Brand Purpose Fuels Growth and Brand Consistency

May 22, 2014

Having a societal purpose will be a key competitive advantage in the future, according to 72 percent of Marketing2020 respondents, and for good reason. Consumers, especially millennials, today have higher expectations of their favorite brands — beyond functional and emotional benefits — and they increasingly demand to know who they are doing business with and why companies do what they do.

A great example of a company with a societal purpose is AkzoNobel, the largest global paints and coatings company, whose Dulux Let’s Colour Project is built on the insight that adding color to people’s lives can make a positive difference. To date, AkzoNobel has donated thousands of liters of its Dulux brand of paint to neighborhood projects around the world, resulting in share growth in many markets.

Marketing2020 research also shows that, relative to their peers, brands with a purpose significantly over-perform in multiple performance indicators:

Sixteen percent higher in market share
Twenty-one percent higher in consumer engagement
Eleven percent higher in revenue growth
Nine percent higher in marketing return on investment

Marketing2020 also found that having a strong purpose helps maintain consistency across an increasing number of communication channels and brand touch points. Among companies with a clear brand purpose, 76 percent are able to preserve brand consistency as marketing goes digital, compared to 62 percent of companies without a brand purpose.

About Marketing2020

Marketing2020 – Organizing for Growth is the most comprehensive global marketing leadership initiative ever undertaken. Led by Millward Brown Vermeer in partnership with the ANA, Spencer Stuart, and Adobe, Marketing2020 is focused on how to best align marketing strategy, structure, and capabilities for business growth. The Marketing2020 fieldwork included vision interviews with more than 250 leading CMOs and an in-depth online survey of 10,491 contributors from 92 countries.