What is purpose? On a personal level, it is a very private inquiry. Each one of us chooses – consciously or unconsciously – his/her own sense of purpose, resolve and intention and let it evolve with one’s own journey in life.
With the sense of purpose made clear, a set of actions must naturally follow. It is these actions that, once taken, define who we are and help pave the road to creating our journey. When aligned with a strong sense of purpose, these actions have significant meaning and powerful impact not only for an individual but a collective as well. With that said, in this piece, I explore the sense of purpose and its impact on the collective level of a corporate.
Marketing Matters – Identify, Communicate, Deliver: Transform
It is through marketing, that a company can raise awareness about a purpose, mobilize its audience, communicate its value, and create significant impact. As the world evolves so does the way a company chooses to market itself.
In 1999, the world-renowned marketing professor Philip Kotler published Kotler on Marketing. Kotler concluded the book with a section called “Transformational Marketing” in which he discussed how the field would change with the “new age of electronic marketing.” In the coming decade, Kotler wrote, “marketing will be re-engineered from A to Z. Marketing will need to rethink fundamentally the processes by which they identify, communicate, and deliver customer value.”
That is why it is essential that we accurately identify the purpose of the work we do, so we are able to communicate it effectively and deliver real impact.
Purpose Driven Companies – The Game Changers, Performers and Pretenders
Social businesses focus on a product or a service that help others, or the planet, thrive. It is through their corporate mission that the purpose is usually explained. Social enterprises, benefit corporations, blended value organizations, conscious capitalism; there are no shortage of buzzwords describing this monumental movement of social business. It doesn’t mean though, that they’re all performers of good.
Alternatively, there is also a growing movement of all- profit organizations turning to maximizing their positive impact rather than just maximizing their profit. Such organizations are listed today on Game Changers GC500, and have implemented many untraditional practices that are not profit motivated at all.