We need to stop talking about Purpose…

And five things I’ll be doing instead…

💬 “The brand purpose era was, in many ways, marketers trying to reconcile their roles such that they could feel they were effecting positive change even while playing the corporate game.”

In this Guardian opinion piece from brand strategist Eugene Healey, those of us working in brand & marketing are being called to account. He argues that by encouraging brands to play fast and loose with progressive values, we’ve given the far right the ammo they need to claim genuinely worthy endeavours as ‘woke.’ That by allowing our clients to over-claim their impact, or play pretend that they mobilise peaceful rebellions instead of making terrible-tasting cola, we’ve invited the cynicism and sneers from the politically less-progressive. He argues its time for us to stay in our lane, and remember that our role is essentially to sell more shit.

My other Strat crush, Zoe Scaman, responded to Eugene's piece with her signature speed and clarity. Her read is less depressing, and a little more aligned to my own feelings. Here’s some of her thoughts below - I could have pasted the whole thing -

💬 "Brands will collectively spend over $1.07 trillion on advertising this year. That's more than the GDP of 175 countries. That's cultural influence at a scale that most activists can only dream about...
The problem isn't that brands engaged with social issues. It's that too many engaged superficially, inconsistently, opportunistically. They wanted the badge without the work….
The backlash Eugene describes is real and concerning. But the answer isn't for brands to retreat entirely from social engagement. It's to engage differently. More thoughtfully. More consistently. More humbly."

Three years ago (weirdly, to the day) I wrote a piece about Purpose in marketing - I was trying to make sense of how businesses should frame their social responsibility efforts (hint, it’s not their Purpose statement).

I gave it a quick re-read today, and to my dismay, my casual reference to the importance of DEI and ESG goals in business feels extremely dated. What were once expectations of corporations are now considered ‘woke’ and ‘bad business.’ And honestly, call me a shit strategist, or an eternal-optimist, but three years ago I didn’t see it coming. And if our clients no longer measure themselves against sustainability targets, or aim for a fair and equitable workplace, or care about selling products that do more good than harm - why should we care on their behalf?

Like Zoe, I don’t think the answer is a binary choice (when are things ever that simple?) I hope Zoe’s energy and perspective is shared by enough of us in the industry to start making a dent in the selfish, short-sighted views we’re currently seeing implemented across sectors.

Some things I plan to do in my own small corner of the corporate world:
1. Call out clients if they're co-opting values they're not prepared to stand behind
2. Refuse to embolden business leaders to claim a purpose they’re not invested in (eg investing with real resources, not just goodwill and vibes)
3. Discuss the longer term business impacts that comes from disregarding Sustainability / DEI / ESG initiatives - beyond this political period where it’s not cool to care
4. Work harder to imagine, suggest and sell in strategically smart and commercially aligned ideas that boost bottom line and lift others up along with it.

5. Build my own business in a way I can be proud of; accept that often it will cost more time and money to make the fair choice.