Executive Summary

• Purpose-driven branding embodies the principle of working toward a grander mission or cause beyond just making a profit in your sales.
• Consumers prefer purchasing from brands with a purpose that they feel aligns with their own morals and interests.
• A purpose is more than just a marketing tool and should also shine through your operations in ways like company culture, product development, and customer service.
• Storytelling as a tool has immense potential for communicating your brand purpose and how it translates into tangible, meaningful outcomes.

What Is Purpose-Driven Branding?

Purpose-driven branding is the practice of highlighting the reasons your company exists past making a profit selling products. Yes, that goes without saying, but think about it for a moment: If you’re reading this, why does your brand exist? Maybe the motivation was purely commercial, but there’s probably passion and ingenuity somewhere in your story.

Okay, now that you’re thinking about purpose, we can dispense with the stereotypes. Purpose-driven brands don’t just donate profits or goods to causes. They embody the spirit behind the actions.

Mining your core purpose and making it core to your messaging empowers you to reach your audience on common ground, foster emotional connections and align with your consumers’ values. Altogether, it allows you to carve out your own place in a competitive market.

Why Purpose-Driven Branding Matters

For many consumers, purpose affects their purchasing decisions, as 63% of consumers prefer to purchase products from companies that stand up for the same things they do, and 82% of consumers make decisions with purpose in mind.

When consumers feel that their purchase has both a functional and moral outcome, they feel even more confident in their decision. From environmental sustainability to social justice, customers are passionate about a long list of issues in public conversation, offering plenty of room for brands to meet them halfway.

How to Enact Purpose-Driven Branding

The following steps will give your brand the tools to stand for something and make it count.

1. Identify Your Brand’s Core Purpose

Purpose-driven branding must begin with identifying your core brand purpose internally. Distill your brand’s reason for existence, beyond just making money, by closely analyzing your mission, values, history and future vision.

On a big team, there may be different motivations and perceptions of your brand’s central purpose—consider conducting internal brainstorming workshops for your team to all provide input on your central purpose and ensure alignment moving forward.

For shoe brand TOMS, its purpose of supporting health, education, and community development programs is not secondary to its sales but successfully placed front and center as a focal point of its marketing and branding. Its practice of donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold engages customers with shared values who are interested in making a positive difference while also buying a daily need.

2. Align Purpose with Consumer Expectations

A clear and well-communicated purpose strengthens brand loyalty and consumer trust. Take steps to deeply understand your audience’s expectations so you aren’t simply throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

Be wary of “purpose-washing,” the act of marketing your brand purpose without actually taking any meaningful action. Consumers can quickly pick up on brands that are “all talk,” and a disingenuous brand purpose can lead to lost brand trust.

Brands like Rescue Dog Wines embody this balance wonderfully. Given its straightforward branding placing rescue dogs on wine labels, consumers are justified in expecting tangible efforts to back it up. The labelling isn’t performative—the brand also donates 50% of profits directly to shelters, holds fundraising events, and its owners have personally fostered dogs, all while offering transparency about its shelter partnerships.

3. Use Storytelling as a Tool for Purpose-Driven Branding

Storytelling has tremendous value in humanizing a brand—a good story can make a brand’s purpose seem tangible and drive emotional connections that inspire action. Craft a story that demonstrates how your brand puts its purpose into action and then push it out to your audience across your marketing channels.

Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign is an excellent example, as it presented the images and stories of everyday women to challenge beauty standards and spotlight the importance of self-confidence, diversity, and inclusivity. These stories personified the brand’s purpose and demonstrated Dove’s commitment to encouraging a love for one’s natural beauty.

4. Integrate Purpose Across Business Operations

A brand purpose is a core part of business decisions and should emanate throughout your company structure. Your purpose and overall brand mission should influence important operational decisions like product development, employee culture, and customer service.

Brands like Ben & Jerry’s inject their purpose into every aspect of their business. For example, their “5 Flavors on a Mission” campaign tied flavor names to various social causes, like Save Our Swirled and Empower Mint. Each flavor was tied to respective actions, such as spreading a climate petition and raising money for the Human Rights Campaign. The brand also works with Fair Trade organizations for ingredient sourcing, uses responsibly sourced packaging, and champions a linked prosperity model that promotes success for all stakeholders.

Your brand, too, can stand out by aligning internal policies and partnerships with your overall purpose and mission. Backing up your communicated purpose with clear initiatives is essential to maintaining credibility before your audience and will allow you to thrive beyond your marketing.