How brands are making an impact with Purpose-driven Marketing Campaigns
Purpose-driven marketing is when a brand bonds with its target customers based on their shared interests or beliefs. When these beliefs drive the way a brand does its business, the brand is more likely to make an emotional connection with the consumers while earning their trust and loyalty. Here are few examples explaining that when both the brand and consumer share a common belief, the brand creates an impact on consumers’ minds.
Mama Earth, a toxin-free personal care brand, crossed a turnover of 14 million USD in just four years. Apart from the dire need for chemical-free products in the baby care and skin care market, what made the brand grow rapidly is its unique value proposition. They very well observed that today’s consumer is choosing brands that have a deeper purpose, believe in creating a better future for the upcoming generations, and are concerned for mother earth. The brand’s purpose “Goodness Inside” aligns with these consumer beliefs. The company spreads awareness by making the consumers a part of its initiatives. They plant a tree with every purchase, and they are one of the few plastic-positive brands in India that recycle more plastic than they produce.
Everyone is aware of Delhi’s smog problem every winter, and the pollution from private cars on the road is one of the major contributing factors. To change the status quo in a city where owning a car had been one of the biggest status symbols, Uber needed to make Delhiites believe that they had truly arrived when the city started caring about the environment. With the “leave your car behind” campaign, the on-demand mobility platform encouraged people to help improve the air quality by choosing public modes of transport, carpooling, or picking Uber’s green fleet. They partnered with Delhi Metro, the public transit system and offered discounts on rides to and from the metro and bus stations. Civilians responded by sharing their pledge cards on social media and those choosing Uber green fleet were gratified with messages on digital billboards all over the city. With this initiative, they garnered 448k impressions, recorded a 36% increase in positive sentiments for their brand, and a 10% increase in overall sessions in the Uber app during the campaign. The campaign was successful because its purpose aligned with people’s efforts.
Dove, a personal care brand, was way ahead of others in employing purpose-driven marketing to establish its brand relevance. Dove empowers women by improving their self-esteem and confidence and has redefined the age-old concept of beauty. Their marketing campaigns highlight the concept that beauty is skin deep, and it comes in every color, shape, and size. They do not even talk about their product, but instead show that their brand is committed to women’s welfare. Their communication highlighting the company’s purpose has exploded their sales over time.
Such marketing builds a more meaningful tie to the consumer and connects them fully to the brand. Brand’s commitment to work for a good cause increases the positive sentiments and encourages its customers to choose it over its competitors. Unlike other marketing campaigns, purpose-driven marketing is a long-term strategy as it takes a substantial amount of time to build a community of supporters for your brand. Also, consumers today are keenly aware of being manipulated by advertising. Hence, the brands must not only commit to supporting the cause but also make their business models such that they support the cause making a difference in that area. Here the brand authenticity will be tested.
Purpose-driven marketing is much in trend now and is used widely by brands across all categories. In this current global mood, to effectively launch purpose-driven campaigns, the brands should look to sustain the campaign’s messaging for a longer period, solve real-time problems, drive social change, and most importantly, have their core values aligned with the campaign message. Before choosing to launch a purpose-driven marketing campaign, brands should reflect on the purpose and need of their existence, their contribution, and how the world would be a better place because of their contributions. Once identified correctly, brands would be well on their way to determining their brand promise that aligns with the customers, building a sustainable advantage, and setting them up for future long-term success.
