The pandemic has provided an opportunity for business leaders to evaluate their mission and analyse their purpose. Organizations that know why they exist and who they are built to serve are uniquely positioned to thrive amid unprecedented change.
With that said, what are the fundamentals of a purpose-driven company?
Bringing the “why” to brand purpose
Traditional marketing practices often limit brand purpose to why a brand sells its products and services. However, a purpose-driven company holds the ability to articulate why the company exists at all and puts the “why” at the center of everything it does. Bringing the “why” to brand purpose can unlock creativity, inspire employees, and create differentiation by building an emotional connection with consumers.
2. Building trust through transparency
Consumers are watching how brands respond to the pandemic and are in turn, changing their buying preferences in response. To maintain public trust, living up to brand purpose is more important than ever. When a companies’ crisis response is driven by a holistic purpose, it will earn more attention and consumer interest. When purpose lives consistently across the brand, it will offer hope to customers, employees, and all other stakeholders. Frequent and authentic communication was crucial for build brand trust in the thick of the pandemic and is a lesson organisations should carry into their future.
Staying true to company promises is essential to building trust for employees and stakeholders. Whether it is a brand upholding its promises to its customers or an enterprise demonstrating its purpose across the value chain, your company will benefit from total transparency and actions that ensure they are living out their purpose. When companies value their purpose, it comes to life.
3. Humanising your brand
Brands are made by humans, so why do we sometimes feel like the marketing messages being delivered are robotic? What this means is we need to become more human, more authentic, and purpose-driven — both in our actions and in the way we tell our story as a business. In a future where chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) are fast becoming integral components of marketing, it is the human touch that will create deep emotional connections with customers. No matter the platform or technology, humanising communications is essential to creating impactful connections.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the companies who truly understand their fundamental purpose and apply this to everyday business, are competitively positioned to navigate unprecedented change. When purpose is embedded across the entire company, your business, employees, and stakeholders will have a perceived positive impact on society.