How To Create An Effective Brand Purpose

Without the right strategy, consumers will likely misunderstand (or miss entirely) your idea of a compelling brand purpose. Even if your message is positive or your brand mission is respected, unless a brand purpose is unique and definitive, your brand purpose may fall upon deaf ears. 

Companies create their brand purpose in many different ways. The products they sell. The messages they send. On some level, any brand interaction is driven by that brand’s underlying purpose.

The problem is that some brands still need to find a defined purpose. 

On paper, this sounds like a minor problem, but it leads to more difficulties as your company grows. 

In this article, we discuss one of the most critical CPG brand strategies: designing a purpose to which consumers can attach themselves. You will learn how t identify as a one-of-a-kind purpose-driven brand to support your value proposition. 

Why Do You Need a Clear Brand Purpose?

A brand purpose ensures that your strategic goals, marketing initiatives, and customer outreach keep your company on the right track. Without a clear purpose, you’re out at sea without a map.

Companies may produce messaging or products misaligned with what customers expect, causing the companies to invest heavily in promotions that will never generate a decent ROI. But the problem runs even deeper. Without a unifying sense of brand purpose, how would you even know what customers expect from you? 

After all, a brand’s purpose, even more than its products, is how consumers choose one brand over another:

• Chipotle’s burritos aren’t all that different from Qdoba’s
• TED Talks aren’t really more special than free lectures on YouTube
• Burt’s Bees isn’t the only beeswax game in town

Nevertheless, each company’s brand purpose keeps us walking through the door:

• Chipotle’s commitment to local growers and sustainability is legendary
• TED has become a household name in non-profit education
• Burt’s Bees is synonymous with low-waste, social, and environmental dedication

Particularly for the Millennial demographic, this type of outwardly focused purpose can be huge for engagement and loyalty. Research by Omnicron Group shows that 70% of Millennial shoppers will spend more on brands that support that concern them.

In this way, defining your brand purpose is a two-way street of value: Customers know what values drive your brand, and you know what types of messages are most likely to resonate with them.

Purpose Drives Brand Positioning

Vital Farms is a shining example of how being purpose-driven as a part of your brand strategy can ramp up revenues. Vital Farms has infiltrated some of the biggest retailers and captured market share in a commodity category with competitors at every turn. 

More than organic and free range, Vital Farms latched onto the idea of conscious capitalism as a part of its brand vision. 

Finding Your Brand Purpose

In most cases, you won’t develop an entirely new brand purpose from scratch (entrepreneurs aside). If you’re working at a company with some traction, you likely know the brand’s purpose. If not, review past brand assets, archived materials, ideas, and visions your company’s founders set forth as a starting point.

Companies rarely need help finding ideas for their purpose; it’s knowing how to define it concretely, differentiate yourself from competitors, and leverage it consistently across the company’s outreach. And it’s crucial to make the purpose known to your market, whatever it may be. 

In a 2018 brand purpose study, 77% of consumers felt a stronger connection to purpose-driven companies than they did for others. Also, 66% would switch from a product they typically buy to a new product from a purpose-driven company.

To help narrow your brand purpose down to something concrete, start by asking yourself these questions:

• Why was the business begun in the first place?
• What impact does your business have on the world?
• What values does your target market have and share with your brand?
• What key unique attributes does your company provide in the market?
• What would you like to be known for, overall?

These foundational questions provide insight into your company’s origin, ongoing goals, and future prospects. Backed by these answers, you’ll have some idea of what your holistic brand value proposition is. The following steps involve tying it into something larger than yourself and ensuring it rings true to your audience.

The Social Element

You’ll note that many companies with time-tested and value-driving brand purposes tie their company’s success to societal success. This isn’t an accident. Companies realized long ago that it wasn’t enough that they were successful; they had to “attempt” to make the world a better place while they were at it. And in our modern era, this idea is more accurate than ever. 

In the above 2018 study, 78% of Americans believed companies must do more than make money and positively impact society. Also, 89% believed that brand purpose was demonstrated by how a company benefits society.

Thus, consider the positives of your company and what type of benefits you bring to the table. Do you prioritize any of the following goals?

• Sustainability
• Packaging recyclability
• Supporting local suppliers
• Environmental conservation
• Ingredient transparency
• Charitable donations

The sky is the limit here. Share the positive aspects of your company that go beyond profits, and you’ll have a much easier time connecting with audiences. 

Purpose-Driven Packaging Design

You can find the purpose of Harmless Harvest right in their name. Placing your brand mission front and center doesn’t work for all products, but it is an effective beverage packaging design purchase driver for an imported fruit drink company. 

Harmless Harvest is likely to experience brand loyalty from its target consumers since many people are thirsting for sustainability. Consumers considerate of the environment are likely to choose Harmless Harvest over Vico and Vita Coco. Why? Because their purpose lines up with something, consumers may or may not have an awareness of.

Having your purpose front and center ensures that all marketing, from in-store promotions to social media marketing, includes brand purpose as a part of the conversation.

Authenticity Is Key

It’s noble to support social issues with your messaging and products, but it needs to be authentic and aligned with your existing brand purpose. Otherwise, you risk coming across as disingenuous or opportunistic—exploiting social momentum to make a buck before moving on to the next hot-button issue.

That is why it’s essential to define your purpose ahead of time. Modern customers are getting better at telling when brands are not genuine. If a history of societal support backs your lofty words, nobody will give it a second thought. 

Farmer-Owned Chocolate

When do you make the owners a part of your brand story? When these individuals display your brand values with pinpoint accuracy. Divine Chocolate is not only to support local farmers with adequate compensation but also to give the farmers ownership of the brand. 

Representation is important to the CPG industry, and Divine Chocolate engages in this practice in numerous waves. Blending it all together for a strong brand purpose with delicious flavor. 

Defining a Brand Purpose That’s Uniquely You

Your goal is to establish a consistent brand purpose that aligns your strategic goals with your marketing. You want to develop a set of personal values to guide decisions, reach consumers, and eliminate any messaging disconnects that your brand pushes and stands for. 

It’s not always the most straightforward goal to achieve—which is why SmashBrand offers brand development services to growing businesses. We’ll leverage our years of branding expertise to help you answer the above questions and develop a brand purpose that’s clear, authentic, and valuable to your market. Contact us here for more info about our branding services.

Testing Your Brands Purpose For Consumer Impact

We talk a lot about subjectivity in the packaging design process, but it extends beyond the external look of a product. Subjectivity can negatively impact every aspect of a brand, including how consumers feel about its purpose. 

How do consumers feel about your brand? Do they understand your purpose? Better yet, do they resonate with it? How can you communicate your purpose in a better way? 

All questions to ask through CPG market research. Understanding the best practices and creating a unique strategy gets you close, but consumer testing takes you all the way. Not only for your brand purpose but also for when and where to communicate it within your marketing strategy.

Packaging Design With A Purpose

SmashBrand is a full-stack packaging design agency helping CPG companies win on retail shelves. Through extensive consumer testing, we deliver the best-performing design for your brand. We are confident in our packaging design process and guarantee shelf performance. 

From category disruptors to industry giants, we help purpose-driven brands properly communicate their message within their packaging design. Book a time to discuss your project with our team.