The Story:
A large-scale study of senior executives by Wall Street Journal Intelligence and Infosys finds nearly six out of ten leaders say companies must create value in ways that benefit all stakeholders – including employees, partners, customers, and communities – not only shareholders. Even more, leaders believe that companies have an obligation to operate sustainably, earning profits with minimal harm to society. This purpose-driven approach to business is widely embraced not only by the leaders of the business, but by a company’s employees and the customers it serves.
The Takeaway:
Purpose-driven brands have mission at their center. There is a natural alignment between what a brand says it stands for internally and the actions it takes externally. Consumers can sniff out when brands are only doing purpose performatively. “A purpose-driven business isn’t just a trend or strategy deployed to woo customers, but rather, it is part of your brand’s DNA which your business lives by,” according to the Forbes’ article on becoming a purpose-driven business consumers trust. “The responsibility [for purpose] lies with the brand owners and leadership teams to define the values and working ethos that cascades down to all branches of the business.”
Source: WSJ Intelligence and Infosys, “The New Workplace,” August, 2023