The Power of a Purpose-Driven Brand with Curt MercadanteRead Time: 8 minutes

2022-03-18T12:27:16-04:00

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For many, the struggle of growing into adulthood involves searching for a unique self-identity and purpose. Those most familiar with their innermost convictions often feel happier and more fulfilled than those who remain unsure of their life purpose. This may be because purpose-driven individuals identify and set goals that align with their overall motivation and follow strategies that adhere by a core set of known personal values.

Similarly, for any growing brand to successfully mature into a booming company, its founders must carefully consider the underlying purpose of their brand. With years of experience as a business coach and keynote speaker, Curt Mercadante believes that companies with a solid brand purpose are more successful overall than those focused primarily on turning profits. With a clearly defined brand purpose, it is possible to pursue more effective and tailored business strategies as your company goals and values also become clear.

How To Find Brand Purpose

Contemplating your life or brand purpose can seem overwhelming at first. How can you be sure you have identified the proper brand purpose? Having helped businesses and individuals alike in uncovering their intentions, Curt offers some helpful advice to help narrow it down.

1. Identify Your Strengths

People often confuse strength and skill, Curt warns. Strengths are innate talents, and, being as natural as instinct, relying on these talents is typically the most efficient way to accomplish a task. Skills, however, are talents that have been trained and practiced. Playing up your skills may be useful, but it is not nearly as effective as when you play up your innate strengths.

Purpose-driven brands focus on accentuating their strengths. In order to get an understanding of your brand’s comparative strengths, it may be useful to compare the intrinsic differences between your company and your competition. Brands that emphasize their strengths often have an easier time envisioning the future of their company.

2. Consider Company Core Values

Generally, core values shape how we act and present ourselves. The core values you identify for your brand will assist you in maintaining consistency in how you fulfill your company purpose. Making the company core values accessible to all team members can also establish uniformity in brand decision-making, even for large companies.

Curt explains that core values are non-negotiable and do not change significantly over time. Even under duress, someone would be unwilling to abandon core values that they truly believed in. Your company should search for values that they can staunchly stand behind in order to better understand your brand purpose.

3. Think About Objectives

What are your goals? Setting goals for your company also gives a little insight into your brand purpose. While company goals and company purpose may not be the same exact things, the goals you set reveal the ways in which you attempt to fulfill your underlying purpose.

Remember, while your brand may set the goal to make profits, a genuine company purpose reaches beyond the financial success of the company. Goals should be seen only as a way of finding fulfillment as you realize your brand purpose. Be sure to set goals that are reasonably achievable, otherwise, it can become frustrating to fulfill that company purpose.

4. Figure Out Brand Preferences

Preferences are not make-or-break circumstances but are usually situations and ideas that are more favorable. By understanding your brand’s preferences, you can begin to consider what the most important things are. This is an important step in discovering your brand purpose.

To become a purpose-driven brand, it is important to consider each of these factors. For some, the process of uncovering brand purpose takes months while others can identify their company purpose in mere moments. Curt encourages patience in your search.

Purpose-Driven Brands And Criticism

On his own podcast about living in freedom, Curt has experienced mild criticism for his brand purpose. How does he respond?

Curt believes that if you have a strong sense of brand purpose, there is no need to fear criticism because you are self-assured in your own, unique journey. Furthermore, when critics speak up, purpose-driven brands often experience a phenomenon in which customers who identify with the brand purpose speak up and defend the company. This has happened often with purpose-driven companies such as Apple.

Working Backwards To Find Company Purpose

Identifying your brand purpose can be a daunting task, but approaching it working backwards may help. By figuring out the big-picture ideas first, you can work backward to create goals and values by asking yourself how you can break down those big-picture concepts into actionable steps. Curt reminds us not to feel overwhelmed and to have a good time while considering brand purpose.

KEY INSIGHTS

  • Companies that only aim to make money are not purpose-driven, but purpose-driven brands may also have goals of making money; Goals and purpose are often confused, but they are not mutually exclusive.
  • To better understand your brand purpose, imagine writing a brief eulogy for your brand and which underlying elements you would emphasize.
  • You cannot choose the right business strategy or make effective use of any tactics without a thorough understanding of your brand purpose.

CURT’S TAKEAWAYS

  • When building up a personal brand, you should ask yourself why you are driven to create it as a starting point for the development of your brand purpose.
  • Keep your marketing messaging and brand purpose in alignment.
  • Develop business strategies decisions based on big-picture goals by working backward.

MORE FROM CURT

Curt’s LinkedIn

Curt’s Homepage – Freedom Club

Jim Collins – Great By Choice

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