If you’ve been in the industry long enough, you know that offering quality products is not enough to establish a connection with your audience. According to Accenture, consumers are no longer making decisions based solely on product selection or price; they’re assessing what a brand says, what it does, and what it stands for.

If you want to build a successful brand, you have to identify, adopt, implement, and practice your purpose such that it encourages your audience to connect with you. That’s what some of today’s most successful brands do. They commit themselves to identify their purpose and ensure it drives every brand decision.

Here are 5 brands that practice their purpose, continuously achieve what they’ve set out to do, and cut through the noise:

Coca Cola

When you think of Coca Cola, what are the two things that come to your mind? Happiness? Refreshing? That’s what Coca Cola’s purpose is all about – refresh the world, inspire happiness, and build a better future. But with consumer needs and preferences about sugar consumption undergoing a transformation of sorts, Coca Cola is constantly evolving to give people what’s “good” for them. Coca Cola is now offering smaller, more convenient packages, introducing new no-sugar drinks, as well as reducing sugar in existing drinks around the world.

There’s a lot Coca Cola is doing to build a better future. Through the World Without Waste campaign, the brand aims to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle (or can) they sell globally by 2030. Through the Replenish Initiative, the brand is the first Fortune 500 Company to successfully replenish or return 100 percent of the water they use. And through sustainable agricultural commitments, Coca Cola strives to procure ingredients sustainably, protecting farmers, reducing carbon footprint, and ensuring an energy-efficient, greener future.

Unilever

Global brand Unilever has long been witnessing the tangible value of making purpose a core driver of growth and differentiation. Almost half of the company’s 40 top brands focus on sustainability. Over the years, the brand has committed to improving public health with nutritious foods and brought about a new level of transparency to ingredient sourcing. A growing number of health-conscious consumers are noticing this commitment too.

Take Unilever brand Dove for instance. You might think Dove is just another brand of soap, but in reality, it is much more than that. According to their own research, only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful. Dove recognizes the fact that women, irrespective of their race, battle various levels of low self-esteem. Today, the brand is reaching millions of young women, and delivering self-esteem education so women grow up feeling happy and confident about the way they look. In its way, Dove is showing the world, how to build (and sustain) a brand with purpose!

Starbucks

As profitability gets increasingly linked to a company’s ability to demonstrate they are purpose-driven, Starbucks is one brand that has always shown that it truly abides by its purpose. The brand has always shown itself to be a progressive, forward-thinking brand that aims to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.  Today, Starbucks has embraced social issues such as accessible healthcare and education, food donation, competitive wages, and more, to improve people’s lives worldwide. Not because those are popular causes but because they fit into the ethos that Starbucks embodies.

Now imagine when a brand, as powerful as this, faces the ire of the general public because two male customers were subjected to discrimination. Given Starbucks’ commitment to service, the company announced the closure of 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores in one afternoon so that 175,000 employees could undergo training on preventing implicit bias, and work towards the company’s founding values that are based on humanity and inclusion. Can you find a more purpose-driven brand than this?

Walt Disney

Another brand that’s been successfully practicing its purpose is Walt Disney. You might think that driving revenue might be an easy task for Disney, but there’s a lot the brand does other than use Mickey Mouse headgear to keep customers happy. The brand has been entertaining and inspiring people around the globe through unparalleled storytelling for almost a century now! The company has been working towards making even the most mundane tasks exciting and fueling customer happiness and satisfaction in unexpected ways.

From Disney-themed hotels and shops to immersive storytelling through simulated environments, smart apps, to innovative ideas that make queuing up for tickets and waiting to board rides an exciting endeavor; the ways in which Disney drives happiness are innumerable. Surely, Disney is doing all it can to deliver on its core promise – the promise to create happiness through magical experiences. It truly is the “Happiest place on earth.”

Toyota

In the age of sustainable living, Toyota is one brand that is truly making a difference. Working diligently on the promise of producing reliable vehicles, the brand has been driving efforts in the sustainable development of society through innovation, shaping the future of mobility, and enriching lives around the world in the most responsible manner. Toyota’s commitment to quality, durability, and reliability has been a beacon for companies big and small. Through their kaizen principle, they have been driving results and challenging themselves to do better – every day.

Take a look at how they’ve continuously been moving beyond designing cars and driving innovation through several other initiatives. The KINTO car subscription service looks to enable people to utilize a variety of vehicles for an unlimited period. Driving innovation by leveraging AI will see the brand offer delivery services, portable medical treatment, on-demand vehicles, as well as autonomous delivery services shortly. And the Mobility for All campaign aims to completely reinvent the ability of paraplegics to move. Truly, a brand that is living its purpose!

So, are you embodying your brand purpose?

 

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