In Part 1, we tackled the foundational five pitfalls that weaken purpose strategies and how bold brands break through:

1. Get Crystal Clear On Your Impact: Define the specific change you exist to make
2. Focus Your Efforts: Go deep on one aligned cause, not wide on many
3. Build Trust And Loyalty: Don’t get caught up in pushy marketing tactics that are designed to fuel mass consumption
4. Turn Purpose Into Action: Let purpose guide every team and every decision
5. Stay Anchored Under Pressure: Let purpose be your guide when things get tough

These five shifts are the foundation of a strong purpose strategy. Now, let’s go further - with the final five moves that turn a well-intentioned brand into a bold purpose-driven leader.

6. Resting on your “purpose laurels”

The pitfall: Assuming your purpose is static in an ever-evolving world.

The breakthrough: Your purpose should stand the test of time, but that doesn’t mean it should remain static. Brands that break through use their purpose as a propeller to drive innovation and evolution.

The Body Shop was once way ahead of its time on sustainability practices, offering refill stations and recycling options before many others. In the 1970s/80s, they were the first to openly fight against animal testing and promote ethical sourcing. They inspired a generation of ethical brands in beauty and beyond. Yet, the story has a tragic ending, with many franchises now closing down. The brand has failed to evolve in a world where sustainable beauty has become mainstream. Compare that to Dove who is constantly evolving the conversation around Real Beauty and what that means today. Dove has evolved the conversation to address topics such as toxic beauty content and the dangers of social media and AI and is actively pushing for legislative change.

7. Thinking too small

The pitfall: Limiting your purpose to your own brand, products, or sustainability report.

The breakthrough: Bold brands think industry-wide. They aim to reshape entire systems – because the more people contribute to your purpose, the bigger the impact.

Tony’s Chocolonely doesn’t just sell slave-free chocolate. It invites anyone who sources cocoa to use its supply chain, aiming to eradicate child-slavery in the entire industry.

Dove doesn’t just talk about real beauty. It leads a conversation, educates and champions legislation change. The brand has evolved the entire beauty industry and inspired many new brands such as Fenty Beauty – that talks about skin tone – or Rare Beauty – that talks about mental health. 

Thesus didn’t just create sustainable boots. For their 10 year anniversary, they shared the IP of their bestselling Weekend Boot^TM with the world, inviting others brands to follow their sustainable practises.

These brands aren’t just building their own brand, they’re leading movements of change in their industries.

8. Hiring too junior when you scale

The pitfall: As companies scale, there's a temptation to delegate brand and marketing to junior hires - often because they’re digital natives, energetic, and (let’s admit it) more affordable. But while they may excel at creating Instagram posts, they often lack the strategic depth to embed purpose into the brand.

The breakthrough: If you want your brand to scale with purpose, you need experienced brand leaders- not just content creators. If you want to build a strong brand, you need senior experience to embed your purpose into your strategy. Hire senior talent - or upskill your existing teams - to ensure your purpose is deeply embedded.

As part of becoming an Entreprise à Mission, Danone didn’t just redefine its purpose - it launched internal education programs across all departments to bring that purpose to life. Managers were trained in how to apply purpose to decision-making and KPIs were updated to reflect purpose-driven performance. This was led by senior leadership but made real by upskilling and tracking every team to act with purpose.

9. Making your brand the hero, not your customers

The pitfall: Using purpose to showcase the brand as the hero rather than celebrating the people you serve.

The breakthrough: Beloved brands showcase their customers as the heroes of the story. The brand is the “mentor” (cf. the hero’s journey). The clients are the heroes - making a difference in the world when they engage with the brand.

Patagonia champions environmental activists by pairing its clients with local grassroots organisations. Dove equips parents with tools to talk to their teenage daughters about the toxic beauty content on their social media feed. Your brand isn’t the hero - your community is.

10. Trying to create impact in isolation

The pitfall: Purpose-led brands sometimes fall into the trap of trying to do everything themselves, believing they need to own every solution, every initiative, every result. But meaningful impact, especially at scale, doesn’t happen alone.

The breakthrough: Bold brands understand that collaboration is key. They build ecosystems, not empires - partnering with NGOs, competitors, suppliers, activists, and even governments to drive systemic change.

IKEA is working toward becoming a circular business by 2030. But instead of tackling this challenge alone, they’ve partnered with organisations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to co-develop circular design principles. They also work with social enterprises to create collections that support marginalised communities, combining scale with local expertise.

The Recap

To lead with purpose - and create real impact – ensure these 10 essentials are embedded into your strategy:

1. Get Crystal Clear On Your Impact: Define the specific change you exist to make
2. Focus Your Efforts: Go deep on one aligned cause, not wide on many
3. Build Trust And Loyalty: Don’t get caught up in pushy marketing tactics that are designed to fuel mass consumption
4. Turn Purpose Into Action: Let purpose guide every team and every decision
5. Stay Anchored Under Pressure: Let purpose be your guide when things get tough
6. Keep Evolving: Use purpose as a propeller for innovation
7. Think Industry-Wide: Lead your entire sector toward change
8. Uplevel Your Teams: Empower your teams with purpose-led brand building skills
9. Champion Your Community: Make your customers the heroes of your brand story
10. Partner For Impact: Form meaningful partnerships to scale your impact and accelerate change.

Purpose is no longer a choice. It’s your greatest competitive advantage in a world that demands more from business than ever before.

Is your brand purpose-proof?

If you're serious about embedding purpose that drives impact and performance, I’d love to help. I offer tailored strategy sessions for leaders and brand-building training for teams looking to upskill.

📩 Email or DM me if you’d like to explore how we can work together: [email protected]