One of the reasons we focus on our client's purpose is this: when a value or belief resonates from the inside out it has the power to define, unite and propel a business to great growth. Purpose doesn’t need to be charity or cause marketing, but it needs to encapsulate how the business adds value to people’s lives and it needs be owned by the senior team and the board of a business.

The best brands we work with know their purpose and live it through every part of the business. They use that purpose not as an advertising strap line or a content campaign burst, but as a guiding light for everything they do.

We’ve been working with the team at The NRMA for almost five years and the reason the content we create with them resonates is because it lives their purpose.

Rohan Lund, his talented team and the board make big decisions around their purpose: “To keep people moving”. This drives their major acquisitions, from investing in holiday parks to the Manly Fast Ferry service. It also helps us, as content creators, generate a content mission and relevant content-led campaigns.

Whether it be an internal welcome clip for new staff:

or a content-led campaign that highlights the work they do in the community.

The P word in Europe

This year in Cannes the P word came up a lot. And the notion that when you’re running your business and telling your purpose story, you can’t be partly committed.

Unilever CEO Alan Jope wrote a blog that called out brands for cause-washing and woke-washing, which pollutes purpose.

"It’s putting in peril the very thing which offers us the opportunity to help tackle many of the world’s issues and, in doing so, to build our brands,” he said. "What’s more, it threatens to further destroy trust in our industry, when it’s already in short supply. Marketing has a titanic trust problem." 

The proof is in the numbers. On June 11 in London, Big Al announced that their purpose-led, Sustainable Living Brands are growing 69% faster than the rest of the business and delivering 75% of the company’s growth. Addressing the Deutsche Bank conference, Alan said:

“Two-thirds of consumers around the world say they choose brands because of their stand on social issues, and over 90% of millennials say they would switch brands for one which champions a shared belief or cause... Purpose creates relevance for a brand, it drives talkability, builds penetration and reduces price elasticity,”

Unilever’s commitment is so strong that in the future, he says,  every Unilever brand will be a brand with purpose.

Back in our patch

In a catch-up I had last week with the CMO of a big FMCG group, he mentioned the Purpose word had become over used – probably owing to some marketers and agencies giving it lip service and then serving up tactical price-point or product-proof solutions.

Personally I believe you have to nurture your purpose, live it through every action the brand takes, and tell the story in a way that is compelling and relevant to your audience, so they want to get involved and join your brand’s crusade.

So have a think about your why, how it aligns to your personal values and the cultural context of your customers. Then ask yourself whether you’re nurturing your brand purpose to its full potential, or just giving it lip service.

Our goal at 3rdspace is to help more businesses define their purpose with our content mission process. If you’d like to find out more drop us a note.


Rob Logan is the founder and head of content at 3rdspace - The Content Company

Recently I got into a bit of a debate on LinkedIn with a very experienced strategist about how purpose was a cop out for brands.

The debate went like a little like this:

 

We see purpose as why a brand exists, and indeed how it adds value to people’s lives, but it doesn’t mean that purpose or the supporting content strategy needs to be all about a cause.

Disney has been built on a purpose of “making people happy.” The team at Boost Juice, whom we worked with for years in the early days of 3rdspace (now they are so good at content they do it all in house), are another business who just ‘get it’ with their purpose: “To make you feel just that little bit better.”

That’s why we always start with the brand purpose, as how brands can align their content with not only the values of consumers, but how consumers love to live their lives.

If you have a fun brand, your purpose should drive to a goal such as making you feel just that little bit better through every interaction with the brand, including your content.

We’ve built a strategic process and framework that has worked time and time again to elevate brand scores quickly and most importantly, provoke involvement and action from consumers… it’s what we call a content mission, which we’d be very happy to share with anyone who is interested.

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Rob Logan is founder and head of content @ 3rdspace – The Content Company

Lights Camera Action! Before your brand can hit the red carpet, there are a few questions to ask.

The Given Circumstances technique, is one of the most common ways an actor prepares for a role.  It’s the practice of asking a series of questions to understand as much as you can about your character and their given circumstances. From start-ups to rebranding, this is a technique we as a Brand Purpose Agency use, and you can apply to your brand, to help deliver a star performance.

Here they are…

WHO AM I? As an actor you ask, what kind of person is my character? What has made me who I am today?

As a brand - What kind of brand are you? What is your personality? What do customers think of you? How do they see you? How do you see yourself?

Beyond the product you make eg: “we make sticky tape” – how did you get to making sticky tape, what shaped that journey, why do you make sticky tape? How is your sticky tape different? Is that all you make or want to make?

WHERE AM I?  As an actor you ask, where your character physically is, in the scene? What or who is around me? How do I feel about them? Am I by the ocean? If so am I afraid because I can't swim, am I in awe, am I excited, do I want to jump in?

As a brand, you can ask the same. Where are you in the market? What events are going on around you with your competitors, customers in the news etc. How does that effect your brand? How does that affect you or influence your brand? How can you take advantage of the situation?

WHEN IS IT? As an actor, you ask what time of day/year / season etc it is in your scene? Where your character has just come from, where they are going after this scene?

As a brand the same questions are relevant. Where have you come from to get to today, and where are you going? How does your past and what is happening right now affect your brand tomorrow?

WHAT DO I WANT? As an actor, these are key questions. They drive your OBJECTIVES. A character might have distractions or obstacles, but they must have a desire, want, or need to do something, say something, be somewhere. This is what drives the scene and action.

As a brand, this is equally as important. What are your brand's immediate objectives – needs, desires? These must feed into your main objective – your overall objective or goal. All brands must know what they are. Make them clear and simple and do everything to achieve them. This defines your brand.

WHY DO I WANT IT? This is the JUSTIFICATION or MOTIVATION for an actors’ objective. A reason for doing it, wanting it, needing it.

What’s your brand's reason or motivation to achieve its objective? Making money, or selling are the first thoughts, but you need to look beyond that and ask - why do you do what you do?

If you can answer this, you will find real purpose to build your brand on. And that is powerful.

HOW WILL I GET IT? What an actor does to get their OBJECTIVE is called an ACTION. They may beg, plead, tease, threaten, seduce and so on. When an actor tries a few and goes for the less obvious actions it becomes more interesting and entertaining.

What actions will your brand take to get its objectives? Have you looked at all the ways you can get there? Tried new ways? Be inventive.

WHAT MUST I OVERCOME? An actor asks what are my OBSTACLES, what is in my way of reaching my OBJECTIVES? There are always obstacles – that’s life. Its what makes trying to get your objective as an actor in a scene interesting. You see it lots in comedy, suspense and horror films.

Brand wise – what is it that is delaying you, stopping you, hindering you, getting in the way of your objective? Now how do you get around it, change it, what do you have to adjust… to get there? What can you do differently?

WHAT’S AT STAKE IF I DON’T GET WHAT I WANT? As an actor, the greater the stakes the more interesting the performance. Usually, your life or the life of someone you love is regarded as the biggest “stake” in acting. They can also be related to lovers, money, friends, jobs, respect etc.

Brand wise – what will happen if you don’t get your objective? Do you give up? Or do you turn up the passion and energy and put your heart and soul into it. Try new things, different things to get your objective.

 

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There is no escape from a story.

We live in a deep, multi-connected world; unless you choose to become a hermit, we all live in real-time across every key event. Whether it be our friends, community, national or global.

 

As we move with a changing world and society. What are our values, behaviours and beliefs and who do we believe?

 

Forrester data, Asia pacific online benchmark survey 2015 shows that three-quarters of Australian consumers read peer reviews on products or services, most consumers use social media to help get help with a product or service and 17% agree social media is the channel for them to endorse their favourite brand.

 

As communities, the environment, technology and social behaviours change, do businesses change with them?

 

Mobium’s living Lohas research shows how the attitude and behavioural change in Australians demonstrated in our consumption decisions and how we follow social trends. Mobium’s research segments the research in to four groups, leaders, leaning, learning and laggards.
These groups depict our changes in values, beliefs in sustainability, and our willingness to pay for premium products.

 

Are businesses considering these factors when placing content on communication channels and deciding how to engage with their audience?

 

For a brand, business or product to adapt to the change in social trends, it must define and lead with it’s brand purpose.
As consumers become more informed, the power is with the consumer.

 

Big businesses are seeing more competition from brands that want to offer solutions to social or environmental issues as part of their purpose. The big brands who sell on product alone, need to take note - people care about making a difference and so should brands.

Big or small, how can you start to change consumer behaviour?  How can you as a business make a difference?

 

NRMA as a case study

 

For a business to be sustainable, the consumer must always come first, not just their needs, but what they care about in their lives and the lives of those they care about.

 

We are significantly more connected therefore more people are likely to share your story if it’s something that adds value to them and the community they care about.

 

NRMA has a purpose of keeping Australia moving, they recently worked with 3rdspace Social Media Agency to bring to life their purpose, as they ventured to Lightning Ridge to help drought stricken farmers, keep their machinery moving.

 

The content didn’t highlight a product attribute, but the reason why NRMA exists.

A purpose people were keen to support and share.

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