This post was created in partnership with Fluent
Consumers can tell when a brand doesn’t have an authentic purpose—but they’ll go the distance for brands that do.
During an ADWEEK House Advertising HQ panel co-hosted with Fluent, Bill Bradley, deputy TV, media, and sports editor at ADWEEK, moderated a lively conversation focused on how brands turn purpose into performance.
Turning purpose into practice
Effective marketing creates a shared sense of purpose with the consumer, David Young, VP of retail media at DICK’S Sporting Goods, suggested, turning a transactional matter into an emotional one. “People need to recognize themselves in your message and what you stand for,” he said. At DICK’S, that means a belief that sports can change lives for athletes of every stripe.
Jeanniey Walden, CMO of Fluent, took this idea further, reasoning that brands should build experiences around their customers, then continue supporting and appreciating them beyond the point of sale. “The transaction is just the beginning of an entire journey that gives you purpose for what we’re all doing every day,” she observed.
So, how can brands prove that their purpose isn’t performative? For Perry Kamel, founder and CEO of DNA Vibe, it starts with ensuring a brand’s actions reflect its values. Earlier this year, DNA Vibe partnered with MoveUkraine to bring a production facility to Ukraine, where a local team assembles and distributes the company’s recovery devices to wounded veterans and civilians receiving care.
“How could we not do this?” Kamel asked. “Purpose is extremely powerful. It’s the first thing, but it’s got to be the real thing.”
Falling in love with your customer
Lois Cook, CEO of FootballHer and professional football player with the WFA, brings the same logic to her partnerships, ensuring that she only works with brands that share her own values.
“I have to be credible; there has to be integrity in what I do,” she stressed. “I can’t just join a company that doesn’t stand for anything, because who am I at that point?”
When consumers see a brand practicing what it preaches, Walden added, they trust it to meet their own needs. “When you create trust, you create belief in a brand,” she said. “When you create belief in a brand, that’s where the business grows.”
What it takes to show up
The panelists wrapped up by discussing challenges they’ve faced and the lessons they learned. For Robert “Gronk” Gronkowski, 4X Super Bowl champion, sports broadcaster, and entrepreneur, one lesson came early in his career: talent alone isn’t enough without the preparation to back it up.
“It doesn’t matter how talented you are in the NFL,” he shared. “If you don’t know the playbook, you’re not going to play.”
The lesson applies to marketers, too, who need a clear strategy to turn ideas and capabilities into results.
Walden shared an experience that offered a different perspective on what it takes to succeed, particularly when circumstances threaten the trust you’ve worked to build. At one of her first jobs, a cash-strapped startup, the CFO gambled away the media budget for a client who had followed her there out of trust. Instead of giving up, she took out a second mortgage on her house, paid for the media, and launched her own agency the next day with the client in tow.
“It’s really important that you show up, and when people put their trust in you, that you be there for them,” she concluded.
