What is the purpose of your business? And why is the answer to that question so important to successful branding?
When we talk about business purpose, we’re not talking about the legal purpose of your business. The legal purpose of your business is simply to do business.
The purpose of your business isn’t to make money – that’s a result of being in business. Likewise, this purpose isn’t about selling a particular product or service.
The purpose of your business is a statement telling your customers why you’re here.
It’s important not to confuse business purpose with mission or vision. Mission describes how you’re going to achieve your business purpose. Meanwhile, the vision describes what you hope to achieve. In contrast to these two, your business’ purpose describes why your business exists.
Coming up with a purpose statement that truly captures the spirit of your business can be more complicated than you think. It needs to fully articulate why your business does what it does, why it exists, and what causes it supports. The statement needs to be short (a single sentence is ideal) and concise; also, it should include rich, powerful, and inspiring words.
It should be brave and bold, telling your target audience how you’re going to make the world a better place and inspiring them to join you.
Examples Of Business Purpose Statements
To better help you understand, here are several excellent examples of purpose statements from some successful companies:
- Whole Foods Market: “Our Purpose is to Nourish People and the Planet.”
- General Mills: “We serve the world by making food people love.”
- Southwest: “Connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.”
- MacDonald’s: “Our purpose is to feed and foster communities.”
- Ford: “We are here for one purpose, to help build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams”.
- Campbell’s: “Real food that matters for life’s moments.”
- Perkins & Wills: “Design has the power to inspire joy, uplift lives, and strengthen the spirit of community.”
- BP: “Our purpose is reimagining energy for people and our planet. We want to help the world reach net zero and improve people’s lives.”
- Pfizer: “Breakthroughs that change patients’ lives.”
- Tyson: “Raising the world’s expectations for how much good food can do.”
Business Purpose and Brand Purpose
The purpose is what drives your company. Branding is about telling your customers how you achieve your business’s purpose. Your business purpose should guide your branding efforts.
McDonald’s purpose is to “feed and foster communities”. Their branding supports this statement by focusing on how Mcdonald’s accomplishes these goals, actively promoting Ronald McDonald house charities, scholarships, and environmental sustainability efforts along with their latest meal deals and menu items. In turn, this helps their customers feel like they’re doing more than just buying a hamburger – it makes them feel like they’re supporting a cause and making a difference. Brand purpose and business purpose combine to create an emotionally satisfying experience for their customers.
Companies like MacDonald’s use several marketing tools to achieve their
purpose goals and grow their brands, including social media, websites, content marketing, and public events, to name a few.
In addition to branding, your purpose statement can also be helpful to increase employee motivation, meet more successful marketing and sales goals, establish customer loyalty and distinguish yourself from the competition.
Purpose Provides Direction – Branding Gets Your Customers to Follow
The purpose should provide a business with direction – what they want to achieve, how they want to achieve it, and most importantly, who’s going to follow them. Marketing helps you determine how best to achieve your purpose. Branding is about convincing people to support your purpose and follow your cause. Successful branding is about knowing the true purpose of your business.
Once you define your purpose and put these factors into practice, your business will be on the path to success!