Bringing your Brand Purpose to Life

A few weeks ago, I met with an organisation and their CEO who had just crafted their brand purpose statement and launched it to their teams. Like most organisations I meet, it was a generic statement in the mould of “to make a difference …”, “to impact our …” or “creating better … “. I asked the CEO what it meant and he started on a long rambling monologue about the meaning behind the purpose. When he ended, I asked him if it meant the same thing to his people. His reply was YES! I said lets put it to the test. He confidently agreed. We walked around this office and I asked 3 people. His sales manager, HR manager, and customer service executive. As I expected, no one really knew what the purpose statement meant. They had some vague understanding of the words behind it but that was it, it was only nice sounding words to them.?

For me, Purpose is so extremely important. Purpose answers the question,

“What would the world lose if your company disappeared?”

It defines a company’s core reason for being and its resulting positive impact on the world. Winning companies are driven by purpose, reach higher for it, and achieve more because of it.?

Unfortunately, many companies undertake a superficial approach to purpose, in some cases, it is never really explained and many a time, internal stakeholders and leaders understand and live it.?

A meaningful brand purpose requires a thorough understanding of what the business is doing currently, what it plans to do next, and where it hopes to go in the future. The purpose of the business gets to the heart of?why?the company does what it does, helping to guide business decisions by creating a framework that enables the organization to achieve its brand vision. Laying out the organization’s purpose helps guide the company into the future. The purpose statement sets expectations both internally (for senior leadership and employees) and externally (for customers, investors, and partners). It needs to be driven internally and externally. It needs to rally your people to aim higher and embed the purpose in all they do.?

Here are some of my favourite brand purpose statements:

“Uber is evolving the way the world moves. By seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through our apps, we make cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more business for drivers.”

- Uber

"Connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel."

- Southwest

Having experienced these brands and speaking to internal stakeholders, I can see how they have brought their purpose to life. So as you work on an impactful Brand Purpose Statement, let me share with you 4 ways in which you can bring it to life:

1.??Align leadership around your purpose

It is important that the leaders in your team understand your purpose and are able to articulate and reinforce it.

2.??Engage employees in your purpose journey

Engaging your employees is key when you are launching your purpose statement and it goes a long way when you are training them to apply it across key behaviours inside and outside your organisation.

3.??Embed purpose in everything you do

Your purpose should be seen, heard, and felt in everything done and said in your organisation. Everything should reflect your purpose in all touchpoints.

4.??Anchor your strategy to your purpose

Your purpose should anchor everything you do to drive performance, and engage your stakeholders, and it should be the guiding principle of your strategy and its implementation.

In the future, without purpose, engaging and motivating employees will be increasingly difficult which will in turn likely negatively impact customer satisfaction. By contrast, with purpose, an organization can provide value, create a culture of purpose, and develop a mutually supportive relationship between measures of employee engagement and the purpose of the organization. Only when purpose remains a priority for all in an organisation, can we can ensure it is meaningfully experienced by your people and customers.