Marketing With "Purpose"

Lets face it, most marketers are opportunistic. When "green" became all the rage, it was laughable to watch how marketers would bend their messaging and brands to appeal to some tiny segment of their intended or core audience that actually cared to know how green the marketer was. Of course, for most of the big brands it was (and is) a load of crap. However, there obviously are some brands that truly are mindful about being more green. Too bad their message usually gets beat down by the big marketing machines fueled by their "less than honest" competitors.

Whether your brand is green or not. Start thinking about creating some marketing platforms that actually have a "purpose" - something that your brand can stand for. It doesn't matter how big or small, just as long as you're sincere about it.

"Purpose marketing" can best be seen at brands like Ocean Minded (http://www.oceanminded.com/). Last year alone Ocean Minded hosted 47 beach clean-ups around the world. This resulted in approximately 1,700 volunteers collecting and properly disposing over 20,000 pounds of trash. This is marketing that matters. It says a great deal about the brand and even more about the people that work there. This small shoe brand is making a difference while speaking volumes about the brand attributes and the kind of customers they want for their products. It is sincere, relevant, timely, authentic and as us jackass ad agency people like to say "on-brand."

I'll be writing more about this important subject in the future. But do not forget - you don't have to be Pepsi or any other billion dollar brand to launch meaningful and important purpose marketing initiatives. Start by asking your employees what matters to them - besides their paychecks.