What’s the purpose of Purpose?
There are 80 Lego bricks for every human being on the planet and at Christmas, 28 boxes of Lego are sold every second.
Not bad for a company that was going into bankruptcy 15 years ago.
Much is written about Lego’s turnaround, and how the courage of a new leadership team in 2004 was able to effect a meteoric rise in popularity that would not only save this ailing organisation, but make it the world’s most powerful brand a mere ten years later.
In the session we led at PurpleBeach Experience 2019, we explored the purpose of purpose, understanding the need by today’s consumer to feel emotionally rewarded by every purchase and how industry, whilst slow to understand is now looking internally for inspiration to communicate externally.
Since the financial crisis, corporate organisations have recognised the need to rebuild trust, deliver economic social gain and satisfy an ever-vocal conscientious shareholder base.
There are few stories better than Lego at showing the clarity of transformation that comes from embracing an organisation’s purpose. Sacrificing everything that was off topic to over commit to the one thing that lay at the heart enabled Lego to drive driving meaningful conversations with customers about creativity in play.
This is not limited to one type of organisation however. Jim Stengel’s research shows us that organisations focused on a cause wider than profit out-perform others by up to 400%, with as much as 85% of employees feeling their work has special meaning.
We see further evidence of this need driven by a millennial generation choosing to exercise their voice through their wallet. In Edelman’s 2018 report, 67% of people surveyed bought a brand for the first time because of its position on a controversial issue and 65% will not buy a brand because it stayed silent on an issue they felt it had an obligation to address.
The most important and exciting thing?
The key thing with Purpose is that it already exists within your organisation. It’s important to find the authentic reason you exist and build out from there. Use it as your north star and it’ll guide you to sustainable growth.
Through our work with PurpleBeach we were able to help them articulate their purpose as building the future with those who want to make a real difference to their organisations and the world.
We are now excited to help them bring this to life in their communications.
Annemie Ress, PurpleBeach Founder said:
“I felt Helen and Caroline really understood us and the challenges we were facing. As a result of their work, we now have an exciting proposition to bring meaning to all our communications.”
We specialise in helping organisations unleash their mojo by activating their purpose. By listening to the stories at the heart of a company we will unearth the magic within. Then together with you, we will light a fire under it, radiating across every conversation, experience and message to enable meaningful conversations with people who will be proud to know you.
If you’d like to talk to us, we’d love to listen.