Whiplash Team, May 23rd 2025
Brands with real purpose: from narrative to impact
Brand purpose has become a buzzword, but few companies live it authentically. Purpose-driven branding only generates real impact when it informs strategy, drives action, and builds trust through transparency. Here’s how brands can move from words to meaningful transformation.
Since Simon Sinek popularised his “Golden Circle” theory — “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” — purpose has become something of a mantra in contemporary branding. But when that “why” is not backed by coherent, consistent action, it becomes an empty message. Worse still, it risks damaging brand credibility.
Indeed, a 2023 study by Kantar revealed that while 68% of consumers value brands with a clear purpose, only 37% believe they actually live up to it. This disconnection between narrative and reality has bred growing mistrust. Purpose, when repeated without depth or commitment, risks becoming meaningless and damaging to brand credibility.
Purpose as a strategic compass
Purpose only gains value when it guides the organisation’s key decisions. It’s not enough to feature it on the corporate website or sustainability report. It must be structurally embedded in business strategy — the reason why certain decisions are made, markets prioritised, or opportunities declined.
Patagonia is one of the most consistent examples of purpose aligned with strategy and branding. Its well-known motto, “We’re in business to save our home planet”, is more than a declaration — it drives their entire value chain, from the use of recycled materials to the decision to donate 100% of non-reinvested profits to environmental causes. In this case, branding isn’t decorative; it’s the reflection of a deeply held conviction.
Branding as a translator of impact
When purpose is lived internally, branding becomes an amplifier. The brand’s role is to translate that commitment into symbols, language, design, tone and experience. Just look at Tony’s Chocolonely, the Dutch chocolate brand committed to eradicating child slavery in the cocoa supply chain.
Its unevenly divided chocolate bars are designed to represent systemic inequality. Here, design becomes storytelling, and storytelling becomes visual activism. In cases like this, branding moves beyond aesthetics to connect abstract values with deeply personal motivations — to inspire, mobilise and engage.
From communication to transformation
A brand with purpose isn’t just seeking visibility — it seeks to transform. And that demands coherence. As Paul Polman, former Unilever CEO, writes in Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take: “Brands that want to last 100 years must have a purpose that lasts 100 years.”
Under Polman’s leadership, Unilever empowered purpose-led brands like Dove and Ben & Jerry’s, whose messages on self-esteem and social justice were backed by real changes in internal processes, diversity policies and supply chain decisions.
Another example is Danone, which achieved B Corp certification for many of its subsidiaries by integrating social and environmental sustainability into its governance. Again, purpose becomes a lever for organisational change — not a marketing gimmick.
Transparency as a non-negotiable
We live in a hyper-connected world where everything can be verified. Brands that speak of purpose must be ready to show progress, acknowledge limitations and correct mistakes. As the consultancy Meaningful Brands points out, brands that don’t keep their promises don’t just lose reputation — they’re seen as opportunistic.
Today, transparency is an essential dimension of branding. It doesn’t require perfection, but it does demand a willingness to improve. Increasingly, brands are publishing measurable impact goals, as IKEA does with its circular economy targets, or Lush with its cruelty-free policies.
Purpose as the foundation of brand identity
As we’ve seen, brands are no longer defined by what they say, but by what they demonstrate. Purpose isn’t a passing trend — it’s the backbone of brand identity.
When purpose is expressed through coherent decisions, behaviours and symbols, branding becomes a powerful engine of transformation. It enables brands to build meaningful, lasting relationships with employees, customers and society at large.
