Over the years, brands focused on how they could convince prospects that they could deliver a benefit that was worthwhile.
Brands took one of two routes. Either the rational route or the emotional one.
The rational route entailed regaling us with lots of details about the functionality of the offering. Truck commercials are prime examples. We get to hear about engine size, torque, and towing capacity.
With the emotional route, brands went beyond the functional attributes to illustrate how the sum of those attributes created some feeling for the prospect. In other words, the benefit. A few years back, McDonald’s tagline was “You deserve a break today”. The line demonstrated how the functional attributes (convenient, likable food) gave you an easy way to treat yourself or give yourself a break from the daily meal-making grind (the benefit).
Both of these routes are valid. Lots of brands don’t reach any farther than these approaches. This means lots of brands are also missing the bigger opportunity.
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Enter purpose
Purpose — or a Big Audacious Meaning as I call it — is the difference your brand can make in a life, a community, or even the world. When brands embrace a purpose, they…
