A brand purpose is the contribution a business exists to make, stated plainly enough that people can check it against what the business does. A purpose that can't change a design decision is a slogan.
What is a brand purpose?
Purpose answers a blunt question. What would make this business worth building? I start there because making anything takes money, effort and other people's time.
The answer can be quite specific. It might concern access, a place people care about, or a difficulty they have learned to put up with. Specific is better. A purpose that covers everything gives a designer nothing to work on.
How do you tell a purpose from a slogan?
Ask what it rules out. Patagonia's repair commitment is the familiar example, and it earns the attention. Keeping a jacket in use reaches into the material, the construction and the help available years after the sale. You can judge the company against it.
A slogan asks for nothing. It sits on the wall and the product carries on as before.
What does purpose look like in design work?
At Garden Variety, a cannabis retailer I led into Manitoba as CMO of Native Roots, the position was 'a café that happens to sell cannabis.' That line did real work. It put a flower bar at the center of the store, left the shelves open, and made room for browsing and questions.
The same thinking shaped the launch campaign. Promotion was restricted, so the print ads paired familiar objects with the line 'This is not a cannabis ad.' Advertising Age named it a Creativity Pick in July 2019. We opened three stores with a First Nation as co-owner.
Where do you start?
Write the purpose as one sentence. Then name two decisions it would change this quarter. If you can't find any, keep working on the sentence.
Short answers
Is brand purpose the same as a mission statement?
They overlap. A mission statement describes what the company does today. Purpose describes why that work deserves to exist, and it should hold steady while products and markets change.
Does every brand need a social cause?
No. Purpose can be modest. Making one confusing purchase easier is a purpose, as long as the business is organized around it.