We have all been through the drill. It began with brands that were built on rational benefits. Then there was an emotional benefit and then came ‘brand purpose’. What we originally knew as cause marketing or CSR campaigns got a whole new meaning through an idea propagated by former Procter & Gamble CMO Jim Stengel in his 2011 book Grow. He believed and proved that many large-scale advertisers and brands found success with ideas and campaigns that focused on societal issues and causes. To have a brand purpose is having a shared goal of improving people’s lives – the higher order benefits a brand brings to its customers.

The purpose is what happens when brands grow up.

Over the years, we have seen highly effective purpose/cause related campaigns. Dove- standing up fiercely for a woman’s self-esteem or Always for un-stereotyping girls. Edelman’s 2018 Earned brand study reported that nearly two thirds (64 percent) of consumers around the world make purchases based on what the company stands for. But over the years, purpose/cause led marketing has gained something of a reputation as merely a front or a façade with an increasing number of brands jumping on the ‘let’s address a societal problem and win an award while doing that’.

Purpose led marketing did the exact opposite of the fact that there is nothing trendy about purpose.

Case in point Pepsi and Kendell Jenner. The Kendall Jenner-starring ad, intended to promote unity, plunged Pepsi into its lowest consumer perception levels in a decade. What appeared as a brand’s attempt to be the voice of the young, ended up taking the attention from serious movements like ‘Black lives matter’. Hence the backlash. Jumping on the purpose/cause ‘bandwagon’ without the credibility can cause damage to a brand, especially given the high levels of cynicism on social media and brands under constant scrutiny. Pepsi forgot something very fundamental in its attempt to stand for a larger purpose/cause.

It forgot that people are purpose driven today, maybe more than brands.

People can choose purpose driven brands over plain old brands. However, this purpose needs to be aligned and attuned to their values. A shift one can see in effective and highly awarded brand purpose campaigns in the last two years at Cannes.

From mere appropriation or riding the social change wave to making a difference, these brands are equally passionate about being meaningful just as the people who buy them

What did they get right?  

Real action is driven when brands strike the right balance of being local/personal. These brands don’t evoke empathy but get people to identify with their purpose and that generates real action. Sweeping do good mission statements can only do so much to get noticed and a nod of approval from people.

Real action needs a personally relevant stimulus.

Ariel – share the load (Grand Prix winner 2017). Ariel devised a campaign that pushed for a movement for men, initially husbands and later fathers, to share the household laundry chore. ‘Share the Load’ highlighted a key issue prevalent in most Indian households: Working or not, laundry is solely a woman’s responsibility. It also highlighted the huge gender divide that prevails in Modern India via the bias of household duties being a woman’s pride and glory.  While the insight was spot on, this initiative did something more than just highlight a problem, it made women and men across the country say, “yes it’s happened or continues to happen to me”. It made it personal. Over two million men pledged to share the laundry chores because of the activity.

When brands decide to become personal, they are faced with a harsh reality- people like solutions more than brands saying they want to help. This could be via a direct benefit to them or real contributions towards making the world a better place versus just crusading. Being authentic in providing solutions is a big part of making a purpose personal.

Saltwater Brewery created edible 6 pack rings to combat a very strong usage problem of these rings ending up in the ocean and harming marine life. Savlon helped combat hand hygiene in rural India by creating Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks, soap infused chalk sticks, that form an active part of a child’s school life. The chalk powder residue on the hands works like soap when it comes in contact with water helping tackle the important issue of hand hygiene among school going children. These acts of ‘real solutions’ helps brands to create a sincere relationship with the people they are talking to.

The days of a brand’s purpose being defined by its ability to highlight a societal issue may soon lose relevance – True purpose lies in the brand’s ability to make it personal for people. Make it real. Make the solutions authentic. True purpose is here to stay.

Quoting Nigel Hollis, chief analyst, Millward Brown who asks a very poignant question when it comes to cause related work “How does your brand serve people? That’s where you need to start; not with the advertising.”

Kavita