Are brands sacrificing company growth by trying too hard to do good?
This has been a topic for debate at many boardroom & dinner tables. The issue is that you can find many companies that have done a bad job with their purpose-led initiatives. But their lack of success doesn’t mean purpose-led marketing can’t lead to growth. It just means their initiatives were ill-conceived.You also can find companies that have done a bad job of growth marketing. That doesn’t mean focusing on brand stories that highlight good causes won’t help them differentiate and grow.
Growth is a focus of a company’s strategy for success. The approach depends on the object
of that growth. Profitability? Revenue? Market share? Each requires a different choice from the spectrum of brand and marketing plans.
Good, on the other hand, is both a business purpose/mission and a differentiator for the growth strategy. It’s a prime ingredient infused into a marketing and content strategy, no matter what part of the growth spectrum the business pursues.
Doing one thing poorly isn’t an argument for rebalancing the other.
The why matters
Communicating a differentiated brand purpose and the practice of content marketing are distinct but intricately related. For instance, in many organizations, the same brand content team might work on sustainability content and on thought leadership and educational content.
And some tactical content marketing plans rely heavily on a clear “brand purpose” story that expresses itself as a content platform. Airtel Touching Lives is a perfect example.
Airtel started a platform for good called Airtel Touching Lives, which is an inspiring corporate social responsibility initiative that seeks to offer practical relief, succour, hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged and hard to reach persons in our society.
The brand stands for more than making money. It meet that goal and became a platform for helping individuals, families & communities. Over the past few years, it’s also become a revenue generator and a platform for growth with more and more users switching to the network provider that cares.
Airtel handing over a new house to the nominee.
To succeed, think about how you can be useful to the community and make a big difference in their life. And then you can truly be both a force for growth and a force for good.
If you are interested in helping your company be a force for good and at the same time a force for growth, give us a call and we can assist you.