Increasingly more companies are talking about the company and brand purpose, and rightly so. Shifting marketing from product-centric marketing to purpose-driven marketing has proven to be very successful for brands. This same thinking has also helped many corporations build their reputation and relevance with stakeholders

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PURPOSE-DRIVEN MARKETING
5 BRAND BUILDING BEST PRACTICES
THE CASE FOR
PURPOSE-
DRIVEN
MARKETING
IN
AUSTRALIA
ALLAN DIB
ANZ Director, Planning and Insights
PPR
Allan.Dib@ppr.com.au
At PPR we are driven to build bonds between
businesses, brands and communities through
community marketing.
www.ppr.com.au
I believe there are great
opportunities for brand growth
with Purpose Dri-ven Marketing.
Compared to other countries
around the world, Australian
companies and brands have been
slow to launch Purpose-Driven
Marketing. Based on interviews
with agencies and marketing
managers I believe the reluctance
is twofold: confusion as to what
Purpose-Driven marketing actually
is, and scepticism about the return
on investment.
WHAT IS PURPOSE-DRIVEN
MARKETING?
Purpose-driven marketing is a way for
a company or brand to build strong
emotional bonds with a target audience.
Purpose driven marketing is based on
the intersection of a company or brand’s
strengths, ideals and brand promise and
the target market’s passions, needs and
interests. Executed properly, purpose
marketing can have a significant impact
on brand equity, but done wrong and
you will need a crisis plan (just ask Pepsi
and Kendall Jenner).
It’s also important to know what
purpose driven marketing isn’t! It is
not supporting a cause. Supporting a
cause can be part of a purpose-driven
marketing campaign, but alone it is just
supporting a cause; just like how a TV
commercial is not a brand. Supporting
causes that don’t ladder back to the
brand’s purpose can come across as
disingenuous. We saw this a lot during
the recent Marriage Equality in Australia
when companies only got involved
when it was clear that the Yes Campaign
was going to win.
Purpose-driven marketing is not trend or
fad. It is no longer the 4 Ps it is another
P and should be part of every planning
process. This is an approach that is
responding to a societal need. A recent
study by Colmar Brunton explains why
purpose driven marketing is important to
Australians – “authenticity has never been
more important to Australians than it is
today but culturally we are still looking
for a hero to make things better.”
BRANDZ™ TOP 40 MOST VALUABLE AUSTRALIAN BRANDS 2018

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PURPOSE DRIVEN MARKETING
5 BRAND BUILDING BEST PRACTICES
Engagement Brand Building Sales Driver Staff Morale
A recent study by Pixability
compared ads on YouTube
that were purpose-driven to
adds that were not purpose
driven and found “that not
only do purpose-driven ads
garner more views, they
also drive more results in the
form of engagement rate.”
Purpose-driven marketing
have significance on
brands making them more
relevant to consumers,
build consumer trust
and overall builds the
relationship between the
consumer and the brand.
There are many studies that
have shown consumers
claiming they will pay more
or buy brands from brands
that are driven by purpose.
Unilever has quantified the
impact of purpose driven
marketing to their business.
Its brands that have rallied
behind purpose driven
marketing are growing
more than 50 percent faster
than the rest of the business
and accounting for 60
percent of growth in 2016.
An effective purpose
driven company is built on
a strong company/brand
purpose. A survey from
Deloitte found 73 percent
of employees who say they
work at a “purpose-driven”
company are engaged,
compared to just 23
percent of those who don’t.
BRANDZ™ TOP 40 MOST VALUABLE AUSTRALIAN BRANDS 2018
BUILDING A CAMPAIGN
It is important for marketers and agencies
to put in the effort to truly understand
both the brand/company and the target
market. Without doing the work upfront
marketers will not be able to identify
shared interests. In this process, it is
important to understand the audience
not as a customer or a stakeholder but as
a human. This approach to marketing is
about forming strong emotional bonds
that extend beyond the category.
THE ROI OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN MARKETING IS FAR REACHING
Purpose-driven marketing done right stimulates greater engagement both
with brands and employees, and drives sales, which collectively builds brands.
For a purpose-driven marketing
campaign to be credible, marketers must
first think about the brand’s purpose
and how it can contribute to society.
Once the purpose-driven campaign is
developed it is important to carefully
examine the internal environment
to determine if it is a good fit for the
organisation, ensuring senior leaders are
on board and the idea is economically
sustainable.
Once there is agreement on the
purpose-driven approach it is important
to get feedback from the target market.
Will they see the benefits as an asset?
Is the brand relevant to their purchase
decision?
When getting feedback marketers must
make sure to look for nuisances across
the country. While buying behaviour
might not be different across the country,
people’s attitudes and passion points
will be different. These differences might
require modifications on how brands
bring purpose to people’s lives.
WHAT WORKS?
Focus on “what you
are doing” not the
“why”
Purpose-driven marketing has
evolved from the days of just
raising awareness of an issue
(Dove Real Beauty) to campaigns
that are showing what they are
doing to help with a societal issue.
A good example of this is
Nestlè Healthy Active Kids.
Support micro issues
not big macro issues
Brands and companies will build
stronger credibility with their
audience when they tailor their focus
on what they are trying to do. Be
specific on makes it real, which is then
easier to monitor and prove impact.
A good example is
Masterfood’s campaign to
encourage families to have
dinner together.
Strong purpose-
driven marketing is
WE based
We know Australians are
looking for ways to personally
get involved in societal issues.
Where possible giving people
a chance to get involved.
A good example of this
is Subway’s recent work
Foodbank to feed the
hungry.
The basics of marketing will continue to remain important (great
products at the right price, relevant positioning, stand out packaging,
excellent service etc.). But in an increasingly cluttered world, purpose
driven marketing will be an important method for Australian companies
and brands to build stronger bonds with their audience.