You are a very renowned expert in purpose marketing. Would you like to explain us what does it mean and how small and medium enterprises can follow its principles?
I think it’s really a reflection of how the consumer has changed. So, if you think about 50 years ago when you advertised the product, you did it mainly by talking about the product benefits, like how the shoe is made or how this food is made. And that was enough to differentiate you from everybody else. Lately it had to become about the emotional relationship you had with a company or a brand, independently from the size of the company. In this “second wave of marketing”, that’s where you saw advertising allowing people to build an emotional relationship with a brand. I think we’re now in the third wave where people also want that brand to share their values. And they also want to see how that product or company makes the world better. And I think this is where the ones who manage to do all three are the ones who will win in the future. This works for every company, of every size: what are your values? How are you showing up in the world in a positive way? Whether it’s through sustainability or whether it’s through community initiatives. And think about adding it as a layer of communication to your customers. So, you still need the product layer, the price layer, the emotional layer, but think about it as the values layer that you can also add in your conversation with your customers.
The credibility tied to purpose-driven initiatives takes time to build and maintain: based on your experience, what is the average timeframe needed to successfully establish a project that adopts purpose as a leading asset?
I think the way to think about it is: first, you’ve got to do the work. You have to start the impact work and start building it up before you even start marketing it or talking about it. And so, for that, I think it’s important to do the work because people look at not what you say, but what you do. I think that’s where a lot of companies get it wrong. They kind of start talking about the good things they’re doing without giving it time to really build up the credibility. You know, think about it like a bank account, right? You need to have money in the bank account before you start writing the checks. So, if you think about purpose and kind of goodwill and equity, you must have it in the bank account before you start talking about it. And so that’s where it’s very different for every single company. There is no one size fits all, you know, but it’s really about getting to the point where you feel like you are making enough of a difference, where there is a history and a track record, you know, of good that you are doing before you start talking about it as well.
I think that’s where our advice for founders is: first, start inside out. Start to think about the product itself. Say you are a chocolate company, right? Think about, for example, the ingredients first: who is making that chocolate, who is growing that chocolate, like your farmers? Are those farmers paid fairly? Do they have good working conditions? Are you helping them grow things sustainably? Are you able to help them with their sustainability efforts to make their crops more sustainable? So, the very first place you need to start is thinking about who makes your product and how it’s made and making sure that you get that right before going wider. Before you start saying, “Oh, we’re going to tackle hunger or education or something”, you first have to make sure that the product does no harm, and the way the product is made is actually net positive. Ben & Jerry’s is a great example of this: they have a three-part mission, but the first part of it is the product itself has to be right. Secondly, then look at your employees. If you have a company, are you taking care of your employees? Do they have good benefits? Are they, you know, paid fairly? Are you looking after them, you know, to make sure that their lives are good? If you do that, next, you can then start looking at communities and the work. But you can’t skip one and two and just jump straight to three, because people will look at your company and go, “Well, it’s obviously bullshit, because the core is not good.”
Younger generations are very attentive to issues of inclusion and respect in the workplace; however, they do not always hold hierarchical positions that would allow them to shape decisions in the name of these values. In your opinion, how can these concerns be successfully conveyed to the levels where decisions are made?
I think, you know, my first piece of advice would be: you have to ground it in the business impact. I think this is where many people go wrong. Yes, there is a moral reason to have inclusion, to have, you know, a place where everybody feels like they can belong and they can thrive. But you have to be able to link it to the business, because this is business, not philanthropy, not government. If you can make the business case for inclusion, and show how fostering a culture of inclusion inside the company helps the company achieve its business goals, I think leaders in the company are going to pay a lot more attention independent of their age, because think about it: if the CEO, the C-suite, if you’re in a company, your job is to make money, right? And your job is not to change the world. Your job is not to attack systemic inequality, or systemic racism. Your job is to make money. So, if you can show how the work that is done internally to create inclusion, for instance, can help the company make more money, now that’s a place where you can make the business case for this work. You have to treat it like any other business expense. Your company says, “Okay, I want to invest $500,000 in this new factory,” and somebody asks: “Okay, why are you doing that?”, “Well, because if we invest in this new factory, the products will be made faster or cheaper, that will help our profit margin, that will help our business grow,”. We need to apply that same thing to inclusion: let me give you an example. “We’re a company that wants to go global. We started in this market, but we want to go to other markets. But we need to have people in the company who understand the culture in those other markets, otherwise we won’t know how to navigate that culture and navigate that country. We need to create an inclusive culture where people from any country can come and work with us and feel like they can contribute. And that’s what unlocks those new markets. That’s what allows us to grow”. So, always trying to link it back to the business case in a company, because that’s really where the decision lies. I think if you can convince the chief financial officer, the CFO, then that program will continue for the long term.
Do you notice a difference in the way companies in the Global South pursue the concept of Purpose compared to those located in advanced economies?
It’s so different in different cultures, for a variety of reasons. Like, let’s just start with the Global North, in which you might have the United States, then you might have Europe. In Europe, there’s more of a cultural welfare state, where the government is expected to provide basic needs, human rights, etc. And the expectation that business should fill those needs is not there. This is not the case of the US, for instance, so even in those two western countries there is a difference, right? Then when you look at the Global South, first of all, the set of problems is different. There may be problems at a more basic level: access to clean water, or access to education, or access to financial inclusion. It’s a different focus, whereas in the Global North the focus might be on mental health, for instance. It’s not to say that the Global South shouldn’t deal with things like that; it’s just that the set of problems is different depending from where you are. And then there’s also the role of the family, which is some cultures is strongly involved in solving some of these problems, changing the role of business and how it works with civic organizations. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to it. And having worked with global companies, the secret really is to have a bigger platform that can work globally but then to have local manifestations of it where each country can really pick and choose and say, “Hey, we’re going to tackle this, we’re going to focus on this” and find a way to bring it to life in line with the local needs and the local problems.
Would you suggest us a book and a movie to better understand your work and the importance of Purpose for business and markets?
I would suggest a book called “Meaningful Marketing”, which I wrote with Bobbi Jones: it’s a guide to future-proof your brand with purpose-driven strategies and activations that meet the demands of the new world of conscious capitalism. In terms of watching, we have launched a docu-series called “The Solutionaries” and it’s about these entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, who are creating businesses that help make the world better.
Is there anything else you would like to add, also to the previous answers, or something that you would like to recommend as an approach to navigate these complex times?
I think it’s important to think about your values as a human being: there are your values as a business person and your values as a human being. I think if you can apply the same human values that you have as being, you know, a good mother, father, parent, sister, brother, into your work, and just say, “How would I feel if somebody did this to me?”, then this would keep you grounded and stops you from making mistakes in the service of profit.