Brand purpose or bandwagon purpose? Neverland’s Simon Massey distinguishes where some advertisers have gone wrong.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve gone over a tipping point for brand purpose.
High-profile brands are retreating from their commitments. Most recently we’ve seen Ford Motor Co ditching DEI goals due to pressure from protestors, ad awards are no longer hooked on purpose, some investors are revolting against it, and people are truly questioning whether purpose really ever was the panacea they thought it was.
The furor around purpose over the last few years reminds me of when social media first exploded into the mainstream and trailblazing brands started to find fame on its platforms. Every client suddenly insisted they needed to ‘be on social media’ too. They didn’t usually know how or why, but they saw other brands doing it and didn’t want to be left behind.
The exact same thing happened with purpose.
At first it was great, spearheaded by the …