• by Jason Keehn , December 22, 2022

Last year’s Edelman survey “The Belief-Driven Employee” noted that the biggest problem affecting companies was not losing customers, but losing employees. The solution for many brands is to connect with a larger purpose. Yet some brands swing big and miss.

Consider some of the bad press that greeted HSBC bank last year over U.K. print ads that noted: “Climate change doesn’t do borders. Neither do rising sea levels. That’s why HSBC is aiming to provide up to $1 trillion in financing and investment globally to help our clients transition to net zero.” The UK’s watchdog group Advertising Standards Authority fielded complaints that the ads were misleading because "they omitted significant information about HSBC’s own contribution to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions." Hardly what the marketing department had in mind when they decided to tout the company's climate change initiatives.

The bottom line is the old, one-note way brands used to do philanthropy (think unspecified donations or "a percentage of proceeds have been donated") are now mere table stakes in today’s world of real-time social media fact-checkers. To move the needle, brands need to connect more emotionally and aim for layered, meaningful engagement.

Today, the most innovative brands are integrating employees through a lens of purpose that is focused locally, rather than globally, and involving ERGs (employee resource groups) to connect that employee engagement to a larger brand narrative about their shared mission that brings a sense of meaning that extends beyond the office. This strategy also creates more fulfilled employees who are passionate advocates for the brand.

This is a critical new aspect of purpose. I believe we are at the dawn of a new opportunity for brands to better harness purpose opportunities. And when their employees get involved, the message becomes even more authentic.

When done correctly, purpose-led employee-facing initiatives drive employee retention, inspire word-of-mouth brand dialogue, and provide opportunities for employees to share values-led achievements in their professional lives, which connects to a core part of our identities and sense of purpose in the world, ultimately driving better brand perception.

So how should brands be thinking about purpose-led initiatives?

Connect the dots across teams and verticals to find harmony -- from CSR/Philanthropy to HR to merchandising to marketing to PR/Comms. A purpose-led throughline that brings these elements together will be more authentic and effective.

Build connections with local communities. You may be a global brand, but your employees live in communities and need to make those local connections to create authenticity.

Numbers are important, but there are many KPIs to consider, such as level of participation, employee sentiment and retention.

To become a truly purposeful brand, you need to integrate more than just marketing and media. Giving employees agency in the brand’s social impact actions makes purpose marketing more meaningful, more memorable for consumers, and the communities impacted more grateful.