{"id":3232,"date":"2022-09-01T17:11:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T17:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/?p=3232"},"modified":"2024-05-21T21:05:30","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T21:05:30","slug":"finding-meaning-in-the-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/logic-magic\/finding-meaning-in-the-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Meaning in the Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Once upon a time, there was a busy world filled with happy workers who would go to their office buildings every day, type away on their computers, have lunch with their friends, go to a few meetings and then go home, satisfied with the work they had done.<\/p>
Then, a great plague came and traveled to every corner of the globe, infecting the workers with sickness and fear. They stayed in their homes. Outside, there were protests and demonstrations. There were floods and fires and droughts. Many people quit their jobs. Now, more than ever, people want to find meaning in their work as well as the brands they consume and interact with on a daily basis. When you earnestly invest in developing and maintaining your brand\u2019s purpose, you not only keep employees happy and productive, but also create meaningful engagement with consumers that builds brand loyalty and advocacy.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t These findings aren\u2019t a blip in the cultural trendline, but evidence of a bigger movement that\u2019s here to stay. Way back in 2016, EY Beacon Institute found that the public conversation around corporate and organizational purpose had increased five times since 1994, trending upward at a rate that surpassed even that of public discussion around sustainability.<\/p> Clearly, purpose-driven brands are the way of the future\u2026but what does that mean for your marketing efforts? Here\u2019s a brief overview of some things to consider for your brand.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t A brand purpose is \u201cthe act of doing things intentionally\u201d or an articulation of why a company does what it does, and for whom it creates value. More simply put, it\u2019s the why behind your what. Everyone is in business to make money \u2014 that much is obvious. But why are you in this line of business? What is your core mission?<\/p> Brand purpose drives everything you do \u2014 from how you pursue growth to where you allocate your investments. Define the reason why your company or product exists (whether to solve a problem or meet a need in society) and use it to inform your brand vision, mission, narrative, identity and as a framework for future decisions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Most employees have other options when it comes to where they work. But like you, they\u2019re interested in more than just making money. They expect their jobs to bring a significant sense of purpose to their lives.<\/p> Because we spend nearly 1,820 hours a year at work, our lives are in-part defined by what we \u201cdo for a living\u201d and who we \u201cwork for.\u201d But more employees are asking \u201cwhy,\u201d and questioning if their company\u2019s mission aligns with their values. Promoting a well-defined brand purpose (reinforced by your company culture) both internally and externally is a great way to motivate employees and attract talent.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t On Purpose: Remember, you don\u2019t have to save the world \u2014 just make your corner of it a little better.<\/p> For decades, Zappos has been a self-proclaimed \u201ccustomer-obsessed company that focuses on delivering a WOW experience.\u201d Their brand promise is \u201cto inspire the world by showing it’s possible to simultaneously deliver happiness to consumers, as well as employees, vendors, shareholders and the community, in a long-term, sustainable way.\u201d<\/p> Did it work? The e-commerce retailer went from $1.6 million in gross sales in 1999 to a $1.2 billion acquisition by Amazon just 10 years later \u2014 all by delivering on its promise to \u201cdeliver happiness\u201d through the four C\u2019s: Commerce, Customer Service, Company Culture, Community.<\/p> In Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, Zappos\u2019 late founder Tony Hseih revealed that the company offered new hires $4,000 to quit, all to ensure those who stayed were passionate about a purpose beyond a paycheck. What’s Your why?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t \u00a0Your company\u2019s purpose doesn\u2019t need to be as lofty as \u201cin business to save the home planet\u201d (Patagonia) or \u201centertain the world\u201d (Netflix) for consumers to care. It just needs to be true to you and the value you bring to your audience. (But ideally sound just as catchy.)<\/p> As the cornerstone of your brand, your purpose may pivot but will not change drastically. This permanence can be so intimidating that you only feel comfortable expressing it in a complicated, cumbersome paragraph on your \u201cabout\u201d page.<\/p> But true purpose-driven brands thrive on clarity and consistency. A clear and concise statement can be all you need to weave your \u201cwhy\u201d in your brand executions. This makes it as easy for consumers to self-identify with your higher purpose, even if it\u2019s as simple as \u201ccontinuing my family’s legacy of making the best pie in Louisville, KY.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Here are four ways you can evaluate the effectiveness of your brand purpose and the role it plays in your marketing strategy:<\/p> 1.\u00a0 \u00a0Audit your external and internal properties.<\/strong> 2.\u00a0 \u00a0Interview your employees\u2019 co-workers<\/strong> 3.\u00a0 \u00a0Revisit your \u201calways on\u201d brand campaigns.<\/strong> 4.\u00a0 \u00a0Look for opportunities to go the extra mile.<\/strong> Can your brand carry its purpose further in your brand activations? Maybe you can switch to more sustainable packaging to reinforce your commitment to conservation, offer non-binary gender sizes if you value inclusivity, or improve your return policy if you value customer experience.<\/p> When brands infuse marketing with purpose, higher profits follow. It\u2019s one of the few times doing the right thing is also the easy thing. When brands think people-first, employees and consumers alike can find comfort and community in a shared sense of meaning. By defining your \u201cwhy\u201d, engaging your employees, and activating your purpose, you can do more than just connect \u2013 you can build bonds.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once upon a time, there was a busy world filled with happy workers who would go to their office buildings every day, type away on their computers, have lunch with their friends, go to a few meetings and then go home, satisfied with the work they had done. Then, a great plague came and traveled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":3233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[222],"collection":[],"class_list":["post-3232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-the-connection-issue"],"acf":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3232"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7209,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions\/7209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leapgroupnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=3232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
They wondered, \u201cWhat does it all mean?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tWhat do you stand for?<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
A strong brand purpose can unify
employees and:<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
short-term and unexpected disruptions.<\/li>
that 70%<\/strong> of employees feel their sense
of purpose is defined by their work.
By keeping employees connected to
the mission of an organization, you can increase their satisfaction in their role
and help them see they make an impact.
Leaders of purpose-driven brands are
also three times more likely<\/strong> to retain their employees, giving them an additional measure of stability in uncertain times.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tAre you engaging your employees?<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
A Brand We Admire<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>
<\/p>How \"actively\" are you promoting your brand purpose?<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Go through your website and intranet and ask yourself: Where does my brand purpose appear? Is the statement and\/or concept weaved throughout the content, or isolated on an about page? Is my digital UX aligned with my purpose (especially if I value innovation, simplicity, ease of use)?<\/p>
across departments and management levels. Ask them: Do you know our company\u2019s brand purpose? Do you feel that our brand purpose aligns with the culture at our organization? When was the last time you read or heard our brand purpose? Do you feel connected to our brand purpose? Evaluate the results and refine talking points and turn employees into advocates.<\/p>
Does your creative include anything about your “why”? Or is your PPC or paid social messaging exclusively focused on the \u201cwhat\u201d you do, as in your product or service offering? Is your purpose referenced anywhere on your landing page?<\/p>