Any business’s success depends on its ability to articulate and live its purpose clearly. If the purpose is to land everyone on the moon, then it should reflect in all its actions and endeavours. The reason for an organization’s existence, the problems it strives to solve and the influence it intends to have in the life of each person who is impacted by its existence should always be made evident by the work being put out by them.
Of late the word ‘purpose–led’ brand has become very popular. This is a brand that is motivated by its core mission. This is also another interpretation of what marketeers would know as ‘defining your WHY’ and truly embodying it in everything that you do and offer. If you look at all the great brand legends you admire, then this is usually the most defining factor for their success.
Defining your organization’s purpose is a great start for your marketing efforts since it will encourage you to plan your future marketing plans based on a very strong foundation.
Having a purpose will help you establish your brand’s identity and will assist you in answering the ‘why’ every customer asks before entering your establishment or engaging your services.
Your purpose can easily set you apart from your counterparts in the industry and make you edge over them.
Living it will grant you the success you desire.
So apart from ‘purpose- led’ being a buzzword, what does it really mean for a brand? More market share, loyalty, and eyeballs or are they more? How do you define it for your brand? When you look at it with a keen eye, you come to the realization that no one model can ever suit everyone, or many times even one single business.
As an entrepreneur, you need to find the right mix of practices your business needs to create the best impact for your brand. As a marketeer who works with an entrepreneur, you need to have a sixth sense about these things and often be the voice of reason balancing the brand vision with realistic possibilities.
Zolo has always maintained the fact that it is a purpose-driven business, and this has served as the core of the company from its inception in 2015. We’ve always been a space that has given people an avenue to weave their stories which makes them remarkable. Here are my top 5 insights that you should keep in mind when pivoting to purpose-led marketing for your brand.
Getting the Basics Right: To do something remarkable, whether academically or professionally, you first need the basics of what you offer in place. You cannot talk about a purpose-led clothing brand before streamlining the entire value chain to the overall vision. Difficult to start a movement without the basics being in place.
At Zolo, we wanted to provide customers a home they don’t have to stress about, can make their own, and comes with a vibrant community that would make the big city less lonely. Fully furnished rooms, working spaces, shared housing, communal living, and lively places where they can come back to in a new city that allows them the safety of a known name and reaches out to the community for support. We worked hard to get these right and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Before we knew it, we had placed the steppingstones to what was the beginning of the Co-Living movement. The scene for co-living spaces grew exponentially across cities and was led by us.
Customer-Focused: It is this goal that must motivate you to keep pushing the envelope. Refine the journey at every contact point. Be obsessed with it.
In a post covid world just providing the basics is not enough. You must go over and above. This additional halo effect also must be communicated effectively. I have often found that these lie in the little things that the customer meets the brand and not surprisingly these very little things have become a major differentiating aspect in the marketplace. Your ‘purpose’ must define these little things.
Belief in your Purpose: Everyone must believe in it. Take it out of the posters and bring it alive. It is not a marketing buzzword. You must live it. Across cross-section of people, designations, and offerings. Be brutal about it.
Building Loyalty: With the basics also came to the need for reliability that would in turn build loyalty. Consistency of action that re-iterates the purpose of the brand is essential. Post covid consumer behavior is not tolerant of failed promises. They are however willing to let go of human mistakes in the pursuit of the ‘purpose’ if the brand has been overall consistent in its delivery.
Keeping Your Tribe: When you are purpose-driven, one starts to find their audience slowly till it reaches a critical mass and then just explodes. Once you find your tribe, keeping it is an altogether different ballgame. Consistency then becomes even more essential as you go through the motions and fine-tune the daily cycle. When it starts running like well-oiled machinery, now is the time to find ways to create the wow factor for your tribe. We were lucky to find many opportunities during covid and post that to provide it for our tribe. From hygiene kits to a safe space to activating the entire ecosystem to help customers who have lost their jobs not just train but also garner interviews created a deeper bond with each one of them like never before. It gave us a chance to create a meaningful connection with each of our consumers.
Staying Relevant: The term ‘purpose–led’ is here to stay. The consumer mind space has shifted to supporting and aligning themselves with brands that work towards a higher purpose. They have increasingly shown a strong tendency to identify with a brand’s purpose, forming a stronger relationship even as the brand fits with who they are and who they want to be in the future. They look for brands they can have value in associating with and do not shy away from mentioning the association they have with them.
So, if this isn’t an indicator for you to start working on the ‘WHY’ of your business, then I don’t know what is. As a start-up, this is something you can tweak quickly and pivot your business to get it right. Identifying the why with the mood of the times will help you stay relevant and ahead of the curve and set you apart from being ‘just another brand’.
Article is authored by Rishi Sharma, Vice President, Marketing, Zolo.
