When making friends, we look for people who have values that align with our own. We don't want to spend our time with individuals who have different moral principles than us; it doesn't make us feel good. This same ideology goes for brands as well. In today's market, consumers want to interact and purchase from brands that have similar values to their own, and it is essential that these values manifest across all areas of the brand. It is now more clear than ever that a good product is not nearly enough to lead a brand to success, but what goes behind this product is what really matters. There is a rising importance for a positive brand image, brand identity, and brand personality (Blakeman, 2018), but what really sits at the heart of all of this is brand purpose.
What is the Meaning of Brand Purpose?
Brand purpose is what persuades stakeholders of a company's true reasons for being. (Fitzsimmons et al., 2022, p. 207) It is a moral reasoning that can explain a company's existence and an "overarching goal that guides everything a company does" (Fitzsimmons et al., 2022, p. 208) This being the reason that brand purpose sits at the heart of brand image, brand identity, and brand personality. While mission and vision are two other crucial aspects of any brand, it is important to note that purpose often gets tangled between the two, making it very necessary to understand the distinctions.
Mission and Vision
The difficulty in differentiating the meaning of purpose from mission and vision is understandable, as purpose should be rooted in each of these statements. However, each statement has a different objective. A mission statement serves to provide an explanation of what a company does; who are they? and what do they hope to achieve? Whereas a vision statement is there to illustrate where a company hopes to go. (Jones, 2016) A mission statement is typically a very specific description of the current products or services a company offers, and a vision statement is a specific description of the ideal state it hopes to eventually reach. A brand's purpose is typically much less specific as it aims to provide an overarching goal and reason for being. It is typically more outwardly focused, going beyond profit maximization, and targeting how a brand will help the greater good. (Fitzsimmons et al., 2022, p. 209)
To help further understand the distinction between mission and purpose, here is a visual provided by the Harvard Business Review that effectively articulates the difference.
Purpose-Driven Brand Examples
To illustrate what a successful purpose-driven brand actually looks like, we can analyze a few examples.
Patagonia
First looking at Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear brand, they ensure that their purpose is reflected in every area of their company. Recently, they have shifted their mission statement from one that was product-focused to one that is fully purpose-focused, stating that they are "In business to save our home planet." (Sonsev, 2019) From here, they have shown in almost every way that they can, that they are 100% committed to this mission.
"We’re all part of nature, and every decision we make is in the context of the environmental crisis challenging humanity. We work to reduce our impact, share solutions and embrace regenerative practices. We partner with grassroots organizations and frontline communities to restore lands, air and waters to a state of health; to arrest our addiction to fossil fuels; and to address the deep connections between environmental destruction and social justice." (Patigonia, 2022)
Looking at this statement on their website under their core values, we can see that this mission goes far beyond just increasing profit, but they are dedicated to improving the world around them. The most notable example of their purpose-driven environmental efforts was announced in September of 2022. During this month, Patagonia's former owners, the Chouinard family, have transferred all of their ownership to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective, ensuring every dollar that is not reinvested into the company will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet. (Patagonia, 2022) Patagonia is a clear example of a brand that effectively communicates not just what they do, but why they do it.
Reformation
When looking at purpose-driven brands, it is important to analyze not just large companies, but smaller ones as well to prove that small brands can have a large impact. Reformation is a high-end sustainable clothing brand based in Los Angeles, that got its start in 2009. Since then, they have made continuous efforts to reduce their environmental impact as much as they can.
Everything that they do is circled around three ideas: made smarter, made better, and made for good. To show how they are made smarter, their goal is to source 100% of their fabrics from recycled, regenerative, or renewable materials by 2025. To show how they are made better, they release their collections in very small quantities and only make more based on direct data and feedback in efforts to reduce the amount of clothing waste. And to show how they are made for good, they are making efforts to get closer to being 100% circular every day. Their goal is to make 100% of their products recyclable and use as close to zero virgin materials as possible. (Reformation) With Reformation, we can see a clear dedication to the environment and not just profit, and this is what makes it a successfully purpose-driven brand.
Why is Brand Purpose Important?
Now that we have a clear understanding of the meaning of vision, mission, and purpose, and have seen direct examples, we can further explore why brand purpose is so important.
An important factor to consider when looking at the importance of brand purpose is the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the many results of the pandemic was a dramatic increase in personal reflection and a shift in buying habits. Consumers have significantly altered how and where they want to be spending their money (Das et al., 2022), and even though we are moving further from the pandemic, this shift in buying behaviors is still prevalent. This can be seen in an increase in the need for personal hygiene products, health and wellness products, at-home workout machines, etc, but it can also be seen in a shift in consumer values. In a webinar conducted by McKinsey & Company, this topic is explored in great detail. They specifically discuss their research and how their findings show that 40% of Americans are spending more carefully since their decrease in household income. (McKinsey & Company, 2020) The full webinar can be viewed here:
In a study conducted by Tinonetsana and Msosa, they analyze shifts in consumer behavioral trends and articulate specific themes discovered. One theme, in particular, relating to purpose-driven branding is the shift to value-based buying. This comes from the idea that consumers want to get the most value for the money that they are paying, so there are other important factors besides just cost. One participant in their study stated "It wasn't just about finding the cheapest option; it was about making sure what I bought was worth it" (Tinonetsana & Msosa, 2023, p. 11) Another participant stated "I continue to prioritize getting the best value for my money just like I did during the pandemic. It's become a part of my shopping routine now." (Tinonetsana & Msosa, 2023, p. 11)
Relating this back to purpose-driven branding and its importance, a core value that is seen very commonly among consumers since the pandemic is sustainability. So this means that they want to know that their money is going towards not just their product, but towards the environment. Looking at brands like Patagonia and Reformation, because they do such a good job at communicating their purpose, they are a great target for consumers who strongly value sustainability. Since this shift in consumer buying behavior and attitudes, consumers are willing to take the time to do extra research on the brand that they are buying from, making it that much more important to ensure that their purpose is prevalent in all areas of the brand.
In a study performed by Zeno in 2020, they further analyzed just how important brand purpose is. Their findings revealed that when consumers think a brand has a strong purpose they are:
Within this same study, 94% of global consumers stated that it is important that companies they engage with have a strong purpose, however only 37% of these participants actually believe brands today have a strong purpose. (Zeno, 2020) Participants in this study also identified the areas that they believe need to be present in order to establish a true purposeful brand. Some of these areas include ethical and sustainable business practices, support for important social causes, and issue advocacy. (Zeno, 2020) While many brands think they are achieving these focus points, many are missing the mark.
This idea is what will lead to my next blog post, where I will connect this concept to the concept of woke-washing and its impact on consumer buying behavior today.
Where do we go from here?
We have established a clear difference between purpose, mission, and vision, as well as analyzed real-life examples of successful purpose-driven brands. We have also discussed the importance of purpose-driven branding as well as observed the gap between this importance and its existence. This is where the question of authenticity fits in, as authentic branding continues to shape consumer behavior today. With this in mind, the concept of woke-washing emerges as it is a term used to describe brands that use social justice themes in marketing without taking any meaningful action. (Genghini, 2023)
Read my next blog post to further explore this concept.
References
Blakeman, R. (2018). Integrated Marketing Communication Creative Strategy from idea to implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Das, D., Sarkar, A., & Debroy, A. (2022). Impact of covid‐19 on changing consumer behaviour: Lessons from an emerging economy. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(3), 692–715. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12786
Fitzsimmons, A. B., Qin, Y. S., & Heffron, E. R. (2022). Purpose vs mission vs vision: persuasive appeals and components in corporate statements. Journal of Communication Management, 26(2), 207-219. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-09-2021-0108
Genghini, L. (2023, February 13). Greenwashing, Rainbow Washing and woke washing: How they can harm brands’ reputation and the way to stop them. 2030.Builders. https://2030.builders/avoid-greenwashing-woke-washing-and-rainbow-washing/#:~:text=Woke%20washing%20is%20the%20act,trends%20of%20purpose%2Ddriven%20consumerism.
Jones, B. (2016, April 22). The difference between purpose and mission - sponsor content from Disney Institute. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/sponsored/2016/02/the-difference-between-purpose-and-mission
The evolving consumer: How covid-19 is changing The way we shop. McKinsey & Company. (2020, October 15). https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-live/webinars/evolving-consumer-how-covid-19-has-changed-us-shopping-habits
Our core values - patagonia. Patagonia Outdoor Clothing & Gear. (n.d.). https://www.patagonia.com/core-values/
Sonsev, V. (2022, October 12). Patagonia’s focus on its brand purpose is great for business. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/veronikasonsev/2019/11/27/patagonias-focus-on-its-brand-purpose-is-great-for-business/?sh=38a617fb54cb
Sustainability at ref. Sustainability at Ref. (n.d.). https://www.thereformation.com/sustainability.html
TINONETSANA, F., & MSOSA, S. K. (2023). Shifts in consumer behavioural trends during and post the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis using the theory of reasoned action. Business Excellence and Management, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.24818/beman/2023.13.4-04
Unveiling the 2020 Zeno Strength of Purpose Study. Zeno. (2020, June 17). https://www.zenogroup.com/insights/2020-zeno-strength-purpose
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