Brand purpose answers the fundamental question of WHY a brand exists. The purpose extends beyond a B2B brand's profits. It provides a soul.
A B2B brand may claim to make the best payments solution or skincare line, but at its heart, what is the true purpose beyond selling products and services? At C.E.K. & Partners, an Atlanta-based B2B branding and strategy agency, we counsel B2B brands on purpose to help make their brands remarkable.
B2B brands with purpose resonate with customers and the marketplace in a meaningful and memorable way. It offers a story, and brands with a story far exceed those without one. A purpose can be focused on sustainability, giving back to a local community or in the case of Dove, a brand we are all familiar, “Make women aware they have real beauty, beauty not based on common standards or stereotypes.”
Companies with a purpose are more successful since they aren’t singularly focused on profits; rather they mobilize people and resources. The same applies to B2B brands with purpose.
Articulating a brand’s WHY acts as a foundational framework to support its vision, internal training, and strategic decisions around growth and other initiatives. It offers a platform for communicating the company’s reason for being to partners and external stakeholders. Internally it serves to energize the team responsible for marketing and selling it.
Three Questions to Ask When Identifying a B2B Brand’s Purpose
We conduct market research and brand strategy workshops to help companies and brands find their WHY, but here a few questions to get you thinking deeper:
Why does your B2B brand exist?
What change does your B2B brand seek to inspire?
How will your WHY will you B2B brand make difference beyond selling your products?
"I think if the people who work for a business are proud of the business they work for, they’ll work that much harder, and therefore, I think turning your business into a real force for good is good business sense as well."
– Richard Branson, Virgin