Brand purpose cannot start with comms

Brand purpose has become more central to our discussions over the years, claiming a coveted seat at panel discussions. You know the sort, where woke creative types with sombre expressions, quirky glasses and a righteous keep cup gather to talk about important things. I go to them too, with my keep cup – it’s made with recycled materials, thank you very much.
I’m not imagining the rise of brand purpose. I like evidence. A quick nosey around Google Trends will show you how the global search volumes for the term ‘brand purpose’ have been on the rise over the last five years.
Brand purpose has displaced ‘brand storytelling’ in popular discourse. Part of me misses the days when brands told stories. It was a simpler world, because stories could be whimsical. Stories didn’t have to be about complex subjects like race, gender discrimination, disability, and gay rights. Stories could be about going from rags to riches on the back of a secret fried chicken recipe, or about empowerment à la L’Oreal. Yes, shockingly, L’Oreal’s ‘because you’re worth it’ spiel was meant to appeal to feminists back in the 70s. Their ads told a lovely story of how every woman deserves expensive products.
The thing about stories is that they can be crafted in retrospect. Brand purpose cannot. Purpose starts with culture and behaviour not with external communications and marketing. And if you try to talk without having walked the walk, you will get called out. Just look at what happened to L’Oreal.
It’s not adding up @Loreal??? pic.twitter.com/T7YPHDiRPM
— Chanté 🦖🇩🇲🇯🇲 (@ChantayyJayy) June 1, 2020
As a brand, if you want to make a public statement and spend your pennies on a flashy ad campaign about how #BlackLivesMatter, then you best have black people within your organisation. Otherwise you risk a 16-year-old walking past your open plan office, which is of course within a co-working space with a ping-pong table, and revealing to the world on Instagram Live that your creative team is actually six white men called Nick. Ok, maybe one is an ethnically ambiguous Nick, but still. And you would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids.
It is impossible for any brand to ignore what’s happening in the world right now. The current anti-racism movement is one all organisations have to get involved in one way or another. This isn’t an opportunity to weave #BlackLivesMatter into your external communications or campaigns, or suddenly claim ending racism is your brand’s purpose. It is however an opportunity for us all to look inward, identify ways in which we can do better, listen to what the world is saying, question your own ways of doing things, change your recruitment policies, give your employees time off work to protest or volunteer for the cause. Then if you put up a black square in solidarity or cast a black model in your last advert, the meddling kids may just let you get away with it.

The future of payment – the revolution of mobility technology
Phasing out petrol and diesel cars and introducing EVs is a great option in...
More information
Claire Brady on Net Zero Hero Podcast
Some people think that ‘circularity’ simply means recycling, but it is so much more...
More information
Earth Day
Earth Day provides an opportunity to take stock of our progress towards addressing the...
More information
When it comes to making sustainability claims, getting it wrong can cost organisations the earth
According to Robin Hicks, “2022 was the year that policymakers started to take greenwashing...
More information
Less is more: How low alcohol brands are targeting their Gen Z consumers
Dry January may be over, but giving up alcohol definitely hasn’t gone out of...
More information
Beyond B Corp: Breaking up with Barclays
Last year we became a certified B Corp, and to do so we had...
More information
Three takeaways from the IPCC’s ‘final warning’ report
This week has seen the release of the latest IPCC report assessing the climate...
More information
Why we’ve introduced a 4.5 day working week
As the rulebook of the working week gets rewritten, at Stand we continue to...
More information
Stand shifts as we move into our second decade
I founded Stand with one simple (but typically ambitious) belief: that good comms can...
More information
So… has the pandemic set us back or propelled us forward?
Last week, just days after the restrictions in England were lifted, we hosted our...
More information
Wellbeing is not a one-size-fits-all approach
It’s safe to say that being plunged into multiple lockdowns across the past 18...
More information
Covid-19 has given us a harsh lesson in education inequality
Although ‘Freedom Day’ is here, Covid’s effects will, as we hear all too often,...
More information
The pandemic of inequalities
Last week, the Health Foundation’s Unequal pandemic, fairer recovery report made headlines, revealing that...
More information
Has the pandemic set us back 50 years, or will it propel us forward?
At its onset, Covid-19 was described as the great leveller. But the pandemic has...
More information
Pride 2021: Tokenistic campaigns just won’t fly anymore
June is Pride Month, a time for celebrating the diverse accomplishments, identities, and members...
More information