Getting to the purpose of brand purpose

Author: Nolwazi Radebe

Brand purpose has long been criticised, especially by shareholders. Terry Smith, one of Unilever’s biggest shareholders, is of the opinion that a sustainability approach to purpose is merely virtue signalling, questioning whether soap, ice cream, and mayonnaise require lofty purpose statements.

I imagine that this may have gone down like a lead balloon at Unilever, which has made sustainability the bedrock of its purpose – its purpose statement is 'to make sustainable living commonplace'. The FMCG giant claims that its 28 ‘sustainable living’ brands grew 69% faster than the rest of the business, up from 46% in 2017, and delivered 75% of Unilever’s overall growth that year.

But Unilever has the distinct advantage as a holding company that can use its many brands to make its purpose tangible. At the brand level, the purpose statements are more down-to-earth and category-relevant. Unilever’s largest washing powder brand, OMO (or Persil in other markets), is proof of this. The brand’s purpose statement, 'to encourage people to unleash their full potential, showing their determination and resilience through the power of getting dirty', is powerfully delivered through the tagline 'Dirt is good'. Not only is the brand purpose statement geared toward social impact, but it is practical and relevant to what a washing powder does. No virtue signalling detected.

The same cannot be said for Pepsi. In 2017, Pepsi launched its 'Live for Now Moments' brand campaign starring Kendall Jenner. On paper, promoting a message of unity, peace, and understanding aligns very well with PepsiCo’s mission to 'create more smiles with every sip and every bite'. But when Pepsi decided to reference issues it had nothing to do with in its advertising, customers accused it of purpose-washing and trivialising the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality.

Another brand that was accused of virtue signalling is Gillette, with its 'The best men can be' brand campaign in 2019. The campaign features stereotypes of masculinity which include bullying and harassment, quite frankly criticising the very men who have been loyal to the brand for over a century and painting them as toxic. Even worse, the brand was seen to be milking the #MeToo movement, screaming inauthenticity. Although the message of the ad was right, and it managed to start a conversation that needed to be had, Gillette didn’t have a credible say on the matter, as toxic masculinity and being clean-shaven have nothing to do with one another.

These failed displays of social purpose erode brand trust. Do consumers expect brands to get involved in social issues? Yes, but some brands fail dismally at this. In Edelman’s 'In Brands We Trust?' special report, 56% of consumers say too many brands are using societal issues as a marketing ploy. Brand purpose does not need to be lofty to be impactful, and it’ll never be impactful if it doesn’t ring true. It can be as simple as 'to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow' (Lego) or 'to refresh the world and make a difference' (Coca-Cola) or 'to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more” (Microsoft). These statements are inspiring and relevant without jumping on any societal bandwagons.

More recently, Cadbury chose to take inspiration from its 'glass and a half' tagline and its original chocolate recipe to focus its purpose on generosity by 'inspiring others to be more generous' using the campaign line 'There’s a glass and a half in everyone'. As simple as this idea is, it has the potential to make a real difference in the world, one person at a time.

The problem comes when brand builders and marketers conflate purpose, ESG, and corporate social responsibility. There are two things brand purpose should never be: there for the sake of being there, and there if it doesn’t belong. In its simplest form, brand purpose is an exercise in stripping away the layers of business strategy, how a company makes money, and getting to the real difference a brand would like to make.

Much to Terry Smith’s disappointment, purpose is not dead. But brands need to make their purpose real, practical, authentic, and relevant. It doesn’t need to be some lofty statement – what purpose needs is to be more down-to-earth. The exercise of getting to the core of why you’re in business may be long and grounding it in something real can prove tedious. But it’s not only necessary and the right thing to do; it will also be true. For more information, visit www.sunshinegun.com.