The Superpower of Purpose-Led Brands
Image courtesy of ThePowerMBA and TwentyFirstCenturyBrand.com.
When it comes to maximising impact and influence, there’s a superpower that many purpose-led brands aren’t tapping into. This is despite the fact that –in the sea of businesses, social enterprises, and movements out there – it’s the purpose-led ones who are best positioned to leverage it. So why are they leaving it on the table? According to ThePowerMBA, it’s because most people misunderstand this superpower – so they don’t leverage it properly.
Branding.
In a recent module in ThePowerMBA, we’ve been taking a look at branding in a way that radically reframes how most of us tend to think about it.
Branding isn’t brand identity: the distinctive signs such as your logo, images, colours, and sounds.
Branding isn’t brand awareness: how well you’re known among your target audience.
Branding isn’t brand equity: the value of the brand, influenced by brand love and brand awareness.
Branding is far more all-encompassing than each of these things.
As ThePowerMBA puts it: Branding is the story that people are telling each other about your organisation. The heart of branding is deciding to take ownership of that story.
Seen through this lens, you start to recognise that every touchpoint you have with anyone – customers, investors, team members, suppliers – contributes to telling that overarching story. Becoming clear on the story you want to tell will help everything else fall into place.
The branding module is taught partly by Jonathan Mildenhall, who previously led the marketing team at Coca-Cola, before becoming Chief Marketing Officer of Air BnB. He’s now co-founder of TwentyFirstCentury Brand, which works with the likes of Pinterest, Thrive Global, and LinkedIn.
It’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about the field.
According to Jonathan, four pillars characterise the most successful 21st century brands:
Purpose-Led
The brand’s greater WHY, transcending the business plan, that inspires the team, stakeholders, customers, and investors. (Obviously, purpose-led organisations have the edge here; they don’t have to look hard for their why. However, they do have to communicate this powerfully.)
Community-Driven
The brand’s community engages with the brand, and feels enabled and equipped by the brand. As a result, this community carries the weight of the marketing.
Tech-Enabled
The brand doesn’t need to be a tech company. Instead, technology is used to make customers’ interaction with the brand easier, even in simple ways.
Narrative-Based
The brand tells a bigger story in everything it does, not just advertising.
Scoring highly on these pillars helps brands have more impact, engage or sell more, attract top talent, investors and partners, and stand out in a crowded market. But more: these pillars help real humans connect with what you stand for, and want to tell others about you. It’s not disingenuous to rely on them; on the contrary, it’s exactly what can help you make the biggest impact possible. People want to find, and partner, with brands that stand for shared values and tell stories that energize them.
Now, a side effect of being a PowerMBA student is that you start to see examples of the lessons everywhere. And so I’ve been on the lookout for sustainable, purpose-led brands that exemplify these pillars, to see if they do indeed make them stand out from the crowd.
The answer? I think they do. Let’s dive in.
1. Oatly
Oatly is a Swedish oat milk manufacturer that’s been around for years, but has relatively recently amassed a cult following. During the pandemic alone, its sales growth grew by 295%. Supermarket shelves were stripped of Oatly, alongside toilet paper and hand sanitizer, meaning boxes of the stuff sold for $200 on Amazon. Honestly, it’s true.
I’m a very loyal Oatly customer, not just because its products are delicious but because of what it stands for. Despite its fun and accessible voice, its commitment to sustainability is unwavering and provocative. As an example: it publishes its carbon footprint on its products, and demands that its competitors do the same. It’s also created a landing page called ‘Are You Stupid? The Milk Lobby Thinks You Are’, which drives customers to petition against plant-based censorship.
Image shared courtesy of Oatley.
Oatly aims to rewrite the narrative around plant-based milk, so that traditionalists are persuaded to try it out, too. Earlier this year the brand launched a high-profile online campaign called ‘Help Dad’, aimed at helping Oatly drinkers convert the middle-aged men in their lives – statistically the least likely to be interested in plant milk – to the product.
As a side note, Oatly’s an interesting example of being community-driven, because part of its initial market capture was to partner with hipster artisan coffee shops rather than spend big on digital ads. As a result, the Oatly brand quickly became legimitzed among serious coffee drinkers (there’s even an Oatfinder map, to hook you up with your nearest Oat-foamed latte).
Image shared courtesy of Oatly. Taken from: https://help-dad.com/: A Guide to Help Dads Quit Dairy.
2. Bravissimo
From plant milk to body image: this is one of my favourite (and award-winning) brands. Bravissimo creates lingerie and swimwear for women with bigger bra sizes: women who seldom have a lot of choice when it comes to high street options, and can feel frumpy or uncatered for as a result. Their self-proclaimed mission is to be ‘the cheerleader for big-boobed women’.
Bravissimo backs up this mission in every element of their branding.
Its catalogues, social media, and website are filled with photos of real customers – of all shapes, sizes and ages – who send in selfies in their bras and swimsuits, together with testimonials of how confident they finally feel. None of these images are ever retouched.
Image shared courtesy of Bravissimo.
It takes a lot to make ordinary women confident enough to take a selfie in their underwear and have it shared with the world. But Bravissimo makes their customers feel like they’ve found their tribe. They feel celebrated for who they are, not for who they’re not. Currently, 170,000 women are in their online community: testament to what this brand does for them.
During Covid, Bravissimo has pivoted to start offering virtual bra fittings. It also offers bra recycling so that customers can responsibly dispose of textiles. Everything about this brand is about positivity, empowerment, and celebration of the women it supports.
3. Global Optimism
However, these branding pillars aren’t just relevant in business. They’re also used to great effect by the climate movement Global Optimism. Founded by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, who led negotiations for the UN during the 2015 Paris Agreement, Global Optimism’s WHY is to change the narrative around climate change.
In its own words:
“We believe it is essential to change narratives and build resilient mindsets if we’re going to stay the course in transforming our world….we aim to change the story about climate change, from one of doom to one of opportunity, building understanding that in tackling the climate crisis, we can build a bustling, more equal and healthier future.”
Image shared courtesy of Global Optimism.
Changing the stories we tell ourselves about climate change is something I’ve shaped my career around. We don’t take action if we don’t believe that action is worthwhile.
This is exactly what Global Optimism does – and it does it, literally, through storytelling.
Its book, The Future We Choose, opens by vividly painting a picture of two futures. The first is the future in which we do nothing to halt global warming. This future is terrifying beyond words (I couldn’t sleep after reading it).
The second is the future in which we’ve decided to act. We’ve successfully halved our emissions every decade. We’ve decided it’s worthwhile to do everything we can – and we’ve saved ourselves. We’re working together. This second future is one of flourishing. “Humanity was only ever as doomed as it believed itself to be. Vanquishing that belief was our true legacy.”
Global Optimism enrols its readers in building this second future, by calling them to commit to personal action towards it. Its campaign, Count Us In, enables people to pledge to make a change in one of 16 areas, including eating seasonally, voting strategically, and talking to friends about climate change.
As with Oatly and Bravissimo, part of the movement’s power is in capturing a sense of belonging and shared purpose, so that its adherents are genuinely excited to spread the word to others.
Using these pillars in branding isn’t simply a strategic way to grow your audience. It’s the best way to reach your people and start a movement. This is exactly how your people will connect with you and feel loyal towards what you stand for. People want causes that they can get behind. As a result, purpose-led organisations, movements, and entrepreneurs that don’t include these pillars are missing a trick.
Branding is far more than your logo, style guide, or visual appeal. It’s the story that you tell to your customers and your team about WHY you’re doing this. It’s having your customers spread the word about you through their delight in what you stand for. It’s using technology to smooth out their experience and build relationships. And it’s being very deliberate about the story that you’re choosing to tell about who you are.
If you do this, the possibilities for impact are endless.
Something to chew on: What’s the story you want your organisation to be known for? And which of these pillars could you strengthen to help you do that?