The Rise of Purpose in Modern Advertising

Many advertising and marketing companies used to follow a simple formula. Describe the features of your product or service, point out the superior features of your offering compared to those of your competitors, and then ask the customer to buy from you. Using such an approach, measuring the success of an ad campaign was rather simple: conversions and the ROI of the campaign launched.

While those metrics are still important today, the landscape has undergone significant changes in recent years.

The modern consumer doesn’t care so much about what you sell. The way you operate as a company and the values that guide your daily operations mean so much more to them. Have you recently found yourself paying so much closer attention to a company’s ethics when making a purchase? For me, it’s reading the packaging fine print more than ever. Often I find myself in a busy supermarket on a Sunday afternoon when I’m in need of certain products, and the point becomes more apparent.

What you can’t easily replicate is a clear, deeply held organizational mission. Therefore, in a market crowded with identical products and matching functions, values-driven advertising is a key differentiator for successful brands on the market today. Purpose-driven advertising can create a deeper bond with your audience by grounding your organizational messages in your organizational values. Advertising that clearly communicates a brand’s real mission motivates actions by customers that can lead to loyalty beyond price.

Moving Beyond Product Features

In a highly competitive market, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between products that all offer similar functionality. Others can easily copy and launch products with similar features whilst competing on price. However, one thing that cannot be easily replicated is a clear organizational mission.

Advertising that clearly communicates a company’s purpose and values creates a connection with customers that is far more than the sum of any transactional utility they may receive from the brand. In simple terms, there is more to a relationship with a brand than the price paid for its products and services, and this connection must be created through marketing.

This desire for connection with others around them is the prime motivator behind their purchase decisions and leads to long-term loyalty above and beyond the effects of lowering prices to drive short-term sales. It is for this reason that companies are increasingly turning to external specialist partners to develop advertising campaigns that are grounded in a deep understanding of their customers’ intrinsic motivations and beliefs, in order to create meaningful connections between customers and the company’s purpose and values. Motimatic works this way, pairing behavioral science with campaign creative that adjusts as a customer moves from initial interest toward long-term loyalty.

From a structural perspective, merely layering on top of your existing process a values-based message for the sake of advertising is not enough. The entire organization must support the marketing message. Your sustainable packaging means nothing if your suppliers are not operating sustainably. Your supply chain means nothing if you’re not acting fairly with your employees in facilities around the world. Engaging in purpose-driven advertising forces an organization to take a very close, hard look at its current practices to ensure it is living up to the values it proclaims in advertising.

The Danger of Inauthenticity

There’s a huge risk, however, for brands that treat values as a mere marketing tactic. They may fall victim to “greenwashing,” where the organization makes claims regarding environmental or ethical issues only to find that the consumer community perceives the organization as exploiting the cause to sell more. That’s going to hurt – a lot – especially when that trust is broken, and the organization has to work hard for years to get back to where they once were.

That means your advertising can’t be a surface-level exercise undertaken for one campaign. Instead, your brand values have to actually exist as the organizing principle of the whole organization. So, yes, that means you may have to take an unpopular stand from time to time, and you will have to run your business with the intention of long-term integrity rather than short-term gain. In other words, the brand values that you proclaim in your advertising have to be real.

However, to avoid falling into the inauthentic ‘treasure hunting’ of trends, the leadership of a company should engage in inward inquiry prior to launching the purpose-driven marketing campaign. What are the core values of the organization? How can the organization best make a positive difference? Are you promoting a campaign that aligns with your company’s values and areas of expertise? The search for meaningful purpose is not necessarily going to be easy or even popular at times. However, in the end, finding that meaningful purpose will help organizations to make a positive difference and achieve their desired objectives.

Measuring the Impact of Purpose

Even when a purpose-driven campaign is executed successfully, one of the biggest hurdles for organizations looking to shift their advertising to focus on purpose is quantifying the impact. Traditional channels like digital marketing allow for immediate measurement of countless metrics that correlate with action, such as click-through rate and conversion rate. Purpose-driven advertising doesn’t operate in the same cadence, affecting perceptions of a brand and its reputation amongst customers and community members for months and even years to come.

These long-term indicators help marketers understand the value that a campaign with a purpose has generated. It is also very important to track the impact in the short term in order to plan and to operate. However, different metrics need to be used in order to measure the impact of purpose.

And the benefits don’t stop with external perception.

Interestingly, it is proven time and again that companies who clearly outline their purpose also experience positive internal impacts. The employees are highly engaged and motivated to continue to contribute to the company’s larger mission, producing positive results for customers and business in general.

There is no doubt that advertising has matured to the point that organizations realize they conduct business in a society and must ensure their economic success is linked to social trust and responsibility to deliver value to customers and the community. When implemented effectively, advertising with purpose aligns an organization’s goals and activities with its values and desired reputation.

Navigating the Future of Marketing

As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, consumers will expect more transparency, accountability, and responsibility from corporations. Companies that embed genuine purpose into the heart of their business model and messaging will reap greater rewards. The lines between a brand and its advertising will continue to blur.

So, where does that leave traditional advertising strategies?

If we move past the fear of abandoning proven, high performing advertising techniques and really drive home the value proposition of the work we do to build out great product and other functions of business, advertising can come to life as something so much more meaningful and of greater value to businesses and customers alike: it can function as the real and authentic vehicles through which amazing relationships between companies and customers can form and flourish.

Author Profile

Adam Regan: Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 7 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com