Understanding the role of purpose in your brand

Announcing that you’re going to pursue clarifying a purpose just seems to naturally draw out the skeptics in an organization.

I have heard things like, “Purpose is nice, but our customers choose us because of our ______ (insert service, or price, or convenience, or any of the myriad of other functional attributes).”

For some reason, there is this belief that it is an either/or proposition. As if we were going to abandon everything we have done in the past that has brought us to this point.

I get it. New stuff is scary. It challenges the way we have been doing things. The natural reaction is to fight anything that moves us out of our comfort zone. Even if there is a body of evidence that shows us that it has the potential to accelerate our success.

We’re not abandoning our value

Purpose is not a substitute for a failing business proposition or a suspect offering. Our offering has to be solid. It doesn’t even have to be universally recognized as the best in the marketplace. It simply has to have clear value and be competitive.

Purpose cannot magically transform an organization that has subpar value in the eyes of those it hopes to serve. The functional value we offer is a driver for our customers and prospects. But…