The Purpose behind Purpose Driven Advertising

What is purpose advertising?

The purpose is what helps us decide which path to follow. It’s the light showing us the best path to walk in. In the traditional ways of advertising, the focus was on making a sale and interruption, but today's advertising is shifting towards being part of the conversation and making a change. It can also be called Purpose-driven advertising which is a strategy used by the brand that aligns their own values with a social cause. The goal of this market strategy is to develop a genuine connection with their audience.

Its origin

In a Forbes article, 24% of companies have mixed their purpose into their brand. It will increase because there are always events happening around the world that brands can’t ignore. The start of the pandemic caused many consumers to demand more from brands than just the best new product in the market. People were scared and uneasy, fearing that their jobs are at risk. In a survey, 90% of the participants encourage brands to protect the well-being and financial security of their employees. Another survey stated that 61% of the audience would be more loyal to a brand when they focus more on inclusivity.

Don’t focus on the trend, focus on purpose

?????????The year 2020 will never be unforgettable because it was the rise of the covid 19 pandemic but also the rise of purpose-driven advertising. One brand that is famous for its golden arches created a campaign about staysafebystayingapart. McDonald’s Brazil started this and used the logo to be clever by separating the two arches. Internationally, all of McDonald’s social media accounts were doing the same. The purpose behind this was so people are reminded of the importance to keep apart so they can keep each other safe. That was supposed to be the message, but their actions didn’t align with their words. They mean well but the customers of McDonald’s weren’t too happy when they notice the employees not wearing gloves or properly taking the right health measures. There also have been comments that McDonald’s using their arches in a clever way was only to win a reward since their previous campaign, “follow the arches” was a great hit and won many rewards.

?????????????The audience doesn’t want to see clever campaign ideas. Especially not during a time of crisis. McDonald's wanted to be part of the conversation or trend but not the solution. Their reward-winning feature became their biggest Achilles heel. The problem with this campaign is that there was a lack of encouragement for social distancing.

Fixing the damage, returning to purpose

?????????????It's true that McDonald’s may have missed the target with their marketing strategy but that doesn’t mean they can’t fix it. I believe the best way is to move away from being clever and thinking about rewards. When it involves helping people during a time of need, it’s best to utilize every resource that the franchise has so they can help their employees who are having a hard time financially or create a campaign that shows safety precautions about what people can do to be safe while entering a McDonald’s to pick up an order and what they can do at home.

?????????????The best solution is always returning to the why you started in the first place. McDonald’s wanted to help people so they needed to figure out what were the best ways they can do that. Which McDonald’s has done with their delivery service. A simple idea that involves their arches being used to connect to someone’s home with the copy reading. “We Deliver”. Simple and powerful. The right idea can help people by letting them know they can be safe at home while McDonald’s goes to deliver their food.

Why is purpose-driven advertising growing?

The reason why companies are moving to more purpose-driven advertising is that it is Awhat their audience wants and needs from them because one person only has little power at their disposal but with the help of a brand backing them up, an army is created.