• Forbes CMO Network, Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:38 AM

Your brand can't just make promises, writes Allen Adamson, it has got to have a defining purpose so clear that employees can readily answer the question, "Why are we here?"

Wal-Mart CMO Stephen Quinn brought this idea to life at the recent Association of National Advertisers conference in Phoenix, writes Adamson, who is managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates. During a period in which its promise -- "low prices" -- was seen as a liability by the media and some consumers, management realized that its promise was empty without its purpose to support it. Looking back to Sam Walton, they decided to make clear that his purpose behind offering lower prices was to help people provide better lives for their families.

Adamson concedes that purpose-driven branding is not new but says "it has taken on new significance in this era of anxious consumers --not to mention anxious employees."

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