Sponsor Impact report average for these came in at 2.1, significantly above the collected across the company, from supply and 1.6 benchmark for non-purpose cases. logistics, production to procurement and store to While the topline finding may provoke some customer. Such a collection of automated routine data scepticism, the exercise drives home the point that as from systems deployed across the business can provide Field himself observed at the time if brand purpose is direct or proxy measures of sustainability that the perceived as non-credible and in no way connected company can use to create a more frequent measure of with the business of your brand, it wont stick. brand purpose. It is also possible to conclude from Fields work that Organisations that are successful in measuring bad brand purpose execution is considerably worse brand purpose are initially seeking to connect with than having no purpose-related messaging. Thats not consumers who have become sceptical about a brands to suggest that brands should turn their backs on role in society and the environment, maintains Islam. purpose; rather, its an argument in favour of Therefore, organisations that are successfully investment in the right research and analytics to avoid measuring brand purpose are doing so across the damaging missteps. organisation, from the way their employees are All of this should sit within a strategic framework. If expected to behave to the relationship they have purpose is all about actions and impacts, you need not with their customers. Its more than simply a just a purpose statement, but also a purpose strategy marketing exercise, but should be a focus of their that breaks down the statement into connected tangible marketing, ensuring that the brand purpose is reflected and actionable focus areas, strategies and initiatives, in all their activities. with clear interdependencies and, ideally, concrete The employee dimension that Islam refers to should objectives and guides the whole certainly not be overlooked, agrees business and its actions, observes John Nikki Cunningham, managing director Clark, planning director at global at branding agency Curious. She is branding agency Coley Porter Bell. adamant that its important to engage As well as being true to With these in place, measurement all levels of staff. Even if its purely to their values, businesses becomes easier and more specific, as get awareness, if you are asking your need to avoid latching you are measuring concrete outcomes on to the latest trends for staff to follow a brand purpose and rather than less tangible opinions, embody it in their actions, they need to short-term gain feelings or awareness. buy into it, understand it and know how Clark offers pharmaceutical company to live by it. External audiences need to Pfizer as a good example of a connected see it evidenced in behaviour and strategy. Pfizers purpose statement is Breakthroughs business decisions, otherwise it removes the point of that change patients lives. Tonally distinct, but having a purpose and will be detrimental to building arguably not too dissimilar from many of its peers in brand trust and reputation. terms of content and spirit. Beneath the headline As well as being true to their values, businesses need statement, however, sit five bold moves: Unleash the to lead with clear objectives and realistic expectations, power of our people; Deliver first-in-class science; and avoid latching on to the latest trends for short-term Transform our go-to-market model; Lead the gain. Setting unachievable targets for social good can conversation; and Win the digital race in pharma be detrimental to the long-term success of a business. and each of these has sub-strategies, such as doubling Dont make outlandish claims either; in the era of their innovation success rate. social media, brands are held to account and publicly In addition, the pharma firm last year made public its ridiculed if they patently fall short on the promises they ambition to achieve 25 breakthroughs by 2025. Its make. Better to do a little well than claim a lot and be these bold moves and the sub-strategies under them caught out, as Cunningham puts it. that are measured and reported on in each annual Whatever companies share externally should be report, notes Clark. mirrored internally, making it imperative for brands to get their houses in order. Taking the necessary steps to do this was arguably harder in the past because of Sophisticated analytics internal silos, alongside different buying points of Measurement of brand purpose will require research. Silos are being broken down nowadays, increasingly sophisticated analytics. Shorful Islam, chief however, and that 360-degree view is increasingly being data scientist and practice lead at marketing agency recognised as important, and something that, Tribal Worldwide, argues that doing an annual survey ultimately, drives brand commercial growth. or audit in todays real-time data collection and Returning to the growing role analytics will play in the measurement world will simply not be enough. development of brand purpose in the future, its key to Businesses, he says, will need to use metrics that are 28 Impact ISSUE 39 2022_pp22-31_Report.indd 28 23/09/2022 15:01