Debunking brand purpose

This article argues that there is no single secret to sustained business success, and there is no proof that 'brand purpose' delivers growth.

Debunking brand purpose

Richard Shotton and Aidan O'CallaghanZenithOptimedia

Although the idea of a simple recipe for success is seductive, there is no proof that ideals deliver success. No one has yet uncovered the single secret to sustained business growth, nor is anyone likely to.

Is it possible that there's a common approach shared by the world's most successful brands? Grow, published by Jim Stengel in 2011, was an ambitious attempt to find out. Stengel, the ex-CMO of Procter & Gamble, discovered that those brands with a brand purpose or ideal – that is, a rationale beyond the...

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