Purpose as sin and salvation

This essay explores how purpose can be problematic when used incorrectly, while it can be a brand's saviour when relevant and refined.

It's become more and more common for brands to champion a social purpose greater than their basic function. To take three prominent examples:

  • Apple: To empower creative exploration and self-expression.
  • Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
  • Dove: Helping women reconsider and redefine what beauty is.

What is your opinion of the commercial value of such an approach? And should all brands consider adopting it?

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We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

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