BRAND PURPOSE DOESN'T BUILD BRAND DISTINCTIVENESS.

With examples from Fyre Festival, Nike and Lego, JKR Singapore's Head of Strategy looks into how true purpose builds connected brands

In a purpose-led world, it’s the how, not the why, that builds connected brands.

Embraced and ridiculed in equal measure, the notion of locating a ‘purpose’ (or a ‘why’) at the heart of a brand has become the de facto marketing trend of our age.

Devotees of Simon Sinek point to correlations between brand growth and brand purpose. Detractors point to an increasingly crowded space of interchangeable, irrelevant lofty visions that have lost their connection with the product they’re selling.

Is the whole notion flawed, or are we just using it wrong?
Firstly, what’s the point of a purpose?

Ostensibly, it’s to deliver a north star for a brand or business that not only aligns a company internally but invites those outside of it (the consumer) to be part of that vision.

A brand purpose unites brand, business and consumer behind a single goal. The purpose of a purpose is to build a connected...