Purpose is the seam that threads the fabric of our organisations
What the recent pandemic has meant for many of us on a personal level is rethink our purpose and priorities. For some of us, this has been thrust upon us through job retention schemes or job losses. For others, it has been alongside maintaining a level of normality. However, the change has happened, there is no doubt that a new beginning is about to start and this in turn, allows us to rethink the way we work and live.
For many in marketing, grasping this opportunity for your brand, product or service will be essential. It won’t be about moving away from what you stand for, and your mission and values, but it will be about contemplation of the old and examining it to see if there are better ways of working, what really is crucial to your business, what you can take out and what needs to be put back in.
I ran a workshop a few years ago with a group of colleagues about future planning. We adapted a business principle that showed how to move forward you need to think about what your business could keep, what it needs to lose and what it needs to gain. Simple questions but often hard to answer. The financial uncertainty for many of us has allowed us to think about what we possibly can lose and give us a reason to make the decision to live without. However, what about the what we need to keep and what about what we need to gain?
It all goes back to our purpose in our organisation. Is our purpose aligned with our market and our customer? Are we communicating to that customer in a voice that they will understand and with language that engages them? And if so, are we offering them something that can add value to their purpose?
The last few months have seen many groups who know their purpose, and their target audience find their voice and purposely stride forward in their communications – from Black Lives Matters to #MeToo. What they both share is that they know what they don’t need anymore (an unfair society) and they know what they will gain (a fairer one).
Purpose is the seam that unites the fabric of our organisations. We need to ensure that we thread this through what we do, how we do it and who does it. This is the time to ensure your purpose is on point and readjust your business if it isn’t.
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash