The uncomfortable truth about brand purpose

This newsletter comes from the hosts of The Marketing Architects, a research-first show answering your biggest marketing questions. Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

 

Brand purpose promised to transform business for good. Instead, it's produced vague campaigns and questionable claims. This week, we examine why purpose marketing often misses the mark. 

—Elena  

  

Only 13% of women see themselves as below average when it comes to beauty.        

This finding was buried in Dove's research that also claimed only 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful. The more reassuring data points were largely ignored in favor of the crisis narrative. 

 

Purpose marketing has shaky foundations                     

Brand purpose emerged after the 2008 financial crash as a form of corporate rehabilitation. Companies needed a new narrative to restore trust and credibility. 

The evidence supporting purpose marketing reveals significant problems: 

1. Circular research methods. Jim Stengel's influential study picked successful companies, found something to call "purpose," then claimed purpose caused their success without testing alternative explanations.
   
2. Questionable data sources. Dove's foundational research wasn't scientific data but rather a PR company opinion survey with leading questions.
   
3. Gen Z myths. Recent election data reveals significant political diversity within Gen Z, debunking claims about their progressive purchasing priorities.
   
4. Fundamental conflicts. For-profit companies lack the social license to lead causes since their primary obligation remains delivering shareholder returns. 

The better path involves respecting customers' intelligence and diverse viewpoints. Brands can provide value through entertainment, convenience, and quality products without taking divisive political stances. Effective marketing creates common ground rather than division. 

Listen in on our discussion.

 

“Good Intentions Lead to Bad Marketing”    

Nick Asbury's Marketing Week article provides a critique of brand purpose, examining how good intentions often produce ineffective campaigns and questionable social outcomes. 

Read the article.

 

 

A better path forward.        

"The idea of businesses and marketers contributing positively to society is a good one. But it needs to be rescued from the complacent and contradictory thinking of the purpose movement." 

— Nick Asbury, author of The Road to Hell