The guest article by Stephan Grünewald appeared in markenartikel on November 19, 2019.
Companies must redeem their brand purpose in a differentiated and tangible way. A prerequisite for success is that it takes up and transforms an original purpose of the brand.
Purpose compensates for deficits in the here and now
However, the current Purpose boom also points to deficits and problems in the here and now, which are to be compensated for by the new sense orientation of a brand. The de-ideologization of life and the emancipation from religious commandments and everyday values have opened up tremendous freedom for people. But the price of this liberalization is an unleashed arbitrariness that is increasingly experienced as a loss of orientation. In addition, there is a smoldering crisis of trust that affects not only politics and institutions, but also brands: Who can still be trusted today when everyone only follows their situational self-interest, their interests and their short-term return targets? After all, in an egocentric and globalized world, people miss a unifying sense of community that creates a basis for identification. Purpose thus promises orientation, trust and identification. Lone fighters become powerful communities.
"An effective brand purpose creates a meaning-giving added value that is differentiated and experientially redeemed."
Stephan Grünewald
The ideal added value and greater sense of purpose of a brand also demonstrably pay off. According to relevant calculations, brands with purpose have 137 percent better KPIs than other brands. They also outperform brands without Purpose by 206 percent on the stock market. All these promises make Purpose so desirable. But it doesn't fall from the sky. It can't just be bought or slapped on like a label. Its promises are only fulfilled when brands courageously take on a multi-stage challenge.
How companies differentiate and experience their brand purpose, why it is a prerequisite for success that it takes up and transforms an original purpose of the brand and which evolutionary stages of the brand purpose there are, you can read in markenartikel 12/2019 in the full guest article by Stephan Grünewald, co-founder of the rheingold institute:
Cologne-based psychologist Stephan Grünewald is the founder of the market and media research institute rheingold. Grünewald became a bestselling author with his books "Deutschland auf der Couch" (2006) and "Die erschöpfte Gesellschaft" (2013) as well as "Wie tickt Deutschland" (2019).
Phone: +49 221-466 828 0
E-mail: gruenewald@rheingold-online.de
