David Aaker, Vice Chairman, Prophet, a branding, growth, & transformation consulting company; Professor of Marketing Strategy, Haas School of Business

First, a story.  In 2003, Dove conducted a study that revealed less than 3% of women regarded themselves as beautiful, which led to the Real Beauty program involving a host of vehicles to change perceptions. One was “sketches”, where an artist’s drawing of a woman based on her self-description resulted in an image far less attractive than when a stranger was the descriptor. Its “You’re More Beautiful than You Think” ad became the most viral ad ever at the time (2013), and over 85 million views were recorded on YouTube alone. Another, the “Evolution” campaign, which showed the impact of make-up, hair treatment, and lighting on appearance, got $150 million dollars worth of free exposure.

The Real Beauty program, together with the Dove Self-Esteem program directed by a teen girl, has reached hundreds of millions of women and girls throughout the world, changing attitudes and elevating self-confidence as well as being the heart, for nearly two decades, of the Dove brand, a brand that nearly doubled its sales.

With the Dove case as context, we address some questions. How will firms that aspire to address societal needs and problems in the purpose era actually create meaningful social impact? How will they develop social programs that make a difference and integrate them into the business strategy? The book “The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding” provides four strategies that are very different from those widely used because the focal point is the power of branding to enable signature social programs to impact, thrive, and advance a business brand.

Social purpose. A business needs to be seen as going beyond financial success to make the world better by addressing society’s problems and needs. Even a higher purpose, such as “building insanely great products”, is not enough. A business has to step up with programs that “make a difference” to society led by social purpose embedded in or adjacent to the business purpose. The social purpose enables programs that attack societal challenges.

There are several forces that support the elevation of societal efforts. Society’s challenges are increasingly visible and threatening. Businesses with resources, insights, and agility are needed; governments with political gridlock and resource limitations cannot do it all. More people, especially millennials and Gen Z, are looking for meaning in their professional lives beyond a paycheck. Finally, businesses, especially those without an engaging offering, need the energy and image that social programs provide.

Signature programs. The centrepiece player of the purpose-driven branding model is signature social programs, such as Dove’s two programs, that address societal needs or problems that touch people emotionally, are credible, have real impact, represent a long-term commitment; and are branded. These signature programs are likely to impact society’s challenges because they are focused, have a long-term horizon, and are guided and motivated by a brand. A loose assortment of grants, volunteer activities and energy goals is not adequate.

Signature social programs can be internally branded programs such as Chick-fil-A’s Shared Table program, where leftover food has been turned into 10 million meals for those in need. An organisation can supply resources and know-how to an internal program over time and thus control its success trajectory. Or it can be an external partner that comes with a proven record and established brand reducing substantially the risk of a disappointing performance. Costco, for example, has a “visionary partner” status for Feeding America, one of its signature programs.

Integrate the signature programs into the business. The central logic of the “The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding” model is that these signature programs need to be integrated into the business strategy. A goal is to enhance the energy and image of a business partner’s brand and its ability to engage and connect with its stakeholders. For many businesses, such as Dove, this brand enhancement is a rare opportunity to generate both energy and vibrant growth. By enhancing a business, the signature program will gain both the endorsement of the business and access to its resources. It’s a win-win. The alternative is for the signature program to be a self-sufficient orphan regarded as a financial dead weight.

The key idea is that the signature program enhances a partner business by building or reinforcing its brand. In contrast, most advocates of impact investing focus on helping a business by making windmills, farming organically, or otherwise having or creating a business model that directly does good for society. While this is laudable, it is seldom a viable option. Improving a partner’s brand is almost always feasible and visible. And ESG efforts, driven by extensive measurables, are almost always playing defence.

Build Inspiring, Credible Signature Program Brands. For all this to work, for the signature social program to do its job of creating social impact and enhancing a business brand, it needs to build a strong program brand that will provide guidance, clarity, credibility, visibility, inspiration, and a communication vehicle. In addition to the many well-understood branding concepts and tools, there are a few that are described in the book that is less known but potentially game-changing in this context. Labelled the five “branding must-dos”, they include creating a social purpose, using stories to bring the program to life, finding underleveraged silver bullet brands, creating, and leveraging brand communities, and scaling the signature program so that it reaches more people with a deeper offering.

There are plenty of vivid examples of signature social programs, many described in the book, that made an enormous impact on society and dramatically enhanced the brand of a partner business. Consider:

• Goldman Sachs 10,000 women in 2008 provided management skills and access to finance to women in underdeveloped countries. Ten years later, the goal was achieved and doubled, and Goldman showed employees and others that its resources and know-how work to help the world.
• Salesforce launched a Pledge 1% program (originally termed 1-1-1) in 1999, whereby the firm is to give 1% of its product, profits, and time to address a societal need. A challenge to other firms to do the same got 10,000 takers and helped make Salesforce a visible social program leader.
• Thrivent, a major financial services firm, has since 2005 been a partner to Habitat to Humanity, responsible for over $285 million in donations and 6.2 million volunteer hours from a membership network of Thrivent clients and employees. The effort not only created homes all over the world but reinforced the Thrivent value of “Live Generously” and provided engagement opportunities enhancing the Thrivent and Habitat brands.
• Barclays regained lost trust when they created a social purpose and an employee signature social program, the Digital Eagles, now 17,000 strong, that helped people adjust and thrive in the digital world. Stories about Digital Eagle engagements changed trust perceptions, while prior conventional ads had no impact.

“The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding,” puts the power of branding into efforts to address society’s challenges. A signature social program, either internal or nonprofit, with a strong brand is the central construct. The brand communicates the signature program’s societal goals, credible approach, true impact, and ability to inspire that surrounds is the central construct. This signature program then enhances the business brand by fostering energy, an image lift, and engagement by employees and others which in turn creates justification to support the program with resources and endorsement—a win-win flywheel is created.

Note: This article is adapted from an article by the same name published in AMA’s Marketing News, Winter, 2023.

David Aaker, sometimes called the Father of Modern Branding, is the author of 18 books and over 100 articles on branding and business strategy. The Vice-Chair of Prophet, a branding, growth, & transformation consulting company.