Elevating our knowledge, work, and results means learning from industry leaders and executing innovative ideas right within our own capabilities. We recently had the opportunity to leverage our learnings from the Brand Innovators Brand Purpose Regional Summit, hosted by Kenneth Cole in New York City. So, what did we learn and how will it elevate our strategies? We’re sharing key takeaways below.
What are our top three insights from the Brand Purpose Regional Summit?
1. Promoting brand “purpose” and “social impact” is trending now more than ever. However, due to this uptick of promotion, marketers are finding it more difficult to make their purpose sound authentic and maintain a competitive advantage. We learned that for brands to be genuine and original, and for consumers to believe so, their purpose needs to be woven into the business, as a true part of their ethos.
2. Kenneth Cole and many other brands are putting a greater focus on mental health. While supporting mental health is important in itself, brands can make a strong business case for supporting their employees’ mental health as well. According to Kenneth Cole, depression and anxiety contribute to 12 billion workdays lost per year. Supporting employees’ mental health should be viewed by brands as an investment, not an expense, as it improves retention, recruitment, morale, and productivity.
3. Partnerships can strengthen a brand’s purpose and authenticity. Surprisingly, collaborating with competitors can help drive a brand’s purpose even further than going at it alone. The key is to identify partners who share the same values-driven mission and approach to work. For instance, Talbots has teamed up with Dress for Success to empower women in the workplace, while Just Salad has partnered with Sesame Street to create a nutritious children’s menu.
What will we be taking advantage of for our clients?
In the world of marketing and digital advertising, there is always going to be new technology, improved strategies, and unchartered territory. It is important to continue to evolve to meet clients’ needs through testing, optimizing, analyzing results, and ultimately learning from each execution. In the case of an ever-changing digital landscape, progress is always going to trump perfection.
With authenticity being the main theme woven throughout the event, it’s important that we continue to support our brands’ purpose. Being strategic about impact means continuing to find what aligns with who we are. For example, as a women-owned/led company, Butler/Till needs to continue discovering ways to contribute to women’s organizations, promote equality and equity, provide best-in-class benefits, and engage in meaningful purpose-driven endeavors.
It’s common to prioritize the appearance of purpose in your brand through marketing. Instead, concentrate on the tangible actions that underpin your purpose. From there, bring in skilled “storytellers” who can artfully share your efforts. These advocates can help reinforce the authenticity of your purpose-driven journey.
Bottom line? Bringing purpose to your work is critical nowadays. Taking action, communicating it well, and truly living out your purpose in all aspects of your business is what will differentiate you from your competition.
Want to learn new ways to implement purpose into your marketing initiatives? Contact our experts today.
