Your company’s Higher Business Purpose is the main benefit your company provides through a singular focus on fulfilling your customers’ true wants and needs better and more profitably than your competitors can or will. Identifying and articulating your Higher Business Purpose will:
Clearly express your company’s “True North” based on actionable customer insights
Transform decision making from tactical to strategic
Rally and inspire employees to better serve your customers by giving them purpose above and beyond their narrowly defined job descriptions
Geometrically enhance the perceived value of your company
Make the case why your company is the one who can, does, or will do something in a special way that others won't
Help you set an aspirational yet unattainable brand vision that will help foster a culture of perpetual improvement
SOUNDS LIKE MARKETING BS TO ME.
When we say “Higher Purpose”, we’re not referring to some pie in the sky, Kum-Ba-Ya, save the world kind of a purpose. No what we’re talking about is defining how your company can profitably make people’s lives better that’s different from your competitors. In essence it synthesizes all the learning about your business, your competitors and your customers into a powerful statement that acts like a brand promise and value proposition on steroids. There are a lot of marketing terms and theories that simply don’t hold water. Purpose isn’t one of them. It’s been proven over and over again that companies with a clear sense of purpose have a clear competitive advantage.
“Organizations driven by purpose and values outperformed the general market 15:1 and outperformed comparison companies 6:1.”
- Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last
So what exactly is purpose? In its simplest definition it’s why a company exists. In business terms it’s the one thing customers want and need that you provide profitably and better than your competitors can or are willing to do. It’s an easy concept to get but a very hard one to define and execute for your own company.
“The power of purpose is not a marketing idea or a sales idea. It’s a company idea. Purpose drives an entire organization and it answers why the brand exists.”
—Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Procter & Gamble (P&G)
Businesses with a clear purpose that drive everything they do have:
Better products
Higher margins
Better sell-in and sell-through
Better employee morale
Higher productivity
Better customer service
Better long-term stability
Higher awareness and likability
Better advertising
Less employee turnover
Easier recruiting
More positive publicity
Easier decision-making
Smaller media spends to acquire the same mindshare
Perceived higher values
So how do you define your company’s Higher Business Purpose and start reaping the benefits above? Click here to find out more about our proprietary Brand Enlightenment Workshop and Report.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HIGHER PURPOSE STATEMENT AND A TAGLINE?
Higher Purpose statements, as a general rule, are only used internally to guide strategy, tactics, services, operations, product development, etc.
Taglines are a creative expression of a Higher Purpose Statement used publicly in a company’s marketing. The best taglines memorably and succinctly sum up Higher Purpose Statements.
A Few Higher Purpose Statements and Taglines We’ve Created:
Immortology- a full-service ad agency
To Make Companies Eternally Profitable Through Impossible To Ignore And Hard To Forget Brand Experiences Their Customers Love.
Tagline: Outsmart. Outdo. Outlast.
Safari Club International (SCI) – an international hunting organization
To defend the right to hunt at home and abroad.
Tagline: First For Hunters.
CARE Plastic Surgery (SCI) –the best plastic surgery practice in the Triangle
To restore lost self-confidence so our patients can begin life anew.
Tagline: You, Chapter Two.
Governors Club – a luxury gated community and private golf club
To Create Heaven On Earth.
iJoin Solutions – a 401-k Enrollment and Education program
To Make Saving Sexy Again.
Tagline: Saving Is Sexy.
The Museum Of Life + Science – NC’s premier science museum
To be the perpetual curiosity machine that sows the seeds of lifelong learning.
Tagline: Know Wonder.
Armstrong Athletic Club – a high-end health club
To Be The Willpower Our Members Lack.
Tagline: Be Strong Inside & Out.
Burkely Student Communities – off-campus student apartment communities
To Be Success Incubators Cleverly Disguised As Off-Campus Student Housing.
Tagline: Smart Move.
Weejee Learning – one of the industry’s top e-learning companies
To give clients a competitive edge through funified learning experiences.
Tagline: The Blah Stops Here.
MercuryGate – an international leader in transportation logistics solutions
To be the business supercharger companies need to outperform their competitors on every level.
33rd Strike Group – an international manufacturer of entry-level power cats and pontoons
To liberate America’s waterways for all.
Immortology- a direct to patient medical practice
To Make Primary Care More Accessible, Affordable And Effective For All.
Tagline: The Doctor Will See You Now
To find out how we can help you discover your company’s Higher Purpose, click here for a free consultation.