Defining participation

“We think of participation as an approach, a mindset and a lens in which to evaluate brand behaviour” opened Dipti Bramhandkar.  “We’ve been talking about this as a company for about a decade, and through our Participation Brand Index we’ve begun to codify it. 

“What the study revealed is that brands who proactively encourage consumer participation - so anything from building purposeful brand platforms, to innovation led customer experiences, to powerful employee value propositions that forward diversity & inclusion - are significantly outperforming their competition.”

The ultimate goal of the index is to reveal how certain behaviours embodied by brands empower them to perform against objectives in a meaningful way. 

The findings from the PBI study show that:

• Indifference towards brands has doubled since 2018. 8 out 10 brands are not regularly thought about
• The vast majority (82%) of consumers admitted they are not excited by brands
• Four in five brands fail to emotionally connect with consumers
• Over 75% of people say they do not trust brands

This both represents a huge challenge but also an opportunity. These results suggest there is fertile ground for the brands who want to do things differently and engage consumers in unique ways. 

What is Passionate Purpose?

The discussion began in earnest by looking at ‘Passionate Purpose’.

IRIS defines Passionate Purpose as a brand which stands for something it believes in. It champions social issues, such as diversity, equality and inclusion. It makes a positive impact on the environment. It actively works to shape the future - and not just a vision for itself - but one for its people and the communities it exists in.

It is hard for a single company to perfectly embody all of these traits. But it is a useful yardstick for measuring how we define purpose in a meaningful way. 

Shantel Canty of Alcon picked up on the point. “We know that engagement and participation is a two way conversation with consumers. Previously, a lot of brands have been guilty of just talking at audiences. IRIS has helped us on this journey to recognising brand purpose as a series of shared beliefs you hold with your customers - and we have witnessed first hand how this engagement supercharges results.”

“The moral compass of America has shifted through the pandemic” noted Shameek Bose. “This transition has exposed some of the issues that brands are struggling to align with, such as racial injustice and or climate change. The two most important ingredients in addressing these issues stems from the leadership and culture of a brand. The values communicated by policies are what stakeholders are paying attention to.”

Vivek Bellore of E&J Winery tackled the brand indifference finding. “Much of my work has been investigating and balancing the tension between long-term brand building, and short-term performance marketing activations. Understanding participation gives you the perfect lens to find the heartland between these two forces. It shows you how you can make your brand memorable and meaningful in both short and long term communications”. 

Jasmine Francis made the plea for brands to understand that consumers want to be a part of the conversation. “They are not an external party, designed to just purchase. They are an active part of your brand - and need to feel like they are with you on a journey, in open discourse.” 

She added that purpose is equally important in attracting talent and said: “People want to know what a business is doing about the environment, or social justice. People want to know your business plan to move the needle on these issues” 

Brand Houses are made of Glass

“People can see right through your brand,” argued Dipti. “Brands intersect with movements and topics on a personal level. So it is important for brands to have transparent, clearly defined purposes - and know how to activate them authentically”.

Distinctiveness is a key issue here. Many brands will want to stand and champion certain issues - but how can they do this in a way which is unique and interesting?

Shameek Bose offered insights from his experience. “The recent events with Netflix are a great example of this. In terms of brand distinctiveness, Netflix really got the diversity piece right. It has talent across the world, from South Korea to Spain.” 

“But inclusion is where it falls down. They don’t have a transgender comedian who can go and give a rebuttal to Dave Chappelle. The CEO was forced into a public apology following the backlash.”

Vivek added that brands need to be careful of ‘rainbow washing’ and argued: “You can’t just show up at Pride and pretend it is a party - it is a political act. For us, that means making sure the Pride flags on our wine bottles aren’t the beginning, middle and end of our campaign. Operating with accountability and empathy is what allows you to drive relevance and distinctiveness through purpose.” 

The concept of ‘iterative learning’ needs to be to the fore, agreed the panel. Purpose isn’t a destination - it is a developing dynamic between a brand, consumers and the future. 

But the vision and process needs to be collectively owned by everyone at the business. Shantel said:“The old way of branding would be for someone to say ‘oh marketing owns this, the brand is marketing’s problem’. But modern brands need to be understood across all functions of a business, from finance to sales teams.” 

This still means there should be dedicated stewards, or “purpose champions”, to ensure that brand values are understood and expressed across a business, added Dipti. 

Does every brand need a purpose?

In the final section of the discussion, the panel debated if purpose was a universal requirement for all brands.

“Purpose is a means for companies to define themselves within a category”, argued Vivek. “But change is messy. It is challenging to implement. Purpose often grows in an uneven way within a business. Brand marketing puts pressure on everyone to catch up - internally as much as externally.”

Jasmine and Shantel agreed and highlighted the benefits of including diverse figures in marketing campaigns - even if these people aren’t your typical customer.

Takeaways

Purpose is the mother of participation. It encourages engagement in an evolving landscape. Here are the five takeaways on what it means for brands in the modern landscape:

• The uncertainty and disruption in our social landscape has made purpose more powerful than ever before - purpose led brands outperform competitors in every aspect of engagement. 
• Purpose empowers brands to become more meaningful and distinctive in both short and long term marketing communications. x
• Purpose is about becoming part of a broader conversation with people. It makes customers an active part of your brand - as opposed to just a function of it. 
• Purpose is more than a marketing issue. It is something a whole business has to buy into and champion. 
• Having a clearly defined and communicated purpose helps attract top talent as much as it attracts customers.