Corporations now are challenged to link their business towards social contribution. More than ever, corporate purpose is being questioned. Purpose is a cause, competence and culture drives organizations toward social impact. I suspect that many people understand this, but are troubled by the fact that it does not lead to actual practice. I would like to share some examples of how you may be able to realize the purpose.
1.Make your offer purpose-driven - It’s in the details
When your purpose has a clear cause, it inspires and encourages corporations to do new activities. Patagonia has self-identified as an activist* since its establishment and has been committed to the "We're in business to save our home planet” approach, long before the concept of 'purpose' became a necessary discussion. In addition to their traditional apparel business, they have been operating a food business called Provisions since 2012. "People need a new jacket every five or ten years, but they eat three times a day. If we really want to protect our planet, it starts with food.” says Patagonia's founder & owner, Yvon Chouinard. This is a good example of a purpose with a clear cause that’s encouraging their employees to push forward as they venture into a new territory. As an aside, when I purchased Provisions canned mackerel, I thought, "Since this is a product of Patagonia, there must be a lot of explanations on it," but the package design was surprisingly clean. I looked around the box and found "More Information Inside" on a folded flap. When I took the box apart, I found a detailed explanation about how they are careful about minimizing bycatch and why eating mackerel can be more sustainable than other fish. I really liked this unobtrusive way of implementing their purpose into the package. I also felt like Patagonia was trusting me as a customer to find this information naturally on my own.
*Patagonia has been an "activism company" since its founding, not only raising awareness of environmental issues and supporting environmental non-profit organizations, but also taking action and practicing activism as a company.
2. Make it actionable
The purpose should not end with the just messaging, but should be reflected in the actual business. For example, WW (Weight Watchers), a North America based company that offers a scientifically proven program for weight loss and wellness, has a purpose: "We inspire healthy habits for real life - For people, families, communities, the world—for everyone.” To make sure this is reflected in their business, they use a set of guidelines* with key elements from this statement is based so that they can incorporate their purpose into daily work. For example, in the development of a new food product, they discuss how it can be “useful in a real life context” and how “easy it is to build into people’s habits". When your purpose is led by the competence of your product, having this kind of system helps to connect purpose to your offer.
3. Make it personal
When introducing purpose into an organization, the subject tends to become "we as a company" or "as a group”. In reality, however, what is important is the perspective of "I" as an individual. Purpose is a company's stance on social contribution. Employees, who are members of a company, must also focus on their own "purpose" (the meaning of working for this company and how they want to contribute to society through this organization), and the company also needs to listen to the individual. The "Purpose Wheel" created by IDEO is one tool that can be used in these discussions. The center circle of the Purpose Wheel suggests five ways in which a company or organization can impact the world. It does not matter how large or small the organization is, but before starting a project, the individual or team can begin by discussing "Where can we impact the world?”, “Where do I want to focus ?”. This will give you not only a different perspective, but generate more ideas and make the work itself more meaningful and rewarding to your employees.
IDEA Magazine
IDEO’s CCO (Chief Creative Officer), Paul Bennett wrote an article about IDEO’s branding cases in the latest issue of the IDEA Magazine (9/10 release). Please take a look if you’re interested in what we offer in the area of branding.
Office hour with Kaoru
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