies.
In Psychology’s summary of Maslow’s self-transcendence, they discuss how Maslow argued that there is a higher level of development, what he called self-transcendence. Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos.
Purpose driven companies understand the transcendence dynamic and build it into their mission and core purpose.
#4. Digital asset creation and delivery via multiple channels to reach your audience. According to a McKinsey Global Survey of executives, the COVID-19 crisis has changed the way companies do business, accelerating the digitization of their customer interactions by three to four years. Technology development is essential to capitalize on marketing channels that build a better customer/community experience at less cost to help your audience quickly and easily digest your product, message, or service.
Purpose is the Glue of Enduring Brand Relationships
The reality is, that organizations may have great products, but if they fail to find and leverage a greater purpose and build it into the fiber of their day-to-day operations, it potentially limits growth by not connecting emotionally to their stakeholders.
Ready to explore your purpose, send me a note, and let’s start a conversation.
Mark Bourgeois